Week 7 Report Card for Texas A&M Football: QB Hits Rocky Bottom

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Texas A&M quarterback Max Johnson (14) fumbles the ball during a football game between Tennessee and Texas A&M at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. /

Grading Every Position for Texas A&M Football after Week 7

Yet another low point for Texas A&M football came in the form of this loss on Rocky Top. There were parts of the team that acquitted themselves well, of course, but this overall was a poor showing in two out of the three phases of the game. The offense continues to crater in the most maddening way: the talent shines through at times, but never consistently. Let’s break things down position by position and see how things transpired.

Quarterback: D-
Maybe this is emotions talking, but though this wasn’t as bad a showing as it could’ve been for Max Johnson, the amount of frustration I felt every single time he dropped back to pass just kept building. He had some good placement when he did pull the trigger on several throws, but the hesitancy exhibited down in and down out made the passing game feel like pulling teeth. It’s starting to feel like he just isn’t the guy for this offense long-term.

Running Backs: D
Though the Ags ended with a paltry 1.9 YPC, the backs themselves finished with 20 carries and 78 yards (3.9 sack-adjusted YPC). The chief issue came with consequential drops in the passing game in the third and fourth quarters and lack of pass protection throughout the game. Owens and Moss are uber talented, but haven’t quite been able to break out this season.

Wide Receivers: B+
Thomas and Stewart performed well; really, all the receivers for Texas A&M football did. They were often running open, it was just that the ball didn’t find its way to those open guys most of the time. Thomas made some impressive contested catches, which was refreshing to see given his absence over the last few weeks. Hopefully the upcoming bye week will allow some time for the offensive staff to brainstorm more ways to get the ball to the studs out wide.

Offensive Line: C
This may be one of the more controversial grades here for this Texas A&M football team, but I think it’s warranted. They had a lot of trouble creating creases for the Aggie backs to pick up yardage consistently, but the sack issues were more on Max than on them. He just simply held the ball too long.