Why Aggie Fans Should be Optimistic About the Offense After the Bye

Why Texas A&M Football Fans Should Feel Good about the Offense Down the Stretch

Listen, I know things have looked grim for Texas A&M football on the offensive side over the last two weeks. In a manner all-too-reminiscent of 2022, the Aggie offense looks like it’s just spinning its wheels and coming away with very little to show for each possession. With two straight losses coming chiefly due to offensive ineptitude—the defense, for their part, is keeping Texas A&M football in these games—Aggie fans are beginning to despair.

However, I think that might be a little hasty. Yes, the past three weeks looked pretty tough for the Aggies on that side of the ball: three straight weeks have seen this offense for Texas A&M football put up only 3 points in each second half. When the Aggies have been outside of their script with Max Johnson, they’ve really struggled.

That said, I think it’s valid to ask whether it might remain that way. One of the chief reasons that Bobby Petrino was brought in was to help communicate and mold Jimbo’s massive offensive system (that Petrino, at base, also runs) to these Texas A&M football players. It stands to reason that the Aggies have been running a system that was molded to Conner Weigman’s strengths rather than Max Johnson’s, as Weigman was the man who started the year as signal caller.

I think this notion is bolstered by how often the Aggies have passed the ball rather than run it and the relative dearth of play action, both of which I have been calling for in pretty much every game that Johnson has started. A robust rushing attack and heavy emphasis on play action is where Johnson has thrived as a quarterback—he just doesn’t have the talent and quick-read ability of Weigman that the latter can utilize to pick apart defenses.