Texas A&M football will have to stand tall in key moments rather than stumble if they are to accomplish everything they can this year
Midway through the fourth quarter last night, there were a couple of extremely pivotal moments for Texas A&M football. The Aggies had just tied the game up, despite continued concerning play from quarterback Conner Weigman, and then the defense got off of the field in short order.
With about eight and a half minutes to go in the game, things seemed primed for the Aggies to go on a long march down to the other end of the field, score either three or seven, and put the pressure on the Irish with a waning clock. The opportunity was right there before them—all they needed to do was take it.
This was a situation that the Ags found themselves in often in the last few years of Jimbo Fisher's tenure. Despite the number of losses—too many—the Ags were right in the thick of things near the end of many of those games. Of course, they failed to land the plane in most of these instances.
Last night, in that sense, felt like watching the same movie. After a run for no gain and a short pass, Weigman found Moss right by the sticks for a completion—only for the back to trot out of bounds a half-yard short. He had the latitude to pick up the yardage, but the field awareness wasn't there on that snap.
Of course, all was not lost. After a great punt by Tyler White, the Irish were backed up to their own 15. Leonard picked up 9 on a scramble, but an aggressive defensive play by the Ags pushed the Domers back 4 yards on second down. With ND facing third down and five at their own 20, another opportunity presented itself to the Aggies to take control.
But we know what happened. Leonard found Jaden Greathouse for a nine-yard pickup to get the first—and the Irish would not face another third down the rest of the drive. They scored five plays later.
Just like that, opportunity evaporated—in a way that felt all too familiar.
Unlike Fisher, we have far too little of a sample size here to know that this will be normative for Elko's regime. There's a lot to suggest that it won't be. But if the Aggies are to take that next step, they need to learn how to seize these moments.