Nothing is better than early-season overreactions in college football, and there’s plenty of fodder for Texas A&M fans to do so through one weekend of action. The Aggies looked like they were absolutely dominant in their first game, but there are quite a few tests coming down the pike for them— including a big one right at the end of the month.
Let’s not waste time— it’s time to overreact to what we saw in college football week one.
College football week one overreactions: Aggies face one sure loss but improved chances in two other games
LSU matchup in Death Valley all of a sudden looks like a sure loss
The talk of the entire college football world was the way that the LSU Tigers beat up on Clemson this past Saturday night— while most expected the Bayou Bengals to win, the domination they put on display was certainly a surprise. There’s a bit of a question as to whether it was Clemson’s incompetence or LSU being elite, but for now, most of the talk is about Lane Kiffin’s squad.
The Aggies will take a trip to Baton Rouge at the end of the month for their biggest test early in this 2026 season. LSU will be coming off of a visit to Ole Miss that will no doubt be highly emotional— and one that looks like it’s going to be a shootout of the highest order as well— so that will help the Aggies, but this is still looking like it’s about to be an extremely tough game.
I’ve said since the moment that Daymion Sanford got injured that this was the contest he needs to be back and ready for— Kiffin will test the linebackers over and over, and A&M needs his athleticism out there to help contain the LSU run game. The Aggies need him to be at 100% and the offensive line executing at a high level if they want to emerge victorious— without Collin Klein calling the veer rushing attack that has torn apart Blake Baker’s defense the last two years, A&M will have to find some new angles to attack the Tigers.
Arkansas will be even more of a layup than expected
It’s obviously forgiveable to have missed it, but the debut for Ryan Silverfield as Arkansas’s head coach took place over the weekend, as the Hogs took on Northern Alabama. It was one of the tougher games to watch this weekend, as Arkansas slogged their way to a 31-14 victory over UNA.
KJ Jackson did not exactly look the part of a SEC starting quarterback in this one, even against a terrible defense. The Arkansas defense looked okay in the first half, but worse than you’d hope against such awful competition— still, though, likely an improvement over what was the worst defense in the conference last year.
Even so, the Hogs’ visit to Kyle Field on October 3 is increasingly looking like it’s going to be an absolute bloodbath. A&M should be able to dominate that one with no issue if week one is anything to judge by.
Texas’s defense is garbage under Will Muschamp
One of the more confusing moves of the college football offseason was Steve Sarkisian deciding to part ways with Pete Kwiatkowski, whose defense was the superior unit to Sark’s offense in Austin each of the last two years. In his place, he hired Will Muschamp, who— despite warm feelings among the boosters at Texas— has looked washed-up for some time.
Muschamp defenses with this much skill should be more than able to devour a lower-level team, but that’s not what happened. While Texas State didn’t put up a whole lot of points on the scoreboard, the Longhorns were lucky that that was the case— the advanced stats show just how ineffective the Longhorns’ defense was at stopping GJ Kinne’s team over the course of the afternoon.
This is not an encouraging sign for the Longhorns as they are set to face some elite offenses— starting this week against Ohio State. LSU and Texas A&M are two more that have the weapons to stress that defense to a high degree. It could be a long season down in Austin.
Alabama gave Texas A&M nothing to worry about
There’s been a lot of positive talk about Keelon Russell, but pretty much none of it is warranted. The film shows a quarterback who was having a leisurely time sitting back in the pocket but failing to read what the ECU defense was giving him, and simply relying on his and his team’s superior athleticism to get by.
That won’t work against some of the better defenses in the conference. Georgia and Texas A&M will be the biggest tests on this front, and if LSU’s defense continues to develop, that could pose a big issue for the Tide as well.
The Tide defense looked okay, but not quite as dominant as you would have hoped in that situation. The jury is still out right now as to whether Alabama can get back to the CFP; the Tide need to prove it before they can be penciled in as a true contender.
LaNorris Sellers is about to dice up the Aggies
This is another one that could have been lost in the early slate, but the combination of LaNorris Sellers and Kendal Briles looks pretty deadly down in Columbia. The Gamecocks won 57-0 over Kent State even without star tackle Jacarrius Peak and star edge rusher Dylan Stewart, showcasing quite a few offensive weapons in the process.
Texas A&M’s early-November trip to Columbia, when the schedule was announced, gave Aggie fans unpleasant flashbacks to two years ago, when the same trip at the same time of the year precipitated a late-season slide for Mike Elko’s first A&M squad. After the way things transpired last year against Carolina, you can bet that the Gamecocks will be looking for revenge in a big way as well.
All of this conspires to give A&M fans a lot of trepidation going into this game. If Briles can fully unlock Sellers, which seems to be the case so far, then that trip to Columbia for A&M could end up being another completely deflating loss to start November.
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