10 Things for Tuesday

Texas A&M’s history playing the Colorado Buffaloes in the state of Colorado is not good. In fact, it’s pretty terrible. The Buffs derailed what was supposed to be a great season for the Aggies in 1995 by beating A&M 29-21 in Boulder — in a game where Leeland McElroy got hurt. They won 16-10 in 1997, then lost in 2001, 2005 and 2009. Most of the games were close, but A&M couldn’t get over the hump. Saturday could have been like that, but the Aggies were mentally tough, stuck together and eventually got the job done. It wasn’t pretty and wasn’t how most people expected the game to go, but they were able to avoid another disaster in their state of horrors.

For the second time in his career, Jayden Peevy is the SEC defensive lineman of the week. In spite of that, he remains one of the most underrated players in the conference. But you can’t overstate how valuable he was this weekend.

During Colorado’s first possession of the second quarter, the Buffs were driving and were really targeting freshman DT Shemar Turner. Peevy came back into the game and immediately played a critical role in two tackles for loss that forced Colorado into a long field goal attempt. He also had an interception, deflected a pass on the Buffs’ final possession and basically dominated all game long.

Peevy decided to come back for a fifth season in order to improve his draft stock. It was the right move, even if he still doesn’t get the attention he deserves. You can bet NFL scouts have noticed.

Two of the biggest plays in Saturday’s game were drive killers by Peevy and DeMarvin Leal. The first, by Leal, came immediately after Peevy came back in the game. Peevy got a double team, and shoved it back; Leal absolutely demolished left tackle Kanan Ray and tossed Alex Fontenot to the ground for a 4-yard loss. The second came on Colorado’s first play on a drive that started at midfield, late in the second quarter. Peevy just skipped to the left and totally evaded left guard Kary Kutsch, stopping Jarek Broussard for a loss of 4. Colorado punted three plays later and A&M would take the ball down for a field goal and their first points of the day.

One thing that was clear last weekend is Zach Calzada loves throwing to Chase Lane. But Lane was also struggling badly to get open. He was getting pushed around and couldn’t evade CU corner Christian Rodriguez. The altitude and heat may have been a factor, but he just couldn’t get open. That’s why I think it’s time for more Demond Demas. We started seeing in Saturday, and Demas got open — even if he didn’t get a look from Calzada. Demas doesn’t need to take all of Lane’s snaps, but if he can get open and get Lane rested up so he can come back close to 100% and make some plays, it’s a win-win for the offense.

At the start of the 2022 recruiting cycle, I said A&M needed two quarterbacks in the class. The situation we’ve got now is exactly why. Haynes King will miss a month-plus and Zach Calzada is the only scholarship quarterback right now (with Eli Stowers at tight end). Zach Daniel was QB 3 in camp, and he got hurt. So now true freshman Blake Bost is the backup. That’s a pretty uncomfortable position for a national title contender to be in. In fact, it’s perilous.

Now, it probably doesn’t matter. Getting Calzada in as the starter for several games may convince him to stick around next season in the event King comes back and plays well. You’ll also have Conner Weigman in the mix. But if you do lose a quarterback to the portal, you’re right back in the same potential mess next year.

It’s just my opinion, of course, but having that extra capable quarterback would not be a bad thing now — or then.

This may be wishful thinking, but I get the sense King may be back closer to the lower end of the recovery spectrum than the latter. The fact that it was his tibia, and not his ankle, that suffered the fracture is really good news. The ankle’s a lot nastier to deal with — ask my wife, who broke hers four years ago. And, with a crack, you can insert screws to speed up the recovery process. King’s a driven guy in great shape, so you know he’ll rehab like a madman. Could it mean he’s more of a pocket passer when he comes back? Sure. But Nick Starkel’s injury in 2017 was supposed to be a lot worse and he was back in six weeks. That’s another thing that gives me hope.

Isaiah Spiller had a lousy game on the ground Saturday — 8 carries for 20 yards. He couldn’t get rolling. But he ended up playing a role that made him absolutely indispensable to his team, and probably actually helped his draft stock instead of hurt it.

First, you saw him lead the team in receiving and catch A&M’s only touchdown of the day. But he did more than that; he was his usual excellent self picking up blitzes and was a strong lead blocker for Devon Achane several times. Spiller is an All-American running back who doesn’t mean doing the overlooked dirty work. In other words, he’s a top-notch teammate, a complete player and a guy NFL teams are going to crave come draft time.

One of the best stories of the season to date has been the play of Leon O’Neal. Everyone knows about the two INT performance against Kent State, but he played just about as well Saturday in Denver. He had four tackles, all solos, and deflected a pass. He played very well in coverage, with no busts or mental mistakes. Just as impressively, he was strong in his tackling. Two years ago, O’Neal had a ProFootballFocus season score of less than 50. Who’s the second highest player overall on defense, and tops in coverage with a score of 88.6 (78.8 overall)? Leon O’Neal. Sometimes it’s difficult to understand the PFF grading system, but in this case it’s a validation of what we’re seeing with our eyes — O’Neal’s gotten a lot better over the past season-plus.

The Athletic reported today that the D-1 Football oversight committee is considering an idea that would allow programs to sign their normal 25 recruits this recruiting cycle— but then up to seven more to replace players who leave on or after Dec. 15 of this year. That’s a fascinating idea, and it could definitely alter the approach some teams take as they try to finish up their classes. You may see teams who have been out on someone get back in with the expectation they’re going to have players bail out at season’s end. They’ll certainly have to work fast.

During his press conference yesterday, Jimbo Fisher talked up New Mexico’s defense, saying they will throw more stuff at you than just about any team in college football. At the moment, the Lobos are ranked 22nd in total defense and 9th against the run.

But they’ve played Houston Baptist and New Mexico State — and NMSU is one worst teams in the nation (and still scored 25 points). So there’s a reason A&M is still a nearly 30-point favorite.