1. We’re now more than 48 hours removed from the spring game and no Texas A&M football players have entered the transfer portal. The only one to enter the portal I don’t even consider to have been an Aggie, and that’s Micah Hudson. If you can’t make it a week, you’re irrelevant to the discussion. The only other team without a transfer so far (the portal closes Friday) is Alabama. I think that speaks well to what Mike Elko is trying to build at A&M and the level of buy-in he’s getting.

2. I have said multiple times that you can’t take a spring game seriously, but I wouldn’t blame anyone if they felt better about the defensive line after what they saw Saturday. Marco Jones looks like an absolute monster and, in spite of my aversion to playing true freshmen unless they’re clearly superior, Jones may be too good to keep off the field. I know he wasn’t playing against the first team offensive line, but six tackles, all for loss, and five sacks is still extremely impressive.

3. I don’t think the Aggies have to worry about what they’re going to get from Cashius Howell — he may end up being the big steal of last year’s transfer class and surpass Nic Scourton’s production this year. He almost did so last year. But the work of Deyon Hayes and TJ Searcy also merits attention. Both had very good games and could be a well above average platoon at the other end position this year. It’s not like they’re inexperienced, it was just a matter of seeing them on the field in an Aggie uniform and seeing how they adapted before really making a judgment.

4. A&M still needs another defensive tackle, which I think they realize. But one of the best things to come out of the spring game was the performance of Iowa State transfer Tyler Onyedim. Onyedim was brought in to be the third tackle, like Rodas Johnson last year, and he appears to be more than ready to fill that role.

5. Some people have been wondering why, in this day and age, A&M still holds a spring game. When I asked Elko what he hoped to accomplish in this game, he said it was like a first NFL preseason game where guys who normally don’t play get relatively meaningful reps. That makes sense. A&M also got two commits from players who were there, and that is ample reason for a spring game right there.

6. One thing that I noticed the Aggies trying — and not really succeeding — to do during the spring game was pick up the offensive tempo. They were certainly trying to move at a great pace, but when you’re giving up a ton of sacks and tackles for loss, it’s tough to do. But it’s something to watch for when the starting 11 gets out there against UTSA.

7. When Bucky McMillan took over at A&M, he said he wanted guys who could shoot free throws, shoot threes and defend. Shooting free throws, almost inherently, means you drive the lane if you’re not a big. New addition Duke Mills shot 51% from the floor last year, 43% from 3-point range and 83.1% from the free throw line. He’s also a tenacious defender. Sounds like all the boxes were checked.

8. McMillan still has to get eight players to fill out his roster, but there are a whole lot of options out there. But if he continues to recruit at the level he has to this point, the Aggies are going to be a lot more dangerous next year than people would have had any right to expect.

9. As the Aggies close in on another run-ruling of Sam Houston (12-3 in the seventh), it’s worth taking a look at the two SEC pitching staffs that A&M has torched on its last two road trips. Tennessee is third in the nation in ERA, 1st in strikeout-to-walk ratio and strikeouts per nine innings and third in WHIP. Arkansas is 15th in ERA, second in strikeout-to-walk ratio, third in walks allowed and sixth in WHIP. Texas is second in ERA, first in hits allowed per nine innings and second in WHIP. There’s no doubt their treacherous staff has done a great job, but A&M’s bats aren’t going to be sacred of the Quislings. After all, they’ve scored 87 runs in their last nine SEC games (and that includes a no-hit shutout against them). If you cut it to the last eight games, and avoid the no-hitter, they’re averaging 11 runs a game against some of the nation’s best pitchers.

10. A&M’s weekend starters have been pretty meh lately — none got out of the fifth against Arkansas — but one thing the Aggie pitchers are not doing is walking opponents. They have the second fewest walks allowed and the third best strikeout to walk ratio in the nation (behind Tennessee and Arkansas). They’ve also had some really good work out of the bullpen recently. Weston Moss has been an absolute Godsend, with an ERA of 1.70 as he comes out of the bullpen and handles what’s left after Ryan Prager starts. Against Arkansas, that was five innings of shutout ball. Luke Jackson was outstanding against the Hogs and they got good work from Kaiden Wilson as well. If the bullpen can continue to produce consistent results like that — and maybe they can get Isaac Morton back at some point — then this team becomes very tough. Having freshman and midweek starter Gavin Lyons (1.62 ERA) available to eat some innings in the postseason will help as well.

Yes, I said postseason.