1. ProFootballFocus scores from the Arkansas game, with snaps played, for the offense
Deuce Fatheree, 79.3, 60 snaps
Devon Achane, 73.6, 58 snaps
Donovan Green, 73.3, 34 snaps
Yulkeith Brown, 67.5, 9 snaps
Earnest Crownover, 67, 4 snaps
Evan Stewart, 64.6, 56 snaps
Jordan Moko, 64, 17 snaps
Layden Robinson, 62.1, 60 snaps
Trey Zuhn, 61, 60 snaps
Aki Ogunbiyi, 60.9, 43 snaps
Ainias Smith, 60.2, 48 snaps
Devin Price, 57.8, 2 snaps
Max Wright, 56.5, 24 snaps
Chase Lane, 55.8, 10 snaps
Chris Marshall, 55.1, 17 snaps
Bryce Foster, 50.1, 60 snaps
Max Johnson, 48.2, 60 snaps
Moose Muhammad, 38, 36 snaps
2. PFF scores and snaps for the defense
Denver Harris, 83.3, 16 snaps
Jaylon Jones, 73.1, 73 snaps
Chris Russell, 66.6, 73 snaps
Brian George, 61.4, 29 snaps
Antonio Johnson, 60.9, 73 snaps
Demani Richardson, 58.9, 57 snaps
Shemar Stewart, 58, 42 snaps
Walter Nolen, 57.5, 23 snaps
Edgerrin Cooper, 57.3, 65 snaps
Tarian Lee, 56.6, 8 snaps
Tyreek Chappell, 55.3, 73 snaps
LT Overton, 50.2, 29 snaps
Shemar Turner, 49, 34 snaps
Anthony Lucas, 48.7, 30 snaps
Myles Jones, 48, 23 snaps
Jacoby Mathews, 46.7, 7 snaps
Bryce Anderson, 45.8, 11 snaps
Fadil Diggs, 45.1, 45 snaps
Albert Regis, 41.6, 8 snaps
Isaiah Raikes, 32.1, 13 snaps
3. The game-saver
There’s been a lot said about Err Jefferson, and with reason. We may not see another play like that for a long time. But what’s getting overlooked is the play before that, where Antonio Johnson tripped up Jadon Haselwood as it looked like he was about to take a bubble screen into the end zone. If AJ doesn’t make that play, it’s 21-7 and things look very glum indeed for the Aggies. Instead, he allowed his team to fight another down, and look what happened.
4. Nowhere to throw
How good was A&M’s secondary Saturday? Quite. They botched two plays, and those were a 57-yard TD pass on a deep ball and a 32-yard TD on a bubble screen. That’s 89 yards, or more than half of what KJ Jefferson threw for on the night (171). In other words, if they played their assignments right, there wasn’t anywhere for Jefferson to throw. They’ll need to do that and more against Mississippi State.
5. Is this the reason for the 3-man front?
I don’t like the 3-man front, but I think I have an idea on why DJ Durkin is using it. It’s an emphasis on speed, especially against spread or up-tempo offenses. If the front 3 can hold up, then the linebackers, safeties, nickels or whoever can come in and clean up. But clearly, you can’t just rush three guys consistently against a pass-heavy offense, as we’ve seen. If you blitz, though, you have a lot of options on who to blitz and where to blitz them from. The Aggies are using a 3-2-6, for the most part, and after the first quarter A&M blitz with the linebackers (Russell and Cooper) and defensive backs (mostly Tyreek Chappell). They’ve got to do a better job of getting home, but Will Rogers isn’t as mobile as Jefferson was.
6. What to expect this weekend?
When DJ Durkin took on Mississippi State with Ole Miss last year, the Rebels won 31-21. Ole Miss took the bend but don’t break approach, with Rogers throwing for 336 yards on 38-58 passing, but only throwing one touchdown. Ole Miss did pick up 3 sacks and tackled well, but Mississippi State had 30 first downs. On the other hand, they were only 4-14 on 3rd downs. It sounds similar to what A&M did in 2020 that worked well, but also what didn’t work in 2021. Then again, the Aggies will have healthy corners for this one.
7. Russell a Godsend for the defense
The “Where’d he come from?” player of the year so far has to be linebacker Chris Russell. After totaling 15 tackles over his first three seasons at A&M, he has 29 so far this year, second on the team. He’s also tied for the team lead in tackles for loss and sacks. Considering that the Aggies really needed someone to step up with Andre White sidelined, Russell’s breakout couldn’t have come at a better time. The question now is whether he’ll stay another season (he can because of the Covid year) or will feel like a strong 2022 is enough to get him into the NFL. That’s a long way from where things stood a month ago.
8. Turner playing at a (expectedly) high level
One guy quietly having a nice year (and you can shove it, PFF) is DT Shemar Turner. Last year, he was Freshman All-SEC but there were questions about whether he’d stay inside. He has and has been the most productive of the tackles. He’s fifth on the team in tackles with 14, has 2 tackles for loss and half a sack.
9. An invitation to throw the Pirate off?
During his press conference yesterday, Mike Leach said he didn’t see much difference in what Durkin was running at A&M and what he ran at Ole Miss last year. “A lot of zone. They like to run a lot of zone,” he said. Ok, DJ, if you want to switch it up, play some man and bring the heat.
10. Did the Aggies help damage Tyler Van Dyke?
Did the Aggies help break Tyler Van Dyke? The Miami QB, who threw 25 touchdowns and 6 interceptions while completing better than 62% of his passes last year has been flat out bad the past two weeks. He was 33-45 for 454 yards in his first two games (against crap teams, mind you); then, against A&M, he was 21-41 for 217 yards. He wasn’t sacked, but was pressured a fair amount. Things got worse against Middle Tennessee State, as he was 16-32 for 138 yards, a touchdown and 2 interceptions. He ended up getting benched.
Did A&M do all this to him? No, clearly not. I think they got in his head some and got him doubting when he made some bad throws, but this is a combination of his brain and a bad offensive scheme at Miami. I don’t get why Mario Cristobal is doing what he’s doing, but after using the standard Ducks offense at Oregon, he’s gone more preset and conservative. So far, it’s not working out too well for Van Dyke, who’s seeing his draft stock plummet.
