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Published Aug 31, 2024
Postgame Thoughts, sponsored by Paine Net Lease Team
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Mark Passwaters  •  AggieYell
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We knew coming into this game that it would be a slugfest, and it was. But there is virtually nothing Texas A&M can take away from this game that is positive.

The offense was a complete disaster. The defense, with its vaunted front, was pushed around by a completely inexperienced Notre Dame offensive line. The coaching staff was bizarrely non-responsive to obvious problems.

It's just another massive disappointment from a program that should trademark the phrase. It doesn't matter if it's Sherman, Sumlin, Jimbo or now, Mike Elko, A&M finds ways to lose.

Offense

This was really bad. We've been used to bad with Jimbo's offense, but this was the same thing with more pre-snap motion.

13 points. 232 yards of total offense. 3.6 yards per play. A long play of 18 yards. It's just...putrid.

Conner Weigman was absolutely awful tonight. There's no other way to put it. I don't know if he was sick (he was throwing up) or gunshy or what, but he was 12-30 for 100 yards and 2 interceptions. One of the picks ended up in a field goal for Notre Dame and the other killed a drive at midfield. By the end of the game, A&M was calling running plays instead of throwing because Collin Klein had so little faith in what Weigman was doing.

Klein, honestly, was little help. It was clear early on that A&M's receivers weren't going to be able to get open, so it seemed like a natural move to go to what he did at K-State: quick throws to the backs and tight ends coming out of the backfield and get them moving upfield. There were two passes thrown to the tight ends. The backs didn't help with several drops.

The concerns about the lack of explosiveness at receiver were proven to be accurate tonight. The longest pass caught by a receiver was 15 yards, and that was on the first play of the game. Benjamin Morrison took Noah Thomas away completely. Weigman was hung up on throwing to Jahdae Walker or Cyrus Allen and didn't look away from them -- when he had time to look. Notre Dame played man coverage all night, and the receivers couldn't do anything to get open.

Walker's stupid false start penalty on A&M's second drive killed A&M's momentum. That really took the air out of the balloon and they never really got back in the flow.

The offensive line only gave up one sack. That's a plus. They had periods where they got some push, but couldn't do it consistently. When it really mattered, they couldn't get it done.

Le'Veon Moss was ok -- 20 carries, 70 yards and a touchdown. But he also ran out of bounds too early and cost A&M a first down on one reception. E.J. Smith ran well, including a 14-yard run to get the Aggies to first and goal. That was really the high point for the offense.

They say that the biggest improvement happens between the first and second games. That had better be the case, because there's a lot to improve. That may be the best defense that A&M plays all year, but it doesn't matter. That was just weak.

Defense

This group was supposed to be more talented than the offense, and the defensive line was supposed to be elite. They were going up against an offensive line that had six total starts and a true freshman at left tackle. And they got flat whipped.

Notre Dame had 198 yards of rushing, and 356 yards of total offense. They had no sacks. No turnovers. Seven tackles for loss.

The defense was just sloppy. They didn't fit well, they ran themselves out of positions on key runs and missed tackles in critical situations. They had Notre Dame in a 1st and 25 in a tie game in the fourth quarter and not only couldn't get off the field, they gave up a touchdown on an 85-yard drive.

Riley Leonard did nothing special. But he didn't make mistakes, either. He ran for 63 yards and, for large portions of the game, was Notre Dame's offense. But He was able to get things done, where Weigman didn't. And the defense failed in critical situations.

The corners actually played pretty well. The long pass in the game was 20 yards, and Notre Dame's receivers, like A&M's, struggled to get any separation. But still, they did more than in crunch time than A&M did.

Nic Scourton showed flashes of brilliance, with 3 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass batted down. But you would think he'd be able to do more against a totally inexperienced left tackle. Shemar Turner had 7 tackles and was good for much of the game, but got knocked out of the final scoring run that put Notre Dame ahead to stay.

Dalton Brooks got tossed for a foolish targeting penalty. Taurean York missed a tackle on Notre Dame's long touchdown run. Tyreek Chappell was called for pass interference deep in A&M's end (a questionable call).

The Aggies weren't called for a lot of penalties, but they were very undisciplined. They got out of position, missed critical tackles and sometimes just didn't look like they knew what they were doing. And a disciplined defense is supposed to be Elko's calling card. He was clearly upset about it after the game, and he should be. They were a disappointment.

Special teams

Tyler White? He's good. Two punts over 60 yards? That'll work.
Randy Bond hit both of his field goals. Terry Bussey returned the ball well. For once, not much to complain about on special teams.

Coaching

Plenty to complain about here, sadly. I am shocked at how non-responsive Klein was to Weigman's struggles, even before halftime. Very little was done to help him. It just didn't make sense. It was kind of like the playcalling ruts Jimbo got into, where nothing good was happening but nothing changed, either.

I don't really have any complaints about the defensive playcalling, it's just the lack of discipline they played with. There were times in the game where they looked really sharp, and others where they looked clueless. They weren't consistent, they weren't disciplined and they were, for lack of a better term, sloppy. This is not what we saw in Elko's first go here and it's out of character. This defense has plenty of talent, but it just played badly -- and it doesn't have the luxury of doing that.

The Aggies get what should be a pretty easy run for the next month, with McNeese, a bad Florida team that got crushed 38-10 at home today and Bowling Green before Arkansas in Arlington. They have time to get stuff ironed out. But they need to get their crap together fast, because people are getting tired of the same old stuff.

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