The Texas A&M football team held its annual Maroon & White Game Saturday at Kyle Field amid nearly 5000 rain-soaked Aggie fans wanting a sneak preview of next year’s team. Surprisingly, the Maroons won this one in a shoot-out 34-27 with the offenses scoring on the game’s first four possessions.

Since many of you attended the game and the rest of you have seen numerous reports in newspapers and eyewitness accounts, I thought I’d focus more on the aspects of the game that pleasantly surprised me and the areas where I was disappointed. All of this is in relation to what I was expecting based on the previous two weeks of practices and controlled scrimmages. So here it goes…

It’s no surprise to most of you, but the 1st team offensive line’s overall performance against the 1st team defensive line amazed me. During practice, the offensive line held its own most of the time, but rarely have they dominated the likes of Ty Warren, Marcus Jasmine, and Linnus Smith. The adequate pass protection was somewhat expected, but the drive blocking was something we haven’t seen in several years.

Geoff Hangartner and Andre Brooks took Jasmine and Warren out of the game for the most part. Their numbers were rarely called. That left Oschlor Flemming and Derek Farmer with enough open space to gain yardage on the ground and sustain the Maroon’s five 1st half TD drives. The damage could have been much greater had Farmer played at 100%. He looked a bit stiff and tentative after suffering a bruised knee just two days earlier. Flemming continues to improve every year and looks to be a solid Big 12 running back, if not a feature back. He led the scrimmage with 81 yards on only 11 carries and two TD’s, including a 22-yard sweep where Oschlor put a serious juke on safety Jarvis Mays that sprung him for six points.

Even more impressive were the average runs between the tackles in traffic that seemed to net 4-5 yards a pop. The backs did not shoot through a hole on most of these, but the push of the offensive line drove back the point of attack several yards. Thus, even on non-descript running plays that didn’t spring a runner through an open hole, the sticks were still moving forward, which is something that’s rarely happened consistently in the past 5-6 years.

The 2nd team offensive line didn’t fair as well, but still managed to have its moments before fading in the 2nd half. We’ve been reporting all spring that depth in the OL is a major concern, and that still holds true today. The white team managed only 24 yards rushing, but after Dwain Goynes the unit played a walk-on at the spot.

The quarterbacks are worth noting in this game, primarily because the quarterbacks were subjected to live action, tackles, and hits. In most practices, the whistle blows when the QB starts to scramble out of the pocket, and the defenders are not allowed to tackle the QB. Well, the defenses were let loose on the QB’s on Saturday, which gives us a better indication of where they are and how they will react under a real rush.

Mark Farris looked like the Mark Farris of old, standing in the pocket and waiting until the last second to throw a strike. For whatever reason, Mark started to get impatient in the pocket around mid-season and either scrambled out of the pocket or threw the ball away…prematurely in some cases. He finished completing 11-14 for 178 yards and two TD’s.

For me, the most impressive play of the game and of spring practice overall came on the 2nd drive (I think!) with the Maroon offense sitting near midfield. At the snap, the line, the QB, and the running back go east with what appears like a routine off-tackle play. However, Farris fakes it and bottlegs. Now, that in itself is nothing new. However, Farris’ execution on the following long ball to Jamaar Taylor streaking open down the west sideline was phenomenal. The quick rhythm and throw before the cover corner could recover was a thing of beauty. My issue in the past with Farris and other Aggie QB’s on long balls has more to do with holding onto the ball too long than accuracy. When a QB holds onto the ball longer, the throw is made more difficult in two ways. First, the QB has to throw the ball further which is inherently more difficult to be accurate. Secondly, the QB gives the defensive back more time to recover and get back into the play. In the case of this play, Farris quickly threw it once he turned on the fake and the corner had no chance to make the play.

Another impressive pass by Farris came on one of the first scoring drives when Mark hit walk-on Tim Van Zant over the middle at the goal line for a 15-20 yard strike. Farris did it by quickly flicking the ball while two defenders sandwiched him on a big hit. Farris stood in there and bought that extra second knowing he was going to get leveled. The Angleton native also hit Terrence Murphy on a perfect 10-yard slant pattern that resulted in another red zone TD.

As far as the other two QB’s, both Dustin Long and Jason Carter showed flashes of promise, but both also revealed why they will be backing up the experienced three-year starter in the fall. Long and Carter accounted for three ill-advised interceptions that would be a killer in a big ball game.

Between the miscues, both showed some promise. Long completed several nice short-to-medium range passes before unleashing a perfect long 43-yard TD strike to a wide open Bethel Johnson, who made corner Jerome Weber bite hard on a fake. Long has had troubles with his deep balls fluttering and losing steam, but he threw with greater authority on the longer passes Saturday which is very encouraging.

Jason Carter wowed the crowd with his escapability in and out of the pocket. He can certainly buy time back there, and that’s something that none of us at practice have seen because of the quick whistles. What makes Carter potentially deadly in the future is that after he escapes the rush, he can throw a tight spiral 50 yards downfield. Jason came about a foot away from doing just that when he almost hit Bethel Johnson some 40+ yards down the field. In fact, I’m not sure Bethel thought Carter could heave it that far because he didn’t put it into gear until it was too late. Had he run full speed from the get-go, that might have been a spectacular 50-yard pass completion. On his first series, Carter left the pocket and rolled right and hit John Roberson with a 20-yard TD pass that senta roar through the crowd.

However, with all of the hoopla and excitement of Mr. Carter, he still needs seasoning. He looks to run or scramble before surveying what he has in the pocket. He’s still having difficulties reading defenses. Like I’ve been saying in my practice reports, if the light ever goes “on” in regard to reading defenses, Jason could be a special player for the Aggies.

On defense, I was somewhat disappointed with the 1st team defensive line. In any game, you expect to call Ty Warren’s name early and often. That didn’t happen. Marcus Jasmine has looked good in practice, but he was silent most of the game. Linnus Smith had a sack (the one that injured Farris) and another good tackle from the backside on a sweep, but he was relatively quiet on the day. Bottom line…the A&M offensive line, not known for its physical play, took it to the defensive line and pushed them off the ball. That’s not good.

In addition, I thought our special teams coverage was horrendous. We gave up two kick returns past midfield, and we couldn’t keep outside containment on two consecutive kicks. That’s not mentioning the two botched extra points. For any RC Slocum-coached teams to succeed, they must win the special teams battles.

Finally, I still think we need to shore up and elevate our play at the #2 cover corner spot next to Sammy Davis. Both Byron Jones and Sean Weston made some mistakes and gave up significant pass plays. With that said, I’m extremely happy with our safety play, despite the absence of projected starter Dawon Gentry. Dawon better be ready to go in August because Jaxson Appel is trying to win that job, and he just may do it.

Here are a few of the superlative plays of note in the scrimmage:

- Farris’ 1st pass of the game was a short crossing route that was thrown in front of Jamaar Taylor. Not only did he pull in the spectacular one-handed grab, but he managed to keep his speed and turn the corner for a 15-20 yard gain.

- Flemming made a beautiful cut on Jarvis Mays that put the safety on his rear and allowed him to gain 22 yards on the longest run from scrimmage on the day.

- On a goal line stand by the white, the Maroon’s Derek Farmer tried to dive through the line and into the end zone. However, as Farmer starts to jump, Randall Webb shoots the gap on a perfectly timed move and nails farmer dead in his tracks for no gain. Webb is improving everyday and I expect to see him in the lineup next fall.

- Tomas Carriger made an excellent grab (one of two) coming over the middle. The ball by Farris was thrown out in front of him, but the Hog Hunter reached out and made the grab and ran for an other 10 yards on a 20+ yard reception. He made it look easy. It was no fluke either, carriger has shown to have great hands all spring.

- The 40-yard strike to Taylor off of the play fake discussed earlier was the play of the game.

- Pick one of two Jason Carter plays where he scrambled and threw deep balls. The first was a scramble to the west sideline and a medium range (20 yards) strike to John Roberson for the score. The athletically more impressive play was the scrambling to the east sideline and against his body threw a perfect spiral 40+ yards downfield that should’ve been caught.

- Sean Weston smacked a walk-on receiver trying to catch a short swing pass late in the game. It was a brutal hit that jarred the ball loose. Weston does it all himself by picking up the ball and returning it for the defensive TD.

- Terrence Kiel laid vicious hits all day. He’s almost like a 5th linebacker. He had 10 tackles and caused a fumble.

WEBSIDER OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mark Farris

WEBSIDER DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Terrence Kiel

David Sandhop

Aggie Websider