Texas A&M’s lackluster defensive performance against the Miami Hurricanes last Saturday resulted in a 48-33 road beatdown at the hands of quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, who passed for 374 yards and five touchdowns through the air, torching the Aggies’ secondary who consistently failed to tackle, allowing 8.4 yards per play.
On a positive note, sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman showed out once again, throwing for 336 yards and two touchdowns in one of the toughest performances we’ve seen from an Aggie quarterback in quite some time, and even though Miami blitzed Weigman on 33 of his 57 dropbacks, he avoided getting sacked, which is simply incredible while watching the tape.
While second-year D-coordinator D.J. Durkin is certainly under fire for the defense’s performance, the players need to step up, and this weekend’s home matchup vs. UL Monroe is a chance to “get right” and clean up their mistakes while sending a message on the scoreboard against an inferior opponent before SEC play begins.
Providing several key storylines and five players to watch ahead of the game, Our Staff have made our predictions ahead of Saturday’s showdown.
Cameron Ohnysty, Managing Editor:
“I’m choosing to live in a world where last weekend’s ugly showing was simply a blip on the radar, but that doesn’t mean Jimbo Fisher’s coaching seat isn’t heating up week to week. Yes, second-year defensive coorinator D.J. Durkin deserves most of the blame after the defense’s atrocious performance, problems always rise to the top.
This week, UL Monroe, who despite ranking 192nd in passing offense ranked 8th in the country on the ground with 246 rushing yards per game, so even though the Aggies’ run defense has steadily improve, last week’s undwhelming showing must dominate against in trenches and consistently impose their will. While Texas A&M’s struggling secondary will likely have a realtivly easy day, tackling in the open field must improve.
Offensively, quarterback Conner Weigman’s performance against Miami provided a glimpse into his very bright future, and after being harrased in the pocket for most of the afternoon, the offenisve line should be able to take care of the Warhawks pass rushers, while, aggreeing with Pete, the Aggies passing attack should yield results, which will hopefully include more looks to Ainias Smith and Moose Muhammad III.
Receiving more criticim for an early out of conference loss that Alabama’s ten point home defeat to Texas, I expect the Aggies to readily respond with at least 40 points and three or more sacks on defense. It’s time to reset, and refocus.”
Prediction: Texas A&M 45, UL Monroe 13
Pete Hernandez, Staff writer:
“There’s no skirting around it, Texas A&M was punched in the mouth last week against a good Miami team. It underscored the areas that needed to be addressed, and the good news is they can tighten things up immediately. The question is, will they illustrate that against a team they should handily beat in UL Monroe?
I say they will, and look for both the offense and defense to be more efficient and play with discipline. I think we’ll get a better display from the offensive line, creating a clean pocket for Conner Weigman to unleash the passing attack. Additionally, the secondary won’t be nearly as tested, but, they should tackle better in space compared to last week’s lackluster performance.
Given all the noise this week, and with the chip on their shoulder, A&M should easily dominate by double-digits. I’m looking for contributors like Ainias Smith and Moose Muhammad III to get more heavily involved, as they should.”
Prediction: Texas A&M 48, UL Monroe 10
Jarrett Johnson, Staff writer:
I’m sticking with my original prediction for this game simply because I do believe this team is different and will not be allowed to go into a funk. The Miami game did confirm a few concerns I had about this team, but the Aggies just have too much talent to let this game be competitive once they are mid-way through the second quarter. The last time these two teams met Jimbo was two games into his first season as head coach and just dropped a heartbreaker to a very good ACC team in Clemson.
The situation is a little different as back then, the 1-1 record looked very promising early in the Jimbo era. Today, this 1-1 is concerning but not alarming just yet, as the defensive execution and scheme need to look impressive against the Warhawks. However, if it’s late in the third quarter and the defense has a repeat performance of the Miami game, we are in for a long season with Durkin eventually getting sent down the ole dusty trail.
None of that will matter on Saturday because UL Monroe will not be able to stop the Aggies on special teams or the offense. Conner will continue to feed Thomas and Evans for multiple touchdowns, and I predict Ainas Smith will return a punt for a TD before the clock hits triple zeros.
Even though it is obvious the defense has areas to fix, Saturday will be a repeat of the New Mexico game with a few early worries but will shut them down before any real momentum builds. My prediction for the defense is Walter Nolen with get a strip-sack and Cooper with scoop it for a score.
Prediction: Texas A&M 50, Monroe 10
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