SEC: Texas A&M Aggies
Okay, Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher – it’s time to get this thing going already.
Going 17-9 in two seasons is hardly miserable – especially compared to the start of the Scott Frost era at Nebraska and the Chip Kelly regime at UCLA – but the hope was for the head man with the national championship on the resumé to step in and turn the program into what LSU became last year.
That might be coming, and it’s never going to be an easy fight in a division with Alabama, Auburn, and the defending national champion – not to mention Ole Miss and Mississippi State with their improved coaching staffs – but there’s a whole lot to like about what’s ahead for the Aggies.
First, they don’t have the 2019 schedule.
Last year’s slate was unfair, with road games at Clemson, Georgia and LSU to go along with home dates against Alabama and Auburn. A&M beat all the mediocre to bad teams, and lost to the five good ones in an 8-5 season.
Again, that’s not awful, but A&M is supposed to be good enough to beat anyone.
This year, it has to go Alabama and Auburn, but instead of going to Clemson, it hosts Colorado.
Instead of playing Georgia on the road, it gets Vanderbilt.
Five of the first six games of the season are against teams that didn’t go bowling, and the sixth is against Mississippi State. Throw in the dates against South Carolina, Ole Miss and Vandy, and the Aggies play a whopping eight games against teams that couldn’t at least get a bowl invite.
The receiving corps needs a few new parts, and losing Braden Mann wasn’t just another punter, but almost everyone is back on the offensive line, the running backs are strong, and Kellen Mond is going into what seems like his 14th year as the starting quarterback. Oh yeah …
Almost every starter is back on the defense that held down Oklahoma State in the 24-21 Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl win.
Hoping there’s a season as planned, if Texas A&M doesn’t come up with something special this year, when?
– Texas A&M Schedule & Analysis
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