Tag: Max Olson

ESPN identifies Texas A&M’s key game during the 2024 CFB season

Getting the Mike Elko era off to a good start begins with defeating Notre Dame in Week 1

Throughout the offseason, Mike Elko’s introduction as Texas A&M’s newest head coach has been centered around building the roster through the transfer portal while hoping that the returning players from Jimbo Fisher’s final season continue to develop and reach their full potential under Elko’s guidance.

Like every program, the quarterback position will make or break most teams’ seasons, but for the Aggies, redshirt sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman is poised to have a big bounce-back season after missing the final four games of the 2023 campaign, but that all hinges on how the offensive line improves.

From the portal, former Purdue defensive end and 2023 Big Ten sack leader (10) Nic Scourton has returned home, as the Bryan, Texas native joins a stacked defensive line littered with 5-star recruiting class, as he and returning junior DE Shemar Stewart look to cause immense havoc in the backfield as soon as Week 1.

Opening the season vs. Notre Dame, who came in at No. 7 in the AP preseason poll, No. 20-ranked Texas A&M looks to kick off the Mike Elko era with a big victory over a blue blood program, and according to ESPN writer Max Olson, defeating the Irish could result in momentum fueled jolt that could vault the Aggies to reaching their high ceiling:

“You couldn’t draw up a more fascinating matchup for Mike Elko’s debut at Texas A&M,” Olson states. “A Fighting Irish team with serious CFB expectations, led by Elko’s former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard, is coming to College Station for a prime-time showdown at Kyle Field. That’s as good as it gets for a signature victory opportunity to kick off a new era for the Aggies.”

If Texas A&M reaches its final record “ceiling,” ESPN expects a 10-2 finish. However, if things go drastically south, a 5-7 finish while missing a bowl game is also possible. But hey, after last season’s disastrous end, could it really get any worse?

Texas A&M will open the 2024 season vs. Notre Dame on Saturday, August 31. The game will air on ABC at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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Per ESPN, Texas A&M RB Rueben Owens ‘expected to miss the season’ with ‘lower body injury’

Per ESPN college football writers Max Olson and Pete Thamel, Aggies sophomore running back Rueben Owens will miss the entire 2024 campaign.

According to recent reports, the Texas A&M football team suffered a big loss this weekend.

Per ESPN college football writers Max Olson and Pete Thamel, Aggies sophomore running back Rueben Owens II will miss the entire 2024 campaign following a “lower body injury” that he suffered Saturday during a team scrimmage.

The news was confirmed by 247Sports reporter Carter Karels. He added that sources couldn’t provide a timeline of when Foster may be able to return.

Owens was selected to the SEC All-Freshman team last year. Among true freshmen, he led the conference in all-purpose yards (743), rushing yards (385) and kick return yards (249).

The underclassman tailback had a clean bill of health during his first season in College Station, appearing in all 13 games and making five starts. He tallied at least one rush in each contest and had a catch in eight games.

EJ Smith, the son of Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, transferred to Texas A&M this past offseason after four years at Stanford. Juniors, Amari Daniels and Le’Veon Moss, round out the RBs depth chart.

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The Athletic takes a look at Florida Gators, SEC dominance in recruiting

Over the past decade the SEC has dominated recruiting but the Gators have been very hit-or-miss with their carousel of head coaches.

It is no secret that the Southeastern Conference has been a perennial powerhouse over the past decade-plus, winning 10 of 14 national championships between four teams: the LSU Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers and — most distantly — the Florida Gators.

Ari Wasserman and Max Olson at The Athletic took a look at the SEC from top-to-bottom, assessing each school’s recruiting record over the past 10 years. The Georgia Bulldogs lead the way in the East Division, who can be expected to be among the top-5 classes year in and year out. The Gators trail their cross-border rivals by a small but appreciable margin, with reasonable expectations landing the program in the top-10 recruiting nationally on a yearly basis.

Here is a look at the aggregate data and the authors’ explanation.

Reasonable expectations: Top-10 classes

The data: Dating to 2002, Florida has had only two classes ranked lower than 10th nationally in seasons in which there was not a coaching transition, and both occurred under Jim McElwain’s watch — No. 12 in 2016 and No. 11 in 2017. Those rankings aren’t horrible, but they are below what should be expected at a school with so many built-in advantages.

Will Muschamp didn’t win a lot of games in Gainesville, but he stockpiled the roster with elite talent. His two full recruiting classes, in 2012 and 2013, ranked third nationally and included a total of five five-star prospects and seven other players ranked in the top 100. McElwain’s two full classes, on the other hand, had no five-stars and a total of five top-100 players. Dan Mullen is restoring order and will sign a third consecutive top-10 class in 2021.

The outlook: Florida, for all of its advantages, is proof that no program is immune to mediocre (or bad) coaching. Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer won at a high level, but Ron Zook, Muschamp and McElwain failed to meet high expectations. Mullen appears to be the right coach at the right time. He has the program recruiting at a consistent top-10 level once again, and that could get even better if the Gators start competing for championships, which they are close to doing. Florida has no ceiling.

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