Seven games into Texas A&M’s 2023 football season, the Aggies sit at a disappointing 4-3, with a 2-2 record in the SEC. After falling to Tennessee 20-13 on Saturday afternoon, the Aggies under Jimbo Fisher have now dropped eight straight road matchups, while Jimbo has yet to beat a ranked team on the road since 2016.
As mediocrity has once again set in halfway through the season, Fisher’s future with the program has reached a stalemate as the Aggies enter the bye week in bad shape, both physically and mentally.
While the problems were scattered throughout both sides, Texas A&M’s resilient defense did its job against the Volunteers, and outside of allowing 232 yards on the ground, the Aggies limited quarterback Joe Milton to just 100 passing yards and kept him in check with three sacks and eight tackles for on the afternoon.
Offensively, first-year OC Bobby Petrino deserves some blame for several play-call miscues. Still, the wheels came off after initially taking a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, and just like we witnessed in the loss to Alabama last Saturday, the Aggies’ porous offensive line was a consistent issue with no answer in sight. Quarterback Max Johnson (16/34, 223 yards, 2 INT) was inaccurate and indecisive for the entirety of the second half. While he shoulders most of the blame, Texas A&M’s run game has been nonexistent, with an average of 1.9 yards per carry in their last two games.
We can get open better, we can play better, Max is playing good football. He is a really good player, good kid, and competes his butt off.
Johnson has had his issues, but knowing his experience, toughness, and willingness to change, I expect improvement to come in time under Petrino’s tutelage despite the poor play in the trenches. As Conner Weigman continues to heal, Johnson remains the only viable option.
However, these issues always make their way back to the top, and Jimbo Fisher’s lack of second-half adjustments in the past two weeks, coupled with questionable game management decisions, have hampered the program’s chances of reaching anything close to a state of consistency, something Aggie fans are sadly accustomed to in Fisher’s sixth season.
Focusing on the root causes this season, Fisher’s hiring tactics, especially second-year offensive line coach Steve Addazio, have been an utter failure, as the lack of development and personnel issues in the trenches have constantly kept the offense behind the sticks, while Weigman, and now Johnson have sustained blow after blow in the pocket.
Expecting any coaching change at this time is an exercise in futility with five games left in the year, but that doesn’t mean future changes aren’t coming within the program if things stay the same after the bye week. It’s time to see how much is left in the tank for Fisher and Co. in 2023.
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