Instant reaction: Texas A&M 41, Western Carolina 17

The game started off on a negative note with the suspension of Josh Reynolds and Speedy Noil for unspecified rules violation. An already-struggling offense was held back further by the loss of two of Kyler's favorite receivers. This also brings to light an ugly secret about A&Ms WR corps: we really only have 4 good WRs right now. But I thought the backups: Tabuyo, Pope, and even Ratley played fairly well tonight

Aside from a nine-second spell in the second quarter where we gave up 14 points this game went more or less as it should have gone.

Kyler isn't really ready. He didn't have a bad game but he didn't have a great one. He's just not ready to be a star and in order for this offense to really hum like it should the QB needs to have an excellent game. I'm not sure if Kyler is capable of having an excellent game at this point. He's capable of being "good enough" but in our offensive scheme "good enough" leads to a loss. I guess the million dollar question right now is whether he's better than a healthy Kyle. I think the answer there is no. But I'm not sure how fair it is to expect that after only his third start.

And is Kyle Allen healthy? He didn't look bad on that drive in the fourth--two good passes leading to a quick score. He moved the offense well. He looked more comfortable than Kyler does. WHO THE HELL STARTS AGAINST VANDY?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH OUR QBS?

Aside from that flukey 65 yard rush, the defense played as  well as anyone could expect. Perimeter run defense continues to be a bit of a concern but Western Carolina wasn't good enough to make our shortcomings really bite us.

If we play this way next week it's gonna be tough for us to win. We did what we had to do tonight but I don't know why we seem to trend downward at the end of the year. Maybe it's our freshmen hitting a wall. Maybe it's that our offense is predictable and once folks figure us out then it's over. I don't know man. I don't know.

There's nothing predictable about Aggie football (except our offense [BADUM-CHING]) right now. The roster is full of incredible athletes but then it never seems like we're able to get any synergy between players and coaches-mainly on offense.

The opponent wasn't a particularly sexy one but a malaise-filled, confusing showing didn't help anyone. Just a boring game tonight. But it's a win by 24 so I'll take it.

BTHO vandy.