POST GAME THOUGHTS: A&M BEATS LSU

So let’s talk facts surrounding this game before we get into the minutiae. A&M has been off for three weeks, where a good number of our players (including a number of starters) were quarantined. There was a torrential downpour today that impacted our ability to do anything particularly well.

The offense played really poorly. Might be the worst offensive showing we’ve had since...well LSU last year at least.

And we still won by 13 points. We’ve won four straight SEC games by double digits.

So while there’s a lot to be frustrated by tonight, let’s not make too much of this. We had an off night and won by almost 2 TDs. That means our team is pretty damn good.

OFFENSE

Nothing worked. Nothing at all. It obviously starts with Kellen and he had a terrible day. Ended the night 11/34 for 105 yards with 27 yards on the ground. He was off on his throws, made a terrible decision to reach the ball across the line of scrimmage on a fourth and short leading to a recovered fumble and just had a really bad night. Kellen was really bad.

But again, keep this in perspective. This is the same guy who threw at 71% against Arkansas and 80% against Florida. His inconsistency is maddening and this was an out of character poor game (check the stats). Only place to go is up from here. And if you’re about to type “BENCH HIM” you’re not in your right mind because we’re not gonna do that and it would be a bad idea.

Horrible night for Mond. Horrible.

The offensive line came into the night touted as an elite unit, but I thought they didn’t quite hold up their end of the bargain. Aside from two long runs from Kellen (26 yards) and Spiller (52 yards). We averaged 2.8 yard a carry and gave up a sack. Spiller was routinely hit in the backfield and driven for losses. The goons are better than what they showed tonight.

Hard to gauge the WRs because Kellen was so off tonight but 1) Derek Stingley is really good and 2) we couldn’t make the dang catches even when the ball was thrown in a catchable way. I saw drops from Hez, Wydermyer, and Lane. Again these weren’t perfect balls but in any other game our WRs make those catches and we give Mond some credit. Kudos to the LSU DBs for bullying our WRs because they basically took us out of the game.

About the only guy who had a decent night tonight was Spiller. He played hard, made some good reads, and tried to do as much as he could. But it was tough damn sledding.

Lastly, man...I don’t know. Play calling seemed off. Hard to call plays when nothing is working but chucking the ball 40 yards downfield when your QB is struggling seems like a bad idea. We know Kellen likes play action passes between the hashes and we didn’t see much of that. Everything was off.

THE DEFENSE

Oh god it feels so good to write good things now. This defense is elite. The front four is elite.. Demarvin Leal is elite. The defense is just so dang good. Consider this: We held them to 25 carries for 36 yards. That’s a 1.4 yard average. ONE POINT FOUR. That’s insanely good. This front four is something to watch and it seems like, even with Clemons out, we’re really starting to get a push from Tyree Johnson.

The linebackers caused havoc all night. Buddy Johnson finished the game with 9 tackles, including 5 solo and a pick 6. Hansford was his normal disruptive self. Great night for the LBs.

LSU had 231 yards passing, 73 of which came on the final drive. The DBs played really well and how about Elko timing his blitzes from the defensive backfield. Leon, Myles Jones...everyone got in on it. Just a fantastic night from our defense.

OVERALL

Man in 2015 we lost 19-6 to LSU with their QB going. 7/21 for 84 yards. Being on the winning end of one of these shitty games feels pretty damn good. Was it perfect LOL MAN HELL NO but a win is a win and this one puts at 6-1 for the season, and gives Jimbo and Kellen winning records against the Tigers.

Let’s clean shit up an go Beat the hell outta auburn.