Good Bull Hunting - Texas A&M vs. Arizona State 2015Beating the hell outta the blogospherehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50575/gbh-fav.png2015-09-09T14:56:40-05:00http://www.goodbullhunting.com/rss/stream/88312422015-09-09T14:56:40-05:002015-09-09T14:56:40-05:00Scouting the A&M Offense
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<p>The 2015 version of Aggie football looks a lot like the 2014 version, with a few subtle changes.</p> <p>Texas A&M faced a torrential downpour of blitzes and pressure from Arizona State Saturday night, and despite some ugly moments, managed to scrape out 400+ yards and 31 points on offense.</p>
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<p>First things first, from a scouting perspective. Generally speaking, what does A&M's offense look like from a personnel, formation, and run/pass mix standpoint? Generally, A&M lines up with "10" personnel (one running back and four wide receivers), in either a spread (two receivers to either side, with the quarterback in the shotgun) or trips (one receiver to one side and three to the other) formation, and drops back to pass slightly more than half the time.</p>
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<p>As promised, I'll start with an overview of things. A&M was successful (gain 50% of necessary yards on 1st and 2nd down and 100% on 3rd and 4th) 41% of the time overall. That number was much lower in the first three quarters, as A&M finished strong in the fourth quarter by having success on 12 of the last 13 plays. A good game for this offense should be more around 50%, with 60% being stellar.</p>
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<p>This being the first week of the season, here's a quick visual review on formations. Since Kevin Sumlin brought his offense to College Station in 2012, the Aggies have not been a team that uses a lot of different formations. Saturday night was no different. 76/79 snaps were run out of these three formations:</p>
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<p>Spread:</p>
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<img alt="spread formation" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/F-6sE-C9hMwTsaH5UaWFQPXGai8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4039294/Texas_A_M_vs_Arizona_State_2015_-_Highlights_-_YouTube.0.png">
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<p>Trips:</p>
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<p>Sloth (a formation name I made up because it features one slot receiver and an H back):</p>
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<p>There were a couple small variations to those, like when they stacked their two slot receivers a few times in their trips formation (they never did this last year):</p>
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<p>The Aggies also ran a couple plays with "20" personnel, two running backs and three wide receivers, and when they did that, they ran what I call a "pro" formation, with backs on either side of the running back.</p>
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<p>But James White got hurt on the second play of that formation, and we never saw it again. The only other variation all night was when they moved the H back towards or away from the slot receiver in their sloth formation:</p>
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<p>The last formation we saw was when Kyler Murray was in the game and A&M motioned <span>Tra Carson</span> out of the backfield to create an empty set.</p>
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<p>Interestingly enough, A&M never used five wide receivers and never attached a tight end to the line of scrimmage.</p>
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<p>As for the receivers, there was some movement throughout the game, mostly between the X and Z positions, which are the two outside receivers. Speedy Noil, who is almost exclusively used at the X position (on the left), did run a play or two at Z (on the right). Likewise, <span>Josh Reynolds</span> spends most of his time at Z, but played a few snaps at X, even catching a couple passes from that spot. Ratley played both X and Z, and <span>Jeremy Tabuyo</span> played a few snaps at Z.</p>
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<p>The inside receivers, Y and H, were manned almost exclusively by Christian Kirk and <span>Ricky Seals-Jones</span>. Don't quote me on this but I never noticed anyone else in there except for a few snaps at H for Boone Niederhofer. Depth at receiver appears to be an issue early on for the Aggies. Unless I missed it, we never saw Ed Pope, Frank Ineacho, <span>Sabian Holmes</span>, or anyone else.</p>
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<p>So how did the Aggies line up on 1st down and on 3rd downs? And what types of plays were called?</p>
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<p>Here is what A&M did on each down from a play calling perspective:</p>
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<p>As the season goes on, I plan on separating out <span>Kyle Allen's</span> throws to compare with Kyler Murray's, but for now, they are lumped together. Here is how they did in a variety of different situations:</p>
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<p>As you can see, Arizona State, as expected, blitzed. A lot. A&M dropped back to pass 44 times, and ASU blitzed on 35 of them. If there's one area of success that stood out for A&M in the passing game, it was on quick passes. I chart those to include all screen passes and any quick passes that are thrown on a three step drop rhythm (single read throws where the quarterback throws on timing, typically slants, quick outs, and stop or hitch routes). On these, A&M scored both passing touchdowns and had a passer rating of 222.</p>
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<p>Other quick trends and notes:</p>
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<li><span>On those last 13 plays that were so successful, every single play was run from either the middle of the field or the left hash. None from the right. And of those 13, seven were passes. Of those seven passes, six were thrown to the left, which was to the short side of the field. </span></li>
<li><span>Related to that note, during that stretch, Damion Ratley and Josh Reynolds both spent time in the X spot, the spot where Speedy Noil normally plays. I don't know if that's meaningful yet, but it's something to keep an eye on. Noil only had one catch all game, and in the fourth quarter, other people playing his position were targeted successfully. </span></li>
<li><span>From the left hash, A&M was successful 47% of the time. From the right hash? Only 30%. Possibly meaningless, but again I found it interesting. </span></li>
<li><span>1st down effectiveness was just 24%. Runs were 19% successful, passes were 29%. The Aggies need to win 1st down more.</span></li>
<li><span>A&M used 10 personnel 81% of the time, and 11 personnel 14% of the time.</span></li>
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<div>Now for some fun stuff. A number of things stood out either from a scheme standpoint or from an execution standpoint.</div>
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<div>First of all, A&M did some zone read stuff. It was evident early as Kyle Allen kept the ball on the second play of the game. The Aggies did a couple different versions that I noticed, and they also added a cool run/pass option to a few of them. When running the zone read, the offense will typically leave the defensive end unblocked, and the quarterback will simply watch him and decide whether to give or keep the ball. It puts the defensive end in a tough spot. So to make things easier on their defensive end and take away that play from the Aggies, Arizona State started blitzing a corner back on the front side. This brought two unblocked defenders into the play, so that one (the defensive end) could focus on crashing inside to the running back every time while the corner could have the quarterback. So how did A&M counter? By giving the quarterback a third option. Instead of handing off or running, the quarterback has the option to throw to the slot receiver if he is left uncovered by a blitz from his defender. (This was all covered yesterday as well in <a href="http://www.goodbullhunting.com/ranger222/2015/9/8/9274169/arizona-state-game-review-aggies-prevail-in-spite-of-sun-devil-blitzkrieg">Ranger222's post on the game</a>.)</div>
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<div>This was used on the long touchdown pass to Kirk and also on another third down conversion to Kirk. The circled defender is the "extra' defender that ASU brings to account for the quarterback run.</div>
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<div>Once he shows his intention to blitz, this running play is dead.</div>
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<div>Because there are two unblocked defenders, one (the defensive end) crashes aggressively to the running back, while the other is assigned to the quarterback. But Kyle Allen sees the blitz and knows that the slot receiver is now uncovered.</div>
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<div>The defender responsible for the slot receiver has so much ground to cover, it's an easy victory for the offense. It's just a tough read to make and must be done quickly and with an accurate throw.</div>
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<div>Here's the exact same look again. The key defender is circled. If he stays out in coverage, the zone read works as designed.</div>
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<div>But again, he crashes in, assigned to stop the quarterback if it's a zone read or to just blitz if it's a pass.</div>
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<div>Again Kyle Allen sees it and throws to a receiver who has plenty of room to operate.</div>
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<div>So what about that 4th and 1 play that A&M failed to convert? Message board fans seem to think it was a terrible call. Well, it was the exact same play as the two above, but the quarterback, this time Kyler Murray, didn't make the read. Here you can see the exact same formation with the exact same defender being highlighted.</div>
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<div>The Aggies are leaving the last defender on the line of scrimmage unblocked here and the plan is to run a zone read off of him. But meanwhile, once again, the slot defender shows his intention to blitz.</div>
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<div>The unblocked defender on the edge doesn't even look at the quarterback, he just charges untouched towards the running back. The blitzing defender has the quarterback as his responsibility, so Murray, seeing that he can't keep the ball, gives it. But that doesn't work, obviously.</div>
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<div>So what should he have done? The same thing as what was done above. Pulled the ball down and quickly thrown it to the uncovered slot receiver. Just like in the other examples, his defender was more than 10 yards away from him. It would have been an easy conversion.</div>
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<div>That's just one example of how sometimes a run play isn't necessarily a bad call, it might just be a bad read. I'm not picking on Kyler Murray, it just happened to stand out. It's a tough read to make at full speed, I'm sure, but for packaged plays like this to work, getting the ball to the right place is crucial.</div>
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<div>Other little things affect the execution of the offense in big ways. For example, in the play below, <span>Speedy Noil's</span> inability to defeat press coverage ruins both his route and Ricky Seals-Jones' route, causing Kyle Allen to abandon the first two reads he had and ultimately get sacked and fumble the ball. Here's the pre-snap look and the routes the receivers were supposed to run.</div>
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<div>ASU brings their safety down low, which indicates that a blitz is coming. So now Speedy Noil is being covered with press coverage by the corner and Seals-Jones is covered by the safety when his corner blitzes.</div>
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<div>The safety up top is really only worried about the top two receivers, so that leaves Speedy and Ricky in man to man battles. A&M runs something they ran several times, with play action to the running back who crosses his face and then roll to the left behind the pulling lineman who is supposed to block the unblocked edge rusher from the faked zone read.</div>
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<div>Unfortunately, Noil can't get off the line of scrimmage.</div>
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<div>All the other receivers are already five yards downfield. But the bigger problem is that not only is Speedy not a viable option, Seals-Jones is now out of the play because Noil failed to clear the space around him. With Allen rolling to the left, those are really his only two primary options. Once they are bottled up, he tries to go back right but gets sacked an fumbles.</div>
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<div>There were other plays I could show you that were there to be made but just didn't happen. Carson missed some big holes he could have run through. Kyler Murray missed the hole on the one quarterback draw he ran. The quarterback didn't see Jeremy Tabuyo running free down the right side for what would have been an easy touchdown in the 3rd quarter. Again my intention isn't to pick on those guys but just point out a few things that I noticed when watching the game with a more critical eye. There were plays to be made. Damion Ratley dropped a couple passes that would have extended drives. Blocks were missed. Throws were inaccurate (by both quarterbacks at times). If these little things get fixed, A&M will look much better.</div>
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<div>It will be interesting to see how the play calling changes in the next two weeks. Having James White healthy should hopefully allow A&M to do a little more work in their two back sets, and playing easier opponents should hopefully allow A&M to open things up a little bit for the quarterbacks and let them sling the ball around a little more. The game plan against Arizona State was conservative by design, but the Ags will need to be more aggressive (and effective) to beat some of their SEC West foes.</div>
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<div>Check back next week for more numbers and analysis of A&M's game against Ball State. As the season goes on and more data starts to take shape, I'll start including more numbers both for that week's game and for the season as a whole.</div>
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https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2015/9/9/9274419/texas-am-offense-review-aggies-film-room-arizona-statemattywatty012015-09-08T10:14:10-05:002015-09-08T10:14:10-05:00Aggies Prevail in Spite of Sun Devil Blitzkrieg
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<figcaption>Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>It got ugly at times during Texas A&M's season opener, and there were moments where the game felt like it was slipping away. Yet the Aggies prevailed 38-17 against a Top 15 team. Weird, isn't it? Let's talk about it. </p> <p>Last week coming into this game, we talked about the importance of line play against Arizona State. We know one of those groups showed up, as the Aggie defensive line balled for the entire contest, driving Arizona State into submission. The Aggie offensive line? Very sketchy. We're going to spend a lot of time today talking about that group.</p>
<p>But before we get there, let's highlight how well the defense played. It's no secret that new Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis has made quite an impact for this Aggie squad. You can watch this squad and immediately see the coaching turnaround from the little things this group is doing that they weren't in 2014. Take this play from LB Shaan Washington as an example --</p>
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<p>Washington reads this play immediately and he gets down to the line of scrimmage to prevent Arizona State from setting the edge. This forces the Sun Devil ball carrier back inside where the rest of the defenders are waiting. It doesn't seem like much, especially since this play ended up gaining decent yardage, but these are the type of things the Aggies weren't doing in 2014. This was the same type of play that Missouri's Russell Hansbrough took to the sideline and scampered for a touchdown last year. These are the defensive fundamentals that a good unit has to have. This, along with finally being able to tackle in space, could vault the 2015 Aggie defense into one of the top units in the country.</p>
<p>Now, to the offense.......</p>
<h3>Arizona State Blitzkrieg</h3>
<p>Going back and re-watching the game, I was a little shocked how all-out Arizona State went on the defensive side of the ball. They decided coming in they were going to bring at least 5 defenders on every single play, if not 6 or 7. This was something they most likely picked up on from watching film of how John Chavis himself used to attack us at LSU. Here is an example of their extreme rush. These three plays are all from one series, back to back to back.</p>
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<p>To accomplish the blitzkrieg, they would usually bring one of their middle linebackers. Additionally, they also decided to crash their outside linebackers on every single play, and this ended up giving us the most trouble on the night. But to protect the backside of their defense due to this crashing outside linebacker, they would also take their nickel corner out of coverage and bring him close to the line of scrimmage, just in case we got cute with running some kind of reverse. Taking their nickel out of coverage gave them a lot of flexibility in using their linebackers in both run and pass blitzes. Let's go to the 4th and 1 Arizona State stop as an example.</p>
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<p>You can see on this play #28 of ASU leaving the slot receiver and coming towards the line. This allows #58 <span>Salamo Fiso</span> to fully commit to stopping the run, and ends up making the play in the backfield. If we watch this play, there was nothing that the offensive line could do to really prevent this. In fact, without Fiso crashing in, we pick up this first down. The right side of the line in <span>Germain Ifedi</span> and <span>Joseph Cheek</span> are doing their job and driving their man off the line. Center <span>Mike Matthews</span> has his man turned. This should have been enough for <span>Tra Carson</span> to pick up the first down, but we didn't have anyone to account for Fiso all night long. We simply just got out-schemed on this play.</p>
<h3>In-Game Adjustments</h3>
<p>How could we have prevented the blitzkrieg? For one, we desperately needed an extra blocker for this game. Having a viable tight end would have made a lot of difference. We did at times bring #47 <span>Caden Smith</span> into the game as an extra blocker in the backfield, and he usually did try to block backside and prevent the defender from crashing down. Why we didn't use more of Caden on Saturday night is unclear. But it is very clear -- we need to find a reliable TE on this roster. Maybe that is Caden Smith, or maybe it is someone else, much like we went to <span>Ben Compton</span> at the end of last season. One guy who could possibly fit that role is Koda Martin. Whoever it is, we need to get them developed and ready to play because Arizona State's blueprint to beat us is now on tape for the rest of our opponents to see and utilize. We will see this again later in the season.</p>
<p>We also at times wanted to use our second running back as a blocker. In the first quarter we brought in both Tra Carson and <span>James White</span> at the same time, and that combination was working well. Here is an example of Carson blocking the backside defender for White's run.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately, White would leave the game with an injury not long after this play. We potentially could have seen that look a majority of the night had White been healthy and it might have eased some of our offense's woes.</p>
<p>Another thing we could have done more was making Arizona State pay for taking their nickel corner off the slot receiver and leaving their safety matched up in coverage. We did do a little of this as an in-game adjustment, as shown here.</p>
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<p>You can see in that video the Sun Devil nickel corner leaving Christian Kirk to come towards the line, and we make the throw to Kirk. The issue here was that the action in the backfield was too slow; we needed to get Kirk the ball quicker on that screen. That should have been an automatic check anytime the QB saw the nickel corner coming towards the line. Eventually, Christian Kirk would score the game sealing touchdown with the same adjustment.</p>
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<h3>Grading the Offensive Line</h3>
<p>So now that we understand what Arizona State was doing, let's get back to the offensive line. How well did they play? This question should be broken up into individual players and their positions. True freshman Keaton Sutherland started the game at left guard for Texas A&M, but he was promptly pulled from the game after the first drive, and <span>Jeremiah Stuckey</span> played for the rest of the game. Stuckey also didn't play that well of a game. He did get beat with pressure a couple of times in pass protection, but the biggest issue was his inability to drive his man off the ball. There was very little movement off the line of scrimmage from him. <span>Avery Gennesy</span> started at left tackle, and he ended up playing a mixed game. We saw flashes at times of Gennesy being a good player, but there were also times where he did not finish the play. Too many times we saw him disengage from his man early and stand around and look at the play while it was still going on. We have to have offensive linemen that are finishers. Gennesy should be a good player in time. This was his first game action in two years. The rest of the line played fairly well. Mike Matthews is never going to be a guy who drives his man off the line, but he does play with good technique and was able to turn his man on most run plays. Joseph Cheek and Germain Ifedi played very well on the right side. Each had their moments where their man got the best of them, but overall they did their jobs. Left guard is where we are gong to see most of our issues this fall and is currently the weakest link.</p>
<p>One thing we didn't see too much of on Saturday night was pulling linemen. Several times when fans got an opportunity to watch AggieFBLife's Periscope of practice, we saw a lot of pulling linemen in power and counter plays. We didn't see any of those plays in the first half, but we did see some of it in the 2nd half, like this run play. These run plays were actually some of our best gains on the ground for the night.</p>
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<p>Expect to see more of these looks as the season progresses.</p>
<h3>Overall, was the play calling bad?</h3>
<p>I honestly wouldn't say it was bad. I know it is easy to hate on Jake Spavital. If anything, I would say we got out-schemed from a formation standpoint. We should have committed to having an extra blocker in the backfield for the entire game, whether it had been Caden Smith or someone else.</p>
<p>One thing you have to consider is the constant switching of <span>Kyle Allen</span> and Kyler Murray in and out of the game. Had we stuck with Allen for the full game, then going with that extra blocker is a must. But with Murray in the game, you kind of want to spread the defense out and give Murray room to scramble. You don't necessarily want to bring the defense in closer. So, it was a delicate balance of formation selection based on situation and what QB was in the game at the current time.</p>
<h3>QB Controversy?</h3>
<p>We can already see the Aggie faithful are splitting into two fractions, the Kyle Allen club and the Kyler Murray truthers. So should we name either the starter the rest of the season? I'm actually okay if we decide to rotate in QBs, depending on game flow. It's unconventional and something I wouldn't necessarily agree with, but when Kyler Murray was in the game, it changed the Arizona State defense. All of a sudden they couldn't send their blitzkrieg and had to leave defenders back to "spy" on Murray for when he ran. That helped take some of the edge off their blitz packages in the final quarters when Kyle Allen re-entered the game. It's never a bad thing to have Kyler Murray waiting in your back pocket and causing defensive coordinators to worry about both QBs and game plan for both QBs heading into the game.</p>
<h3>Final Thoughts</h3>
<p>When I woke up Sunday morning, I was really concerned that the A&M offense was going to be our anchor holding down the 2015 team, and not the defense. But after going through and re-watching the Arizona State game and understanding what the Sun Devils were doing that really flustered us, I'm a little more confident that this was a one-game anomaly than a predictor on what is to come the rest of the way. But like I mentioned, Arizona State's attack is now on film and will serve as a blueprint for the other eleven teams we face this season. We'll see that type of attack again, most likely from Arkansas and definitely Ole Miss. We will have to be prepared going forward. Improvement from the left side of the line, a healthy <span>James White</span>, and finding a tight end on the roster will go a long way to improving the 2015 Aggie offense.</p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/ranger222/2015/9/8/9274169/arizona-state-game-review-aggies-prevail-in-spite-of-sun-devil-blitzkriegRanger2222015-09-07T09:49:13-05:002015-09-07T09:49:13-05:00Daily Bull 9.7.15: Room for Cautious Overreaction
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<figcaption>Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<h4><a href="http://www.aggielandoutfitters.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=116785+116786">2015 Sideline Shoes now available!</a></h4>
<p>"They're T-Stars for your feet" - @jimmygards</p>
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<p><b>BIG 12? MOAR LIKE BIG [expletive redacted] RIGHT AHHHRGGHHLL.</b> "Hey guys, we don't know what the big deal is; it's just the Starship Enterprise no that's totally a spaceship for real." Turns out a marching band shaped like a body part is the quickest way to <a href="http://www.bringonthecats.com/2015/9/6/9269057/big-12-conference-gives-k-state-the-boot" target="_blank">get kicked out of the Big 12 Conference.</a> That's all it took, and we had the FTAB at our disposal all those years, smdh.</p>
<p><b>LISTEN TO THE MAN. </b>Turns out Chief has been <a target="_blank" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/garrett-hall-showing-theyre-dynamic-duo-texas-m-063405116--ncaaf.html">touting the Hall/Garrett duo this whole off-season </a>and it only took a monumental performance on primetime TV for all of us to get on board. Get some stock tips from this man. Buy some scratch-offs on days his mustache is curled at a certain angle. Use his wardrobe selection to schedule your crop watering for an optimal yield at harvest time.</p>
<p><b>Hey we were good on defense the other night but let's tap the brakes a little bit. </b>The Eagle is <a target="_blank" href="http://www.theeagle.com/aggie_sports/cessna-texas-a-m-s-defensive-performance-vs-arizona-state/article_894de0c4-5524-11e5-8ea2-1bf1f345972f.html">excited about Saturday's performance,</a> but I mean come on, throwing out an intro like this is just begging for a loss to Vandy or something.</p>
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<p><span>In case you’re wondering, the national championship will be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.</span></p>
<p><span>Talk about possible destiny, A&M started the season with a 38-17 victory over Arizona State. </span></p>
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<p>No, don't talk about possible destiny. Talk about what a coach says when you tell him to talk about stuff in a presser.</p>
<p><b>WE SHOULD TOTALLY KNOW BETTER WE KNOW BUT BILL C. IS SAYING IT'S OKAY. </b>If last year's South Carolina game taught us anything, it's that we should temper our expectations, but damnation this is college football, and there's no room for rational behavior. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/9/7/9271633/notre-dame-texas-am-football-2015">It's okay to overreact in our case </a>because we looked really damn good on defense.</p>
<p>Have a great Labor Day everyone, and travel safe if you're on the roadways.</p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/camacho/2015/9/7/9270809/daily-bull-9-7-15Rush Roberts2015-09-06T14:59:26-05:002015-09-06T14:59:26-05:00Photo Gallery: Texas A&M defeats Arizona State
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<figcaption>Myles Garrett celebrates | <a href='https://twitter.com/312Will'>Will Leverett</a></figcaption>
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<p>The Aggies beat the Sun Devils 38-17 at NRG Stadium.</p> <p>Photographer Will Leverett shot the game for us on Saturday night. Give him a follow on Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/312Will">@312Will</a>) and check out his <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wleverett/">Flickr account</a>. We hope the SID at Texas A&M will let us shoot future games.</p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2015/9/6/9269969/photo-gallery-texas-a-m-vs-arizona-state-2015cuppycup2015-09-06T12:02:41-05:002015-09-06T12:02:41-05:00Postgame Interviews: Sumlin, Carson, and Garrett
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<p>The head coach and the offensive and defensive leaders spoke with the media following the 38-17 victory over #15 Arizona State.</p> <p>Here are a few clips from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UU4dba3jPeaesN9tpy9Q6BmA" target="_blank">Texas A&M Athletics</a>. If you're wondering why there were no interviews with Christian Kirk or Kyler Murray, remember that Coach Sumlin does not allow freshmen to speak with the media during the season.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Myles Garrett and Tra Carson (On-Field)</h3>
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<h5>Highlights:</h5>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li><span>Myles Garrett: "it's about respect"</span></li>
<li><span>Tra Carson: Larry Jackson's conditioning got him ready to shoulder the load when James White was injured</span></li>
<li><span>Tra can't wait to get back to Kyle Field</span></li>
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<p> </p>
<h3>Kevin Sumlin (Press Conference)</h3>
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<h5>Highlights:</h5>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li><span>Knew Chavis would have an immediate effect on defensive performance</span></li>
<li><span>"If you learn anything from last year, you learn that this victory doesn't mean much of anything yet"</span></li>
<li><span>Three-phase game: defense solid the whole game, offense did what they needed to at the end, special teams were outstanding</span></li>
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<p> </p>
<h3>Myles Garrett and Tra Carson (Press Conference)</h3>
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<h5>Highlights:</h5>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li><span>Myles: On 14 tackles for loss and 9 sacks: "Coach Chavis put us in position to make plays and we executed well."</span></li>
<li><span>Myles: "There was no place for us to go but up."</span></li>
<li><span>Tra: ASU gave a lot of funky looks on defense; offense did a good job of sticking to the run to get tough yards.</span></li>
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https://www.goodbullhunting.com/camacho/2015/9/6/9269401/video-postgame-interviews-with-kevin-sumlin-tra-carson-and-mylesRush Roberts2015-09-06T10:54:04-05:002015-09-06T10:54:04-05:00IT TAKES EVERYONE
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<p>*wakes up from black out* What happened? Did football happen? It did? *faints*</p> <blockquote class="embedly-card">
<h4><a href="http://www.aggielandoutfitters.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=116785+116786">2015 Sideline Shoes now available!</a></h4>
<p>"They're T-Stars for your feet" - @jimmygards</p>
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<p><b>RECAPS! OMG THEY ARE FUN.</b></p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li><span>Stringsays is back with his <a target="new" href="http://www.goodbullhunting.com/stringsays/2015/9/5/9267955/postgame-thoughts-texas-a-m-defeats-arizona-state-38-17?_ga=1.100456793.659500692.1394915272">Postgame Thoughts</a>. Pretty much he's going to throw money at Coach Chavis to make up for the measly pay Texas A&M is currently giving him because he deserves more. </span></li>
<li><span>Rush has the <a target="new" href="http://www.goodbullhunting.com/camacho/2015/9/6/9268211/by-the-numbers-arizona-state-texas-aggies-postgame-stats">By the Numbers</a> up right now.You can see that we are mathematically superior and HOLY HELL NINE SACKS.</span></li>
<li><span>The mothership is extremely pleased with us with week one of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIGVcgdnSfw">Wake Up, College Football</a>! It starts off with the whoomp-whoomp sadness of the Notre Dame-Texas game so you get your dose of schadenfreude for the day.</span></li>
<li><span>Sports Illustrated apparently thought ASU would be better than they actually are (seriously I knew they weren't a cupcake school, but still) and had a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.si.com/college-football/2015/09/05/texas-am-aggies-beat-arizona-state-sun-devils">revelation that A&M might do well this season</a>.</span></li>
<li><span>How well could A&M do this year? <a target="_blank" href="http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/texas-am-aggies-playoff-contenders-arizona-state-sun-devils-christian-kirk-myles-garrett-090515">Stewart Mandel is decorating his playoff party in maroon</a>. Can we jump on the CFB playoff wagon just yet? BAS should let you know to be cautious and wait until further into the season, but it is perfectly fine for you to have extraordinary Sunday Dreams. </span></li>
</ul>
<div><b>CELEBRATION AND DEFEAT.</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span>Cuppycup was released from his detainment room and <a target="new" href="http://www.goodbullhunting.com/2015/9/6/9268337/video-aggie-war-hymn-after-texas-a-m-beats-arizona-state-38-17?_ga=1.100456793.659500692.1394915272">shot a cool video on the field</a>. He got dangerously close to Kyler but stayed far enough away that he didn't draw attention. (Please credential GBH more, officials. We are well behaved.)</span></li>
<li><span>I'm really digging Coach Sumlin's motto of it taking everyone to win a game. Hell yes, it does. See the wet and wild <a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodbullhunting.com/2015/9/6/9268397/texas-am-aggies-locker-room-celebration-after-arizona-state-game-sumlin?_ga=1.100456793.659500692.1394915272">postgame locker room speech here</a>.</span></li>
<li><span>Dude Bro, it'll be okay. Not to perpetrate sadness and mental instability, but an ASU fan was functional enough to post a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodbullhunting.com/2015/9/6/9268959/a-m-on-and-this-asu-fan-is-angry-nsfw">very interesting video last night.</a> I would like this video to be played at student orientation as a promotion to buy student tickets.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>THERE ARE OTHER AGGIE SPORTS GOING ON TODAY, I PROMISE. </b>The Volleyball team is up at 1 PM on the against New Mexico State on the second day of their invitational. (Previous game recaps<a target="_blank" href="http://www.12thman.com/news/2015/9/5/WVB_0905153540.aspx"> here</a>). Aggie Soccer is playing Abilene Christian (I assumed they took the same bus with their volleyball team) tonight at 6 PM. Both games are in College Station and will air on SEC Network+.</div>
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<div>Plenty more ASU coverage to follow, so you can celebrate this win hard until the next Tailgate.</div>
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<div>Whoop!</div>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/jac2013/2015/9/6/9269045/daily-bull-9-6-15-aggies-victory-arizona-state-team-effortJA Clark2015-09-06T08:45:38-05:002015-09-06T08:45:38-05:00Bruce Feldman has Myles Garrett at #1 in his first Heisman Top Five<blockquote>
<p><p>Myles Garrett, Texas A&M, DE: The 6-4, 262-pound Freak played a pivotal role in carving up a potent Arizona State offense, limiting the No. 15 Sun Devils to under 300 yards. Garrett not only had 2.5 sacks, 8 tackles, a forced fumble and drew a holding penalty, but he also drew double and triple teams and spurred his bookend mate Daeshon Hall to a four-sack night.</p></p>
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<div class="source"><p><a href="http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/texas-am-aggies-myles-garrett-alabama-crimson-tide-derrick-henry-heisman-top-5-feldman-090515">http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/texas-am-aggies-myles-garrett-alabama-crimson-tide-derrick-henry-heisman-top-5-feldman-090515</a></p></div>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2015/9/6/9268953/bruce-feldman-has-myles-garrett-at-1-in-his-first-heisman-top-fiveRush Roberts2015-09-06T08:27:47-05:002015-09-06T08:27:47-05:00By the Numbers: ASU
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<figcaption>"oops" | Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>This set of numbers is unfamiliar territory.</p> <p>This is gonna be about the defense. Much will be made about the offense's lack of identity, lack of consistency, lack of imagination, and lack of being the type of offense we're used to. There will be plenty on that later. This is a glass-is-half-full-because-we-just-beat-a-top-fifteen-team-by-three-touchdowns type of post. Let's go.</p>
<p><b>-1. </b>Turnover difference. Okay, so that's partially about the offense. Now we're done with the offense. The defense recovered a pair of fumbles including one around the five yard-line. Turnover difference hurt us last year because we weren't forcing them nearly often enough.</p>
<p><b>1. </b>Punt return touchdown. You just sort of felt that this game could hinge on a single explosive play, and this one sparked a lethargic team into a two-touchdown lead that gave the defense even more confidence.</p>
<p><b>2. </b>Fumble recoveries. Multiple turnovers is a good way to start out the season, especially against a solid team like ASU. And these were forced fumbles (five! of them) , not Auburn fumbles. Our guys were putting hats on the ball and flying around and doing other defense-speak things.</p>
<p><b>2.2. </b>Yards per rush by ASU. The D held ASU to under 100 rushing yards and under 300 total yards. Yeah, in a <i>whole game</i>. Back the money truck up to Chief's house, Eric.</p>
<p><b>26%. </b>Third down conversion rate for the Sun Devils (5/19). "Third and Chavis more like third and Myles amirite" No one said this, hopefully.</p>
<p><b>4. </b>Sacks by Daeshon Hall over on the other side. Sure, go ahead and triple-team Myles Garrett and hold him to 2 sacks and a forced fumble, that's fine with us.</p>
<p><b>5. </b>Penalties. The team had only five penalties for 50 total yards. In a week 1 game against a very good opponent away from Kyle Field. This is very good and should not be glossed over. Great job, Big 12 refs! The defense also forced five fumbles. That's good!</p>
<p><b>6. </b><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/DrNorrisCamacho/status/640354192972877824">DONOVANNNN</a>. Numero seis was a wrecking ball at the nickel. He had eight tackles, three for a loss, two sacks, and a pair of forced fumbles. To quote Charles Daniels:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><span>had them all out there steppin and fetchin </span></p>
<p><span>Like their heads was on fire and their asses was catchin</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><b>7. </b>Players with five or more tackles. And four of them are front seven players. Hall had seven on his own. Sevens are good. It's also the number of times Arizona State punted <i>in the first half</i>.</p>
<p><b>8. </b>Total tackles for Myles. That's fifteen tackles and six sacks from the starting defensive ends.</p>
<p><b>9. </b>Sacks. Wow. Neat.</p>
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</figure>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>10. </b>Punts by ASU. 10% touchdown return rate is acceptable.</p>
<p><b>33. </b>Yards. Longest play from scrimmage given up. And the only one over 21 yards. This is going to take some getting used to but not all change is for the worst.</p>
<p><b>291. </b>Yards. Again, that's how many yards we gave up in the entire game. That's like that one quarter Mizzou had last year. It's good. It's very good. Be happy, because the offense will eventually settle down and correct itself. The defense was the big unknown heading into this season.</p>
<p>Remember South Carolina from last season. Take it with a grain of salt because we have no idea how good Arizona State will end up being. But use this defensive performance as a measuring stick: we haven't had games like that against FCS schools in the past few years, let alone Pac-12 contenders. We're not a playoff team yet, but this is certainly more encouraging than last year's opener in the grand scheme of things because we know what the offense is capable of.</p>
<p>Let's have a great week. FOOTBALL IS FUN.</p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/camacho/2015/9/6/9268211/by-the-numbers-arizona-state-texas-aggies-postgame-statsRush Roberts