So, there seems to be a few issues with our football team. No?
While the masses are out there knee-jerking to fire their individual scape goat, why don't we take a moment to actually work though the specific issues and see how we can prioritize a few things.
Let's set aside the defense for a moment. It is in awful shape, no doubt, but also injured beyond belief, and frankly a big issue in an of itself. We will return to it.
On the simple thing, let's start with the special teams. This is one area where things are in pretty good shape. Kickoffs and punt returns have been solid. Kickoffs and punts have also been good. PATs and field goals have been done well.
So now let's look at the offense, step by step.
At quarterback, we have Mr. Hill and Mr. Allen. Both have raw talent, and both have big wins on their belt. But they also have more than one poor performance to their name. Considering the number of options they have, one of them will have to step up. Odds are, all things considered, that Allen will continue on through this season, especially through the LSU game and probably for the bowl game. And there is some real talent there so we probably are as good as we are going to be there.
Running backs. There is more than enough talent here, and more often than not, they try to do the right things. The question here is more how, when and if they are used, which is a separate question.
Wide receivers. Here I have some real concerns. There is tons of talent, no doubt. And the discovery of Josh Reynolds is a fantastic surprise. But Malcome Kennedy has not been the senior leader since his injury in the Arkansas game. Noil has had opportunities, has made some fantastic plays, and will continue to grow, but even he has had a number of dropped passes. After that, though, is where things start to fall off. Ricky Seals-Jones has not been the "match-up nightmare" that was discussed before the season. Cameron Clear also hasn't been anything near what was discussed at the beginning of the year, even accounting for the ankle injury he suffered against South Carolina.
But the biggest concern, for me, is the coaching, from the play calling to the development of players. Where did all the drops come from? Why didn't we develop a vertical passing game after the Carolina match when it was an obvious deficiency, especially considering the team had three games against sub par opponents that they should have been able to have success against. And why in the world has the running game not been a bigger part of the team?
Let's start there. Last year, the talk was we didn't run the ball as much as we should have, especially after Manziel was hurt against Auburn. It was ironic in that McKinney was the running backs coach. Personally, I thought it might have been because he was more focused on the overall offense and taking advantage of Manziel that it kept him from making sure his area of focus was effective.
Then this year, after a successful game by Spavital in the Chic Fil A Bowl, the expectation was there would be more running, yet no. Even though you have a young set of quarterbacks and supposedly a fantastic, experienced, talented offensive line. I would have thought that we would have seen tons of runs out of the spread to take pressure off of the quarterbacks.
And then, nothing. Or very close to it. Nothing to try to establish a base so that you could throw from it.
And that also brings up to me what is the other major concern, beyond the coaching. That is the offensive line. What in the wild wild world of sports is going on here? Starting with the Arkansas game, we ran into team after team who was able to give our offensive line fits. Running or passing, we were not able to pass protect or run block anywhere near as well as we had in previous seasons.
This leads us to a very real problem. In large parts, this offense is designed to operate at a high tempo and put opponents under pressure. We have not operated at a high tempo for more than half of a game in quite a while. If we cannot operate our base offense in a way it was designed to, then what is the issue?
And on top of that, with a defense that is still getting transitioned from the Big XII to the SEC, that high tempo is actually necessary to keep pressure off of it.
That is a LOT of problems, even before we start talking about the actual defense itself. Think about that.
As for the defense itself, there have been bring spots, but injuries have limited or ended their contribution for the year. The biggest success story has clearly been Miles Garrett, setting the Aggie and SEC record for sacks in a season. Deshazor Everett has also played well at times, as has Armani Watts. There have been some other bright spots as well, but most of them have been freshmen in need of experience.
And for long swaths, totally unable to get the big stop, especially against the better teams. The success against Arkansas was in large part due to the Arkansas line getting tired rather than the Aggie defense coming of age. Almost always vulnerable to a deep pass and the run - a fantastically poor combination.
In terms of talent, there is talent on the defensive line, Garrett, Hall, etc. Watts and a few others have shown some real ability as well. But the team sure seems like it is two or three linebackers and two or three secondary players away from being even average. The line probably could use a few more players as well.
But a lot of the fundamentals have been missing - things that should be done better at this stage of the season.
And after all of that, we come to my biggest concern. Yes, I have a bigger concern than the personnel and the play calling and the coaching up.
It is what happened against Alabama. Against Mississippi State, against Ole Miss, we got beat by a better team. And clearly, Alabama is a better team. But then there was the kind of fight we had against State and Ole Miss, including a late game push that made the result more respectable. Against Alabama? Nothing. Zilch. The only time a Kevin Sumlin team has ever been shut out for a whole game.
Yes, in large part, there is a wearing down that occurs when you play Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and then Alabama. And yes, there was a lot of youth going through that meat grinder. But there was a level of give-up that we had not seen from this team under Kevin Sumlin.
All told, we have a tapestry that is full of problems and a landscape that could be a real problem both for this season and in the future. If this team doesn't win its last two games, there is a very real chance that the current top five recruiting class will not materialize, opening the door to the other schools we have been able to keep at bay the last few years. Baylor, TCU, UT, OU, Arkansas and, now that they have had a taste of success, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. And LSU, Alabama and Auburn will continue to be a challenge for the top quality players.
So what is the solution? I am not sure. There have been calls to fire Mark Snyder, demote Spavital, and a myriad of other, knee-jerk, shallow responses. That isn't to say that Snyder's dismissal isn't the right move, but there has to be more thought to it, more detail and more analysis.
Clearly, there are issues at the position coach level. It is hopeful dreaming to think that maybe it is as simple as the staff thought they had a better foundation than they actually did and it was too late to go back and try to work on things. My biggest concern is the offensive line - what should have been a strength of this club, even with the graduation of some of the players.
Also, apparently there is a lot of overconfidence with this organization. Swagcopter and all. At some point, that is probably going to have to be dealt with. Frankly, it isn't really very "Aggie" anyway.
From my personal perspective, everything needs to be evaluated. Every player, every coach and every process. And where improvements can be made, make them. While I think it very unlikely that Will Muschamp will come to coach our defense - if for no other reason than apparently his time in Austin left an impression - if there is someone available who can come in and improve the defense, we need to take it seriously. But does that mean we are ready to replace the defensive staff? And what on the offense?
At the end of the day, it is imperative that we continue the following that we currently have a reputation for:
* recruit well
* develop players for the NFL well
* be better than most college teams
Every loss - whether to LSU or in the bowl game - would have a negative impact on the ability to continue to do that. So there definitely is a need for those currently on board to play as well as possible.
After the LSU game, anything else that can be done to improve things must be considered otherwise we risk losing all the momentum we built up over the past three years.
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