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Texas A&M Football

Learned, Loved, Loathed: Appalachian State 17, Texas A&M 14

September 11, 2022
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Looking back on what was learned, loved and loathed from Texas A&M’s disastrous 17-14 loss to Appalachian State:

Learned

The Aggies were vastly overrated. A&M entered the game ranked No. 6 in the nation. They might stay in the polls but probably shouldn’t. One offensive touchdown. A defense allowing four third-down conversions on a pivotal drive. A kicker shanking a potential game-tying field goal. All this against an opponent with less talent from a lesser conference. That’s not the makings of a top-25 team.

Jimbo Fisher and his staff were severely out-coached. There is no other way to put it. Appalachian State coach Shawn Clark and staff did much more with much less. Defensive coordinator Dale Jones completely shut down Fisher’s offense. Offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay seemingly was always a step ahead of D.J. Durkin. Lest we forget, a short Appalachian State had one apparent touchdown pass wiped out on review because the receiver narrowly stepped out of bounds. On two other would-be touchdowns, Appalachian State receivers dropped passes.

Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Jimbo Fisher was outcoached on Saturday as A&M lost its first game to a non-Power 5 opponent since 2008.

Fisher has no confidence in the offensive line. He might deny that, but actions say more than words. On the opening drive of the second half, the Aggies faced third-and-1 at their 45-yard line. Fisher opted not to challenge Appalachian State’s defensive line with a run. Instead, he called a bubble screen to Ainias Smith, who was thrown for a 2-yard loss. The Aggies could’ve been physical but chose finesse. It backfired badly.

Loved

Devon Achane played hard as always. He rushed for a 26-yard touchdown for A&M’s first score. Later, on a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, he powered through a tackle attempt and dodged others. Alas, A&M had few other highlights.

Quarterback Haynes King bolted from the pocket for a 31-yard gain on third-and-14. That led to A&M’s first touchdown.

Defensive end Tunmise Adeleye had a strong performance with five tackles and three quarterback pressures.

Loathed

Fisher’s game plan. Whatever it was, it failed miserably. The Aggies ran only 20 plays in the first half. They had only 18 in the second half. Achane had a 26-yard touchdown run with 11:37 left in the second quarter. He did not touch the ball again for the remainder of the half.

Fisher’s game plan. Whatever it was, it failed miserably. The Aggies ran only 20 plays in the first half. They had only 18 in the second half.

Anemic defense on third down. Appalachian State converted 9-of-20 third-down situations (A&M was 2-of-8). Even that 45 percent success rate was misleading. Twice on their second drive, the Mountaineers gained enough yardage on third down to set up fourth-and-1 situations. Both times they converted — once because A&M jumped offsides. On its drive for the game-winning field goal, Appalachian State was 4-for-5 on third down. The Mountaineers converted on third-and-6, third-and-2, third-and-10 and third-and-1. The one time they did not convert was because a wide-open receiver dropped what should’ve been an easy touchdown pass inside the 5-yard line.

Failure in the clutch. Despite their poor showing, the Aggies were still in position to pull out an unimpressive victory. Trailing 17-14 with just over four minutes remaining, they had first down at the Appalachian State 34-yard line. On first down, King and Achane couldn’t execute the zone-read exchange, and Achane was stopped for a 1-yard loss. On second down, King threw incomplete behind Ainias Smith on a slant. On third down, King threw short to wide-open Yulkeith Brown, who fell making the catch. On fourth down, Caden Davis shanked a potential game-tying 47-yard field goal attempt.

Discussion from...

Learned, Loved, Loathed: Appalachian State 17, Texas A&M 14

11,945 Views | 16 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by Ag Houston
colesky
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AG
Man that was hard to watch. The offense had no rthym..... and the defense couldn't get off the field. My gut tells me that King is not the answer to QB long term. This is a head scratcher and the entire team needs to step up. All in all - they were flat..... no energy. Like they all went out and partied hard the night before.
AgOutsideAustin
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AG
Olin ask Jimbo if Max gets the start this week.
Then run.
Angry Beaver
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AG
Quote:

The Aggies were vastly overrated. A&M entered the game ranked No. 6 in the nation. They might stay in the polls but probably shouldn't. One offensive touchdown. A defense allowing four third-down conversions on a pivotal drive. A kicker shanking a potential game-tying field goal. All this against an opponent with less talent from a lesser conference. That's not the makings of a top-25 team.


If you're going to call out the kicker like that, call out the QB. Sure, you mention the offensive production being weak, but you have to name the QB. The guy is terrible and just doesn't have it. During the season is no time to teach him when we have a guy who has done it before.
SEC Champs
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AG
Go get Gary Patterson.
Shadow of CuervoAg
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Not sure what's going on in the O-line, but Jimbo's QB recruiting has been abysmal (except presumably Wiegman - don't know yet).

Foster, Calzada, King, & Stowers - none of these guys were highly sought after by major teams beyond fallback options for depth. King was the highest rated among them, but he was no unanimously rated 4*. Stowers became a TE and is now buried on the depth chart. All this to say - put Wiegman in and play for the future & for God's sake simplify the offense - there is no reason for it taking so long to plug & play QBs & WRs. Time in the system certainly does not seem to help - Calzada (3 years) & King (3 years).
Do not post opposing views or you too, like me, will become a shadow of your former self.
Agvet12
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AG
Seems that FSU fans were right about Fisher lol

We're year 5 and the OLine is the worst on product field in years
His play calling sucks
His culture sucks (a winning culture does not lose that game despite bad play calling, and certainly does not get pushed around in the trenches)
rondis23
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AG
King still looks like he should be 3rd string. I hear he is fast, but he never truly looks the part. He doesn't look comfortable running, and he definitely is a risk for an underthrow or overthrow on every pass play. There is not a single aspect of his game that looks comfortable. As we saw, he is even a risk handing or pitching the ball off. There's 3 games worth of film now with these continuous trends. Max and Conner should only see the field from here on out.
Putting King back out there is hoping for a miracle he won't play like he always plays.
oysterbayAG
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AG
Max Johnson is a reasonably SEC ready QB sitting on the bench. Get him in there against Miami so he will be ready for conference play and save the season. To stay with King is madness !
Papa Joe
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AG
Agree @SEC Champs! We should get Patterson!
Ag Houston
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What we learned is what we already knew. Jimbo isn't even an average offensive coach. His schemes are antiquated and unimaginative and his play calling is abysmal. If anyone thinks changing the QB is going to fix our issues, they haven't been paying attention the last five years or are lying to themselves.

The problem is how does A&M fix the real issue, the guy wearing the headset. How do you force a guy you owe $100M to hire a real OC and let him run the show. Until that happens, it's just going to be rinse and repeat.

Jimbo needs to concentrate on what he's good at, recruiting and cussing out 18-20 year olds in practice. He shouldn't be anywhere near game planning or calling plays.
Aggie1188
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Agvet12 said:

Seems that FSU fans were right about Fisher lol

We're year 5 and the OLine is the worst on product field in years
His play calling sucks
His culture sucks (a winning culture does not lose that game despite bad play calling, and certainly does not get pushed around in the trenches)
- OL hasn't been recruited elite, in case you missed it.

- His offense does suck..

- Jimbo's culture is fine and honestly next level. He has just recruited fairly poorly overall at Linebacker, O-Line, and QB (minus Weigman). DL is just young and hopefully Durkin wasn't the problem.
Aggie1188
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Ag Houston said:

What we learned is what we already knew. Jimbo isn't even an average offensive coach. His schemes are antiquated and unimaginative and his play calling is abysmal. If anyone thinks changing the QB is going to fix our issues, they haven't been paying attention the last five years or are lying to themselves.

The problem is how does A&M fix the real issue, the guy wearing the headset. How do you force a guy you owe $100M to hire a real OC and let him run the show. Until that happens, it's just going to be rinse and repeat.

Jimbo needs to concentrate on what he's good at, recruiting and cussing out 18-20 year olds in practice. He shouldn't be anywhere near game planning or calling plays.
Yes, Jimbo needs to focus on being the head coach, but he should definitely be near game-planning because he's kind of a genius on some levels when it comes to football. But not a genius offensive schemer or playcaller in the 2020's… Bring in a offensive genius.
Emilio Fantastico
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AG
Learned: not sure they are capable of learning based on the lack of improvement from Game 1 to Game 2

Loved: absolutely nothing

Loathed: everything about that abortion
aggieclay
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Can't believe this, or actually I can now , but Jimbo's got to be one of the dumbest mofo's to deny Achane the ball! Tell that sum bish to return the $
AgOutsideAustin
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AG
SEC Champs said:

Go get Gary Patterson.


tu already did, wife's a tu graduate and loves living in Austin now vs Fort Worth.
Ag Houston
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I can think of a lot of ways to describe Jimbo, but football genius certainly isn't one of them. From a scheme and playcalling standpoint, the game has passed him by.
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