carl spacklers hat said:

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The season turning point was the Le'Veon Moss injury. End of story.

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"Real programs that aren't a politician bs'ng everyone" don't completely fall apart bc 1 player gets injured



OP's point is a good one.... hadn't really thought about it that way til now

It's almost as if being in year 4 versus year 1 allows you to build up a better roster that can withstand injuries better. But I'd have to do more digging. Perhaps we shall check the NFL draft in a couple months to see if they were working with more draft picks at QB, WR, TE, OL, and the defense than we were this year? Only time will tell. DL is where we failed. Outside of that, it was mostly personnel issues, depth, youth, being in year 1, etc.

It was a combination of a ton of things, starting with Elko's bread and butter being our biggest issue. Tough to win a lot when a defensive minded head coach has a defense that's struggling. That can't happen again moving forward.

The flip flopping of QBs and Moss were really our entire offense that carried us to 7-1. The defense was never good. Always teetering on average at best, helped by an offense that picked up first downs on the ground. The offensive personnel was probably towards the bottom of the barrel that we have seen here at A&M the last decade or more after Moss went down.

When we lost the element of surprise when we went full in on Reed (unfortunately we had to at some point) along with Moss at the same time, the rest of the team was exposed.

All that said, 3 of our final 4 losses were as much if not more so on the defense than the offense. Even without Moss, I thought the offense did more than enough against both USCs to put us in position to win. Reed actually played quite well in 2 of the final 3 games. Very well, actually. The defense was far more disappointing considering overall personnel. I expected many offensive struggles this year. Especially had you told me Weigman would struggle.

Going into 2025, I'm opposite. I expect a good offense and am unsure on the defense.

If our program falls apart on a non QB player, then we do not have solid team.

Medaggie said:

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If our program falls apart on a non QB player, then we do not have solid team.

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Moss was the turning point. That doesn't mean there weren't several other factors. Injuries at O-line, no other dependable back, A Qb battle that lasted until mid season. All indicators that this year's team wasn't playoff ready. Moss's injury is just the straw that broke it.

With Moss uninjured, I think there's damn good odds we're in the playoffs. We don't make it far, but we're in there. And that Texas game is much more competitive.

After starting 7-1 (5-0 SEC), we lost 4 of our last 5 games to finish a disappointing 8-5 (5-3 SEC), including 3 consecutive losses to end the season. Our only win in that span was over New Mexico State, and we have lost 4 consecutive games to Power 4 opponents since a 38-23 win over LSU on 10/26. Dating back to a 42-30 road loss at LSU on 11/25/2023, we have lost 4 consecutive November SEC games and 6 consecutive November or December Power 4 games. We have not beaten a Power 4 opponent in November or December since a 51-10 home win over Mississippi State on 11/11/2023, which was Jimbo's last game of his tenure. Also, we have not won a bowl game since a 41-27 win over North Carolina in the 2021 Orange Bowl on 1/2/2021.

Losses to 9-4 (5-3 SEC) South Carolina and 13-2 (7-1 SEC) CFP semifinalist Texas were understandable, but a loss at 5-7 (2-6 SEC) Auburn was inexcusable. If we had beaten Auburn, we would have finished 9-3 (6-2 SEC) in the regular season and reached the SEC Championship Game for the first time. Yes, Texas probably would have beaten us again, but we probably would have gotten a better bowl game and could have won it to finish 10-4 (6-2 SEC).

Next year, we will have a tougher home/away split because our toughest games against Notre Dame, LSU, Missouri, and Texas will all be on the road instead of at home. We will play a true road game at Arkansas for the first time since 2013 and at LSU the very next week. Also, our schedule is very unbalanced with 3 straight SEC home games against Auburn on 9/27, Mississippi State on 10/4, and Florida on 10/11 before a stretch of 3 straight SEC road games against Arkansas on 10/18, LSU on 10/25, and Missouri on 11/8 in span of 4 weeks. With that schedule, I think we will have a floor of 7-5 and a ceiling of 9-3 with likely road losses at Notre Dame, LSU, and Texas. The 5 road games at Notre Dame, Arkansas, Missouri, LSU, and Texas will make or break our season.

Mike Elko and his coaching staff need to get this team to play well from start to finish and throughout the season, especially November SEC games. I would like to see 9+ wins next year, a bowl win, and a 2-1 November SEC record with wins against Missouri (away) and South Carolina (home). If we can achieve these goals, Elko will show that he has this team headed in the right direction.

By inexcusable you mean you can't think of an excuse or Elko was fired?

JPK89 said:

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carl spacklers hat said:

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The season turning point was the Le'Veon Moss injury. End of story.

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Didn't sips lose their top two backs before the season started? They managed to do OK after that.

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in fairness we had also lost ruben owens as well. so actually pretty similar. the biggest difference was offensive line play. what texas had last year with a senior laden offensive line is similar to what we shoud experience this season.

The turning point is when Weigman participated in that damn magic trick at the beginning of the season. He was never the same after that.

AggieZUUL said:

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The turning point of the season is when Weigman participated in that damn magic trick at the beginning of the season. He was never the same after that.

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are you referring to the disappearing 5 star quarterback magic trick?

There was no turning point in this season, we were pretty much the same team the whole year.

We had an about average offense that seemed better than it actually was against hapless defenses (@MSST, vs LSU, vs MIZZ)

When we played an above average team with no glaring holes or deficiencies, we got destroyed (@SCAR and vs. Texas).

Our defense seemed to regress as the year went on, no real turning point.



Don't be fooled by our good performances against bad teams or teams with idiots running the show. Look instead for improvement against good teams with solid coaching.

Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:

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JPK89 said:

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carl spacklers hat said:

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The season turning point was the Le'Veon Moss injury. End of story.

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Didn't sips lose their top two backs before the season started? They managed to do OK after that.

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in fairness we had also lost ruben owens as well. so actually pretty similar. the biggest difference was offensive line play. what texas had last year with a senior laden offensive line is similar to what we shoud experience this season.

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Agree. And the sips running game was pitiful in the playoffs.

I still don't know how Wisner kept getting 8 yars seemingly every time he carried the ball.

beerad12man said:

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It's almost as if being in year 4 versus year 1 allows you to build up a better roster that can withstand injuries better. But I'd have to do more digging. Perhaps we shall check the NFL draft in a couple months to see if they were working with more draft picks at QB, WR, TE, OL, and the defense than we were this year? Only time will tell. DL is where we failed. Outside of that, it was mostly personnel issues, depth, youth, being in year 1, etc.

It was a combination of a ton of things, starting with Elko's bread and butter being our biggest issue. Tough to win a lot when a defensive minded head coach has a defense that's struggling. That can't happen again moving forward.

The flip flopping of QBs and Moss were really our entire offense that carried us to 7-1. The defense was never good. Always teetering on average at best, helped by an offense that picked up first downs on the ground. The offensive personnel was probably towards the bottom of the barrel that we have seen here at A&M the last decade or more after Moss went down.

When we lost the element of surprise when we went full in on Reed (unfortunately we had to at some point) along with Moss at the same time, the rest of the team was exposed.

All that said, 3 of our final 4 losses were as much if not more so on the defense than the offense. Even without Moss, I thought the offense did more than enough against both USCs to put us in position to win. Reed actually played quite well in 2 of the final 3 games. Very well, actually. The defense was far more disappointing considering overall personnel. I expected many offensive struggles this year. Especially had you told me Weigman would struggle.

Going into 2025, I'm opposite. I expect a good offense and am unsure on the defense.

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Good analysis. When the season began my hope was our front 4, with depth, could dominate to a degree that any weakness in the back 7 could be mitigated. That really never materialized. With all the hype our DL received they were average at best. I am not smart enough to determine what happen.

greg.w.h said:

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By inexcusable you mean you can't think of an excuse or Elko was fired?

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By inexcusable, I meant there was no reason we should not have beaten Auburn to make our first SEC Championship Game appearance.

Mr. Awesome Time said:

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I still don't know how Wisner kept getting 8 yars seemingly every time he carried the ball.

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Pretty darn good OL and offense overall….
Running against a DL that's out of gas, some LBs that are overhyped, and some DBs that are average at best.

That's how.

Another turning point was forgetting how to tackle, starting with the South Carolina game. I've never seen a football game with such poor consistent bad tackling in my life.

TxAg76 said:

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Mr. Awesome Time said:

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I still don't know how Wisner kept getting 8 yars seemingly every time he carried the ball.

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Pretty darn good OL and offense overall….
Running against a DL that's out of gas, some LBs that are overhyped, and some DBs that are average at best.

That's how.

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I was much more disappointed in the offense or lack thereof. Scoring zero points was unacceptable, especially at Kyle.

Mr. Awesome Time said:

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TxAg76 said:

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Mr. Awesome Time said:

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I still don't know how Wisner kept getting 8 yars seemingly every time he carried the ball.

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Pretty darn good OL and offense overall….
Running against a DL that's out of gas, some LBs that are overhyped, and some DBs that are average at best.

That's how.

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I was much more disappointed in the offense or lack thereof. Scoring zero points was unacceptable, especially at Kyle.

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Agree 100%.
Hate admitting it, but t.u. dominated in that game, to an embarrassing degree.
If it weren't for two turnovers deep into our territory (with one being returned for our only score)....

that game could have easily been 0-31, or worse

Madmarttigan said:

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If yall don't understand why one player destroyed our offense I don't think yall realize how much his positive yardage carried us. He wasn't explosive but massively consistent and the backbone of the entire offense. He was more important than our QB battle between two meh QBs.

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Spot on.

And for those making comparisons to sips, it is nowhere near the same. Baxter went down in fall camp, not the 9th game of the season while performing as one of the best RBs in the conference.

I would like to know what happened to the following players"
1. Connor W's total collapse. He looked and played like he was lost and that was not what we had seen from him in the previous 2 seasons. What happened?
2. Nick and both Shemars disappearing beginning the month of November. What caused these guys to check it in?
Decent play from the 3 DL's and the SC and Auburn losses don't happen and maybe even the tu loss.

12mn95 said:

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JPK89 said:

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carl spacklers hat said:

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The season turning point was the Le'Veon Moss injury. End of story.

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Didn't sips lose their top two backs before the season started? They managed to do OK after that.

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true but they have a way better overall team than us to help make up for it. their defense didn't forget how to tackle anyone all of a sudden

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Both of those things cant be true. One player being the turning point....while at the same time point out the collapse in other parts of the game...

Madmarttigan said:

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If yall don't understand why one player destroyed our offense I don't think yall realize how much his positive yardage carried us. He wasn't explosive but massively consistent and the backbone of the entire offense. He was more important than our QB battle between two meh QBs.

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Please explain how the offense vs. LSU with Moss was abysmal until Reed came in during the 4th quarter while at the same time explaining the loss of one player was our downfall? Or how that affected the other side of the ball? Wasn't aware Moss also played LB and made tackles.

It was obvious in the ND game...even Herbie stated Moss was our only stud player during that game as WRs couldn't get open and Moss was finding lanes and power.

ND game was a microcosm for the entire season (esp. on defense as it showed every issue that continued in every game thereafter). People got fooled via a few wins (jumped early on UF and Mizzou, but defense still gave up big plays in coverage, tackling, run fits, setting the edge; LSU our defense was torched and only won that due to LSU inability to contain Reed). A couple flags or missed calls in Mizzou game early could have switched that game's momentum.

It was painful to watch the defense make the same mistake in every game (esp setting the edge, run fits, busted coverage happened in every game) and this board was ecstatic to be 7-1 (where several of those games could have been losses).

It was a SMH to hear Elko proclaim all the accolades 'first time A&M had been that high in SEC rankings, SECW, etc.', but knowing it wasn't due to anything on Defense (and then watch us wilt after the USCe game and no depth at RB to truly backfill Moss).

Hoping for vast improvement in the defense in 2025, but think some tough decision have to be made as there are 'starters' that should not be going forward in LB and secondary.

When it became obvious in game 1 that CW was not wanting to throw the ball (I'll just word it like that.) I knew how the season would end. If he had played as good as he did in previous games, I was convinced we had a legit shot. You Know assuming he would improve over the season and all.

If Klein wanted Marcel all along, why didn't he start in the spring. It was very clear to me, that Klein was far more comfortable calling plays for Marcel than W****.

For me Klein was our biggest handicap. His repeatedly bone headed calls, plays that if executed perfectly still had no chance of getting the needed yardage was mind blowing.

I don't have the actual stats. But assuming we had roughly 14 3rd or 4th and 1's in crucial situations. I think we maybe got 5 of them. If you got 3 more, maybe 4, you win 2 possibly 3 more games. You win Auburn and USC with just 2 more. You probably beat texas with 5 more.

A delayed hand off with 10 guys on the line of scrimmage, is just beyond my comprehension of stupidity!!!!!!!!!

How many times did you say, hey Klein, can we call the 3rd down play on 1st or 2nd down? Do we have to wait until it is 3rd and 14 to call a good play?

And he ran on 2nd down 90% of the time. Literally did not matter what happened on 1st down. 10 yard sack, we would run for 4 yards.

I don't think you realize how much Klein held us back this year!!!!!!!!