I don't understand how A&M is only down 20-14 at the half, outside of Lane Kiffin likes undisciplined football. But hey, he can do that, because the terrible coaching is on the other side of the field.
I have no idea what the hell A&M was doing for most of that half. It was absolutely baffling. Offensively, they moved the ball but would then self-destruct. People notice when you run the ball on second down EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. They figure out that they don't have to worry about you going deep when nobody runs a deep route. And they'll be just fine when you do run one and it's dropped.
Max is 12-17 for 77 yards. That's it. 77 yards. It's one thing to be aware and adjust to the blitz, but it's another to be absolutely terrified of it, and that's what they were until the last drive. Then, all of a sudden, things got different. A lot of it had to do with the presence of Le'Veon Moss, who immediately showed a big difference in running style compared to Amari Daniels and Rueben Owens. He was hitting holes with power, and it made a difference.
The Aggies did a few things that I liked. The slant to start the first drive to Jahdae Walker was really good. Rolling the pocket was also a positive. But Max looks like he's feeling pressure even if it isn't there, throwing off his back foot and getting really lucky with a couple of passes that could have been picked. He had Walker for what could have been a touchdown and threw the ball about 5 yards short over the deep middle, and the pass was deflected.
The offensive line has been, typically, bad. There was a lack of hustle by Foster and Robinson on a screen that was blown up and they've been picking up Max a lot, even if he hasn't technically been sacked. But they all did a good job on that final drive, so there's reason for hope, I guess.
The defense...good grief. First, how can you NOT know Lane is going to run that trick play by bringing the receiver off the sideline? Isn't anybody counting the players? That's just pitiful. It was absolutely no surprise that Ole Miss went to the air immediately when they saw Jayvon Thomas and Sam McCall out there, and Tre Harris has eaten both of them, and Josh DeBerry, alive.
The running game has been largely limited. Ole Miss has 57 yards on 13 carries, which isn't bad, but not great for them. Quinshon Judkins has been hit for loss 5 times and Dart has been sacked once. But the DJ Durkin insists on using that three-man front, and he does it on even-numbered possessions. And you know what happens on those? Ole Miss scores. The Rebels have 299 yards of total offense, and the majority has come when A&M is screwing around with the 3-man ront. On the plus side, Shemar Stewart was a beast in the first half. He was abusing Ole Miss' right tackle.
A&M has taken some body blows but they're in the fight. The effort from the players has not been bad at all, but the coaching has been really bad. They need to keep doing what they did on the final offensive drive and consume clock and be physical. And they have to keep bringing pressure on defense. Getting help from their coaches would be nice.
I have no idea what the hell A&M was doing for most of that half. It was absolutely baffling. Offensively, they moved the ball but would then self-destruct. People notice when you run the ball on second down EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. They figure out that they don't have to worry about you going deep when nobody runs a deep route. And they'll be just fine when you do run one and it's dropped.
Max is 12-17 for 77 yards. That's it. 77 yards. It's one thing to be aware and adjust to the blitz, but it's another to be absolutely terrified of it, and that's what they were until the last drive. Then, all of a sudden, things got different. A lot of it had to do with the presence of Le'Veon Moss, who immediately showed a big difference in running style compared to Amari Daniels and Rueben Owens. He was hitting holes with power, and it made a difference.
The Aggies did a few things that I liked. The slant to start the first drive to Jahdae Walker was really good. Rolling the pocket was also a positive. But Max looks like he's feeling pressure even if it isn't there, throwing off his back foot and getting really lucky with a couple of passes that could have been picked. He had Walker for what could have been a touchdown and threw the ball about 5 yards short over the deep middle, and the pass was deflected.
The offensive line has been, typically, bad. There was a lack of hustle by Foster and Robinson on a screen that was blown up and they've been picking up Max a lot, even if he hasn't technically been sacked. But they all did a good job on that final drive, so there's reason for hope, I guess.
The defense...good grief. First, how can you NOT know Lane is going to run that trick play by bringing the receiver off the sideline? Isn't anybody counting the players? That's just pitiful. It was absolutely no surprise that Ole Miss went to the air immediately when they saw Jayvon Thomas and Sam McCall out there, and Tre Harris has eaten both of them, and Josh DeBerry, alive.
The running game has been largely limited. Ole Miss has 57 yards on 13 carries, which isn't bad, but not great for them. Quinshon Judkins has been hit for loss 5 times and Dart has been sacked once. But the DJ Durkin insists on using that three-man front, and he does it on even-numbered possessions. And you know what happens on those? Ole Miss scores. The Rebels have 299 yards of total offense, and the majority has come when A&M is screwing around with the 3-man ront. On the plus side, Shemar Stewart was a beast in the first half. He was abusing Ole Miss' right tackle.
A&M has taken some body blows but they're in the fight. The effort from the players has not been bad at all, but the coaching has been really bad. They need to keep doing what they did on the final offensive drive and consume clock and be physical. And they have to keep bringing pressure on defense. Getting help from their coaches would be nice.
