With all the completely understandable posts about how bad things are, here is my attempt, perhaps naïve, at providing some reasons for hope. Please feel free to add to make us all feel a little better....
1. There have been nine national champions since the inception of the CFP. Five of them had one loss. This is an early season, non-conference loss to a pretty good Miami team that will likely challenge FSU and UNC for the ACC (I'm not sold on Duke yet). In other words, A&M still controls their own destiny. Win out and they're in.
2. Connor Weigman is beyond legit, and has a ton of weapons to work with. We still put up 33 on Miami with horrendous protection. We crossed the 33 point line against ONE team last year -- LSU in the final game. That includes games against UMASS, App State, New Mexico, and Sam Houston. We've already done it twice this year. We should be able to score on most everyone, and with a little better protection, maybe a lot.
3. While clearly unable to get any pressure on their own, the DL is loaded with studs and appears pretty good at stuffing the run. Hopefully this is a wake-up call and Jimbo can turn his attention to Durkin instead of the offense. With some blitz packages, we have the speed and talent to rattle some quarterbacks. Which leads to...
4. Clearly the biggest problem was the secondary. Yes, they were lost and confused often. But it is also asking a lot of them to maintain coverage when the QB is permitted to stand stationary for five minutes and just wait for receivers to come open. Maybe some pressure on the QB will help with the pass defense. Maybe some of the transfers that haven't been playing will get their shot. I don't know what the answer is, but this need to be fixed and they know it. Maybe/hopefully it will be? Also, it is difficult to maintain coverage when you are blatantly being taken out of the play (see 5 below).
5. While I do not like to make excuses and/or blame the refs, there were, in fact, some fluke plays -- and horrible non-calls -- that significantly impacted the outcome of this game. First, as we all know, there was the Smith slip-and-fall that led to an interception deep in our territory and, ultimately, a touchdown. That was an incredibly deflating play and potentially a 14 point swing. But, there were a couple of others as well...
5a. When we were up ten in the first half, Miami had a third and six, and the receiver ran a crossing route. While crossing, the DB covering him was blatantly taken out by a hip check. The announcers called it inadvertent, and it made me want to break my TV. If you watch the replay live, you can clearly see 84 actively sliding over into his path, and then sticking his hip out to take Thomas out of the play (see still images below). It was unbelievable to me that this was not called pass interference. This should have resulted in a third and a mile play for Miami, but instead it was a 20 yard gain for a first down (given that the receiver was wide open), and then led of course to the TD where Thomas fell down (maybe his hip was still sore?). This was potentially another seven point swing.
5b. And then there was the TD just before halftime, where Chappell was clearly thrown to the ground, and again, no call. As you can see in the image below, the receiver both pulled his right hand and pushed his left shoulder to throw him to the ground. I could not believe that this wasn't even mentioned in the broadcast. No, he did not just "fall down." It was first and goal from the 11, so they may have still scored, but this would have move them back 15 yards to the 26 (and with only 13 seconds left in the half), making it much harder to score a TD, and possibly even the FG. This was likely a four point swing and possibly even seven. Just an egregious no-call (it looks even worse and more blatant when you watch it in action and still gets my blood boiling)
There may have been others in the second half but I wasn't able to pay as close attention due to a party I was hosting.
But, the moral of this story is, DON'T LOSE HOPE AGS! This can still be the year......
1. There have been nine national champions since the inception of the CFP. Five of them had one loss. This is an early season, non-conference loss to a pretty good Miami team that will likely challenge FSU and UNC for the ACC (I'm not sold on Duke yet). In other words, A&M still controls their own destiny. Win out and they're in.
2. Connor Weigman is beyond legit, and has a ton of weapons to work with. We still put up 33 on Miami with horrendous protection. We crossed the 33 point line against ONE team last year -- LSU in the final game. That includes games against UMASS, App State, New Mexico, and Sam Houston. We've already done it twice this year. We should be able to score on most everyone, and with a little better protection, maybe a lot.
3. While clearly unable to get any pressure on their own, the DL is loaded with studs and appears pretty good at stuffing the run. Hopefully this is a wake-up call and Jimbo can turn his attention to Durkin instead of the offense. With some blitz packages, we have the speed and talent to rattle some quarterbacks. Which leads to...
4. Clearly the biggest problem was the secondary. Yes, they were lost and confused often. But it is also asking a lot of them to maintain coverage when the QB is permitted to stand stationary for five minutes and just wait for receivers to come open. Maybe some pressure on the QB will help with the pass defense. Maybe some of the transfers that haven't been playing will get their shot. I don't know what the answer is, but this need to be fixed and they know it. Maybe/hopefully it will be? Also, it is difficult to maintain coverage when you are blatantly being taken out of the play (see 5 below).
5. While I do not like to make excuses and/or blame the refs, there were, in fact, some fluke plays -- and horrible non-calls -- that significantly impacted the outcome of this game. First, as we all know, there was the Smith slip-and-fall that led to an interception deep in our territory and, ultimately, a touchdown. That was an incredibly deflating play and potentially a 14 point swing. But, there were a couple of others as well...
5a. When we were up ten in the first half, Miami had a third and six, and the receiver ran a crossing route. While crossing, the DB covering him was blatantly taken out by a hip check. The announcers called it inadvertent, and it made me want to break my TV. If you watch the replay live, you can clearly see 84 actively sliding over into his path, and then sticking his hip out to take Thomas out of the play (see still images below). It was unbelievable to me that this was not called pass interference. This should have resulted in a third and a mile play for Miami, but instead it was a 20 yard gain for a first down (given that the receiver was wide open), and then led of course to the TD where Thomas fell down (maybe his hip was still sore?). This was potentially another seven point swing.
5b. And then there was the TD just before halftime, where Chappell was clearly thrown to the ground, and again, no call. As you can see in the image below, the receiver both pulled his right hand and pushed his left shoulder to throw him to the ground. I could not believe that this wasn't even mentioned in the broadcast. No, he did not just "fall down." It was first and goal from the 11, so they may have still scored, but this would have move them back 15 yards to the 26 (and with only 13 seconds left in the half), making it much harder to score a TD, and possibly even the FG. This was likely a four point swing and possibly even seven. Just an egregious no-call (it looks even worse and more blatant when you watch it in action and still gets my blood boiling)
There may have been others in the second half but I wasn't able to pay as close attention due to a party I was hosting.
But, the moral of this story is, DON'T LOSE HOPE AGS! This can still be the year......
