Scoring-wise, it's about where I figured it'd be. But I'm not really happy about.
Well, you can't help but be happy with Conner Weigman. He's been fantastic. He's 19-23 for 287 yards, a touchdown and a 19-yard run for a score. He's just throwing bullets all over the place, and everything is on the money. The Aggies are carving up the deep secondary of ULM and moving at a pace that makes you think Bobby Petrino slammed the over this week. It's been extremely impressive.
You want more Ainias Smith? You got it. He's been running free in the deep middle the whole game and is averaging 19.2 yards a catch. He's already got 110 yards receiving, so he's way over his production totals to this point. Jahdae Walker started with Evan Stewart injured, and with Noah Thomas likely out the rest of the game, he's going to stay out there. And he's just running past whoever has him in coverage. Walker has 117 yards already, and it's nothing tough -- just go beat your guy.
One thing I really like has been the blitz pickups and the hot reads. Weigman hasn't missed one yet, and he's been getting the ball out to guys like Jake Johnson and Amari Daniels. Those are smart moves.
I'm still irritated with the inability to just blow guys off the ball. If A&M tries to bounce a run outside, it's not going to work. Le'Veon Moss looked the best of the three backs because he didn't try to screw around, he hit went north-south and got upfield. To his credit, Daniels did on his touchdown run and Owens the same on his best run. The best plays have been behind Dewberry, Nabou and Robinson. Not much from the tackles.
I'm not going to criticize the sack, because Bisontis slipped and got hurt and Weigman slipped too. It was a fluke. Pass protection has been very good.
Defensively, I give up. I cannot understand what D.J. Durkin is doing because when it's pointed out what's wrong, he goes the exact opposite direction. You can't pressure the quarterback, so you go with a 3-man front? You have LT Overton covering a slot receiver? Fadil Diggs playing middle linebacker 20 yards off the line and then dropping further? That's lunacy.
ULM is averaging 5.3 yards a carry, with a 29-yarder and a 15-yarder. And it's just the same old crap, misdiagnosing an RPO and/or not tackling. To A&M's credit, they held up well when ULM got in close, but they should never have been in close.
The secondary remains atrocious. Like I said this week, if ULM runs RPO and throws, it's a fly pattern. And guess what? Nothing's changed. They still hit a 37 and 32-yard pass, blowing man coverages both time. If its short, A&M has rallied pretty well to it. But ULM averages 95 yards a game passing and they're already there. The Aggies didn't pressure Smith for a whole quarter until Shemar Turner drilled him late in the half. Schematically, it makes absolutely no sense. One of these times, they're gonna get cute, put Overton out on a wideout and they'll throw him the ball. What then?
The offense is as good as we could hope, especially in the passing game. The wideouts are awesome and Weigman is the truth. But these defense is just the same old crap and it's going to beat them again.
Well, you can't help but be happy with Conner Weigman. He's been fantastic. He's 19-23 for 287 yards, a touchdown and a 19-yard run for a score. He's just throwing bullets all over the place, and everything is on the money. The Aggies are carving up the deep secondary of ULM and moving at a pace that makes you think Bobby Petrino slammed the over this week. It's been extremely impressive.
You want more Ainias Smith? You got it. He's been running free in the deep middle the whole game and is averaging 19.2 yards a catch. He's already got 110 yards receiving, so he's way over his production totals to this point. Jahdae Walker started with Evan Stewart injured, and with Noah Thomas likely out the rest of the game, he's going to stay out there. And he's just running past whoever has him in coverage. Walker has 117 yards already, and it's nothing tough -- just go beat your guy.
One thing I really like has been the blitz pickups and the hot reads. Weigman hasn't missed one yet, and he's been getting the ball out to guys like Jake Johnson and Amari Daniels. Those are smart moves.
I'm still irritated with the inability to just blow guys off the ball. If A&M tries to bounce a run outside, it's not going to work. Le'Veon Moss looked the best of the three backs because he didn't try to screw around, he hit went north-south and got upfield. To his credit, Daniels did on his touchdown run and Owens the same on his best run. The best plays have been behind Dewberry, Nabou and Robinson. Not much from the tackles.
I'm not going to criticize the sack, because Bisontis slipped and got hurt and Weigman slipped too. It was a fluke. Pass protection has been very good.
Defensively, I give up. I cannot understand what D.J. Durkin is doing because when it's pointed out what's wrong, he goes the exact opposite direction. You can't pressure the quarterback, so you go with a 3-man front? You have LT Overton covering a slot receiver? Fadil Diggs playing middle linebacker 20 yards off the line and then dropping further? That's lunacy.
ULM is averaging 5.3 yards a carry, with a 29-yarder and a 15-yarder. And it's just the same old crap, misdiagnosing an RPO and/or not tackling. To A&M's credit, they held up well when ULM got in close, but they should never have been in close.
The secondary remains atrocious. Like I said this week, if ULM runs RPO and throws, it's a fly pattern. And guess what? Nothing's changed. They still hit a 37 and 32-yard pass, blowing man coverages both time. If its short, A&M has rallied pretty well to it. But ULM averages 95 yards a game passing and they're already there. The Aggies didn't pressure Smith for a whole quarter until Shemar Turner drilled him late in the half. Schematically, it makes absolutely no sense. One of these times, they're gonna get cute, put Overton out on a wideout and they'll throw him the ball. What then?
The offense is as good as we could hope, especially in the passing game. The wideouts are awesome and Weigman is the truth. But these defense is just the same old crap and it's going to beat them again.
