Aggies, Tigers ready to rely on freshman QBs
After a performance where he did what only Cam Newton has done in the last 20 years – throw for 200 yards, run for 100, throw a TD pass and run for one in his first SEC start – Kyler Murray gets the call for the Aggies this weekend. After a very efficient performance last weekend, the coaches have worked this week on expanding the playbook for Murray in order to keep Will Muschamp and his 107th ranked defense from picking up trends.
Murray has already thrown two TD passes this year, which is one more than Auburn’s Sean White has thrown. The redshirt freshman has started since after the Tigers’ embarrassing loss to LSU and hasn’t turned the ball over, but hasn’t been overly effective either. We’ve learned that White is not fully recovered from injuries sustained two weeks ago and that, while he did practice more this week than he did before Ole Miss, he is not 100%. Still, Gus Malzahn will start him instead of Jeremy Johnson, who he has completely lost faith in.
White’s recovery means more carries
It finally came out what had James White out for much of the first half of the season: a high ankle sprain, which he re-aggravated in his short stint against Mississippi State. White is becoming increasingly healthier, and the idea for the coaching staff is to increase his workload as he does. Tra Carson remains the starter and the workhorse, but White could cut Carson’s workload by at least one-third.
A&M making progress in Cali
We already know about how much success Jeff Banks and Jake Spavital have had in recruiting players in Arizona, but it looks like the Aggies are now starting to make some headway in the crown jewel of western talent – California. This weekend, A&M will have three of that state’s best players – OL Frank Martin, DE Wole Betiku and ATH Jack Jones – on campus for the Auburn game. More importantly, perhaps, Betiku and Jones have returned on their own dime. Betiku had a standing invite to the Alabama-LSU game, and turned it down to come back to College Station. While the thought process was that ties to California might keep Betiku close to home (USC, likely), observers are now beginning to think the Aggies have a legitimate shot at snagging the 4-star. As for Jones, the Aggies are now well ahead for a player who could serve as a backup slot receiver while competing for a starting corner job next season.
Impressive visitors list for the Auburn game
2016
Beaumont Central RB Devwah Whaley(official)
Trophy Club Byron Nelson OL Kellen Diesch(official)
Smyma (Tenn.) safety Ikenaa Okeke(offical)
Santa Ana (Calif.) OL Frank Martin(official)
Mineloa OL Austinand Riley Anderson
Bossier City (La.) OL Colton Prater
New Orleans TE Irvin Smith
Long Beach (Calif.) ATH Jack Jones
Cibolo Steele DE Mark Jackson
Converse Judson DE Alton Robinson
Waco CB Eric Cuffee
Fairfield DB Charles Oliver
Gardena (Calif.) DE Wole Betiku
Charlotte (N.C.) TE Thaddeus Moss(official)
Aldine Davis LB Jeffery McCulloch
Silsbee OL Patrick Hudson
2017
New Orleans ATH Bruce Jordan Swilling
New Orleans CB Tre Swilling
Aggies step up pursuit of two R100 O-linemen (Matt and Fletch)
Silsbee (Texas) four-star offensive guard Patrick Hudson originally committed to the Baylor coaches over 15 months ago. Despite the long time commitment, several programs have continued to recruit the standout lineman – including Texas A&M.
Hudson will be in College Station this weekend for an official visit to watch the Aggies face the Auburn Tigers.
“I will be visiting College Station this weekend,” Hudson said. “I’m just checking out the game. I like everything about Texas A&M, but most everything is the same when you look at all of the colleges and programs.
“The coaches and the universities are very similar in what they can offer. It’s really about my personal preferences. For example, I want to study Sports Marketing in college and that is something I want to look into.”
Do the A&M coaches have an opportunity to change Hudson’s mind this weekend?
“They might,” Hudson said. “I don’t really talk with their coaches on a regular basis, but I’m going to see what the program is all about and learn more about the school as well.”
Hudson is also planning another visit to Waco the following weekend to watch the Bears face Oklahoma on Nov. 14th.
“I will be in Waco the next weekend,” Hudson said. “During the football season it’s tough, but I’m looking to reconnect with some of the other commits that weekend.”
Rated a four-star prospect, Hudson is the No. 1 offensive guard in the nation, the No. 29 prospect in the latest Rivals 100 national rankings and the No. 2 player on the Rivals.com Texas Preseason Top 100 for the 2016 class.
Santa Ana, California 2016 offensive lineman Frank Martin committed to USC very early in his recruiting process. With the coaching changes at USC, Martin decided to take a few visits to some other schools he liked starting with Texas A&M this weekend. Martin is excited about the trip and hopes to see different scenery.
“I just want to see something out of California,” he said. “I am ready to get out of California.”
Martin has kept a great relationship with Jeff Banks as Coach Banks and Frank Martin Sr. were teammates in college together. Banks has talked to Martin about all the playtime he could get early on.
“Coach Banks tells I can get a lot of early play time at A&M next season,” he said. “He told me I could play tackle or guard.”
Right now, Martin is still committed to USC, but has another visit planned after the visit with A&M.
“I will be going to Georgia on November 21,” he said. “I could take a few more visits after Georgia.”
With Martin, hearing him say he wants to see something outside of California is a good sign for A&M. This one could drag out a while and it will likely come down to USC hires to be their next head coach. A big time hire and Martin likely stays, if the hire is nothing more than average, Martin might switch.
(More in the next post)
After a performance where he did what only Cam Newton has done in the last 20 years – throw for 200 yards, run for 100, throw a TD pass and run for one in his first SEC start – Kyler Murray gets the call for the Aggies this weekend. After a very efficient performance last weekend, the coaches have worked this week on expanding the playbook for Murray in order to keep Will Muschamp and his 107th ranked defense from picking up trends.
Murray has already thrown two TD passes this year, which is one more than Auburn’s Sean White has thrown. The redshirt freshman has started since after the Tigers’ embarrassing loss to LSU and hasn’t turned the ball over, but hasn’t been overly effective either. We’ve learned that White is not fully recovered from injuries sustained two weeks ago and that, while he did practice more this week than he did before Ole Miss, he is not 100%. Still, Gus Malzahn will start him instead of Jeremy Johnson, who he has completely lost faith in.
White’s recovery means more carries
It finally came out what had James White out for much of the first half of the season: a high ankle sprain, which he re-aggravated in his short stint against Mississippi State. White is becoming increasingly healthier, and the idea for the coaching staff is to increase his workload as he does. Tra Carson remains the starter and the workhorse, but White could cut Carson’s workload by at least one-third.
A&M making progress in Cali
We already know about how much success Jeff Banks and Jake Spavital have had in recruiting players in Arizona, but it looks like the Aggies are now starting to make some headway in the crown jewel of western talent – California. This weekend, A&M will have three of that state’s best players – OL Frank Martin, DE Wole Betiku and ATH Jack Jones – on campus for the Auburn game. More importantly, perhaps, Betiku and Jones have returned on their own dime. Betiku had a standing invite to the Alabama-LSU game, and turned it down to come back to College Station. While the thought process was that ties to California might keep Betiku close to home (USC, likely), observers are now beginning to think the Aggies have a legitimate shot at snagging the 4-star. As for Jones, the Aggies are now well ahead for a player who could serve as a backup slot receiver while competing for a starting corner job next season.
Impressive visitors list for the Auburn game
2016
Beaumont Central RB Devwah Whaley(official)
Trophy Club Byron Nelson OL Kellen Diesch(official)
Smyma (Tenn.) safety Ikenaa Okeke(offical)
Santa Ana (Calif.) OL Frank Martin(official)
Mineloa OL Austinand Riley Anderson
Bossier City (La.) OL Colton Prater
New Orleans TE Irvin Smith
Long Beach (Calif.) ATH Jack Jones
Cibolo Steele DE Mark Jackson
Converse Judson DE Alton Robinson
Waco CB Eric Cuffee
Fairfield DB Charles Oliver
Gardena (Calif.) DE Wole Betiku
Charlotte (N.C.) TE Thaddeus Moss(official)
Aldine Davis LB Jeffery McCulloch
Silsbee OL Patrick Hudson
2017
New Orleans ATH Bruce Jordan Swilling
New Orleans CB Tre Swilling
Aggies step up pursuit of two R100 O-linemen (Matt and Fletch)
Silsbee (Texas) four-star offensive guard Patrick Hudson originally committed to the Baylor coaches over 15 months ago. Despite the long time commitment, several programs have continued to recruit the standout lineman – including Texas A&M.
Hudson will be in College Station this weekend for an official visit to watch the Aggies face the Auburn Tigers.
“I will be visiting College Station this weekend,” Hudson said. “I’m just checking out the game. I like everything about Texas A&M, but most everything is the same when you look at all of the colleges and programs.
“The coaches and the universities are very similar in what they can offer. It’s really about my personal preferences. For example, I want to study Sports Marketing in college and that is something I want to look into.”
Do the A&M coaches have an opportunity to change Hudson’s mind this weekend?
“They might,” Hudson said. “I don’t really talk with their coaches on a regular basis, but I’m going to see what the program is all about and learn more about the school as well.”
Hudson is also planning another visit to Waco the following weekend to watch the Bears face Oklahoma on Nov. 14th.
“I will be in Waco the next weekend,” Hudson said. “During the football season it’s tough, but I’m looking to reconnect with some of the other commits that weekend.”
Rated a four-star prospect, Hudson is the No. 1 offensive guard in the nation, the No. 29 prospect in the latest Rivals 100 national rankings and the No. 2 player on the Rivals.com Texas Preseason Top 100 for the 2016 class.
Santa Ana, California 2016 offensive lineman Frank Martin committed to USC very early in his recruiting process. With the coaching changes at USC, Martin decided to take a few visits to some other schools he liked starting with Texas A&M this weekend. Martin is excited about the trip and hopes to see different scenery.
“I just want to see something out of California,” he said. “I am ready to get out of California.”
Martin has kept a great relationship with Jeff Banks as Coach Banks and Frank Martin Sr. were teammates in college together. Banks has talked to Martin about all the playtime he could get early on.
“Coach Banks tells I can get a lot of early play time at A&M next season,” he said. “He told me I could play tackle or guard.”
Right now, Martin is still committed to USC, but has another visit planned after the visit with A&M.
“I will be going to Georgia on November 21,” he said. “I could take a few more visits after Georgia.”
With Martin, hearing him say he wants to see something outside of California is a good sign for A&M. This one could drag out a while and it will likely come down to USC hires to be their next head coach. A big time hire and Martin likely stays, if the hire is nothing more than average, Martin might switch.
(More in the next post)
