I have several “goods” actually…but they can all be rolled into one: the offense. Yes, we had to score late, and we didn’t always put the ball into the endzone like the Aggies…but that was nevertheless the best our offense has looked IMO. If we make those two FG’s…and they were long ones in fairness…we score 37 points…at Kyle Field…against a very good football team.
I thought Franks played his best game so far. He is getting more and more comfortable with the offense. Someone is gonna say he holds the ball too long. And he does. But that is simply a weakness. He is playing winning football for us…at the most important position. And suddenly we had a running game! I attribute that to Rakeem being closer to 100%, some new plays and schemes, and Franks really being a running threat! This offense has so many option reads…and the Aggies…based on film I’m sure…seemed to be making sure all the other options were covered…which allowed Franks to hurt them. Feleipe seemed to run with less fear of hurting himself, and showed at least a tad of the old running ability he had at Florida.
No one is ever going to confuse Feleipe with Quinn. But his running will help our offense.
Now…the bad. The Aggies O-line controlled our defensive front. We blitzed several times, and got there in time not once. When Marshall or someone else got pressure from the front, Mond just sidestepped, and found open receivers. Clearly, we decided that we had to pressure Mond, or he would pick us apart. So, we tried to pressure him. And he picked us apart anyway. The worst was our inability to get them off the field on 3rd down…which leads me to…
The ugly. When J. Catalon went out (and the call was correct), I turned to my wife (who has actually started watching football with me after about a 30 year hiatus) and said “I don’t think we can win this ballgame without him.” I texted two close friends and said the same. I was afraid it would hurt both pass coverage and run support. And it did. The very play after JC went out, Slusher came in and missed a tackle. Catalon has SO MANY unassisted tackles. That was sorely missed. Plus, and I have heard Clay and others say this, Catalon seems to be the QB of the secondary. He makes everything “right.” And he has such great anticipation.
I am not saying we would have won with him. Or that we would have suddenly shut them down. But I do think at LEAST a couple of the 3rd down conversions might have been snuffed out resulting in a punt. That might have made a real difference.
To Pittman’s credit, he acknowledged we missed Catalon, but refused to dwell on it. Well…I can dwell on it. He is arguably THE difference maker on our defense. We need more like him for sure. But until we are like Bama or Ohio State and have a team full of difference makers…losing the one’s we have is a killer.
One final thing. Next year I understand we are going back to Jerry world. Seems unfair that the Aggies had a home game last night, and we just have to go back to a neutral site. Could the teams agree to at least give Arkansas “home team” level ticket rights in Fort Worth for one year…instead of 50/50?
On to Tennessee…whom we can beat.