Thoughts on the A&M game

Hawg Lounge
#1

I’m curious if at this point Whaley hasn’t surpassed Walker as the #2 RB. Walker has a definite advantage when it comes to short yard situations, but I was really impressed and excited for Whaley and what he can do with the team in the future.

Our OLine is going to get it’s biggest test of the season. A&M’s Dline is a beast and if our Oline can’t shape up to an elite standard by Saturday, Austin is going to be picking turf out of his teeth for a week.

Our defense will once again be facing a dual threat QB and elite WR’s. I thought our boys did very well against TCU, but we can’t afford another 4th quarter comeback again.

The thing that scares me the most is special teams. This is the one area we seem to have not improved much on and if their elite return guy has room, we are going to pay for it on Saturday.

#2

Re special teams, I’ve seen several kickoffs reach the end zone in the first 3 games, so that is a good sign.

#3

True and our punter is doing very well, but coverage is something to be desired.

#4

I dont know that we have enough evidence to see that Whaley has passed Walker. I think it all comes down to his blocking. If he can pass pro, he should pass Walker. I appreciate all Walker has done, but he is simply plodding out there. No wiggle, no burst.

#5

Walker spent time at FB on Saturday, that seems a good position for him.

Walker and Whaley have two very different skill sets. I would hope that we will see them both.

#6

In addition to their stud Dline against our growing Oline, they also have a great crop of receivers which will test our secondary. The ball will come out quick and Knight looks to have adjusted fine to their offensive scheme. We have to beat them with our best shot and that is running the ball, play action controlling the clock. We’ll see how our offense fares against their D. Hope it don’t come down to the kicking game.

#7

Definitely different skill sets. it’s like comparing a pickup to a corvette. Fullback has always made sense for Walker. He has the build, the hands and the power to be a good fullback. Not to mention knowledge of the system.

I am so excited for the aTm game!!!

#8

Did anyone else notice during the A&M Auburn game the Red Zone struggles A&M had.

I know Auburn dials up a lot of pressure, whereas we do not and rely on our DLine. However, do you think there is something to this? I also noticed that most of A&M’s scoring came from big plays.

#9

Interesting that Walker is working at fullback. I wonder if we might get him a few passes out of the backfield?

#10

I think we roll AA out a lot to stay away from the dline pressure.

#11

If our run game click we can play with them. If aa has to drop back slot they have dome pass rushers that are the real deal. They have played some power 5 teams and came out on top.

#12

If we are going to win this game or the rest of our games in the SEC, our offense needs to drastically improve. We currently have the #72 ranked offense in FBS and ranked 61 rushing and 70 passing. Our defense has improved to being ranked 43rd in total defense. I think our passing will improve when our rushing attack improves so hopefully Saturday against A&M we’ll see that improvement!

#13

I say we have’nt seen all we are going to see this weekend on both offense and defense so that means A&M too. NOBODY really knows how much of the playbook the coaches will cut loose with. The defense does appear to be playing well. HOGS YA"LL.

#14

I think we all knew coming into this season that the offense was going to be slower to develop. New O-line, new running backs, and new QB. They seem to be gelling so hopefully we’ll see more improvement this week. Big test for the O-line this week.

#15

The knock on Knight has always been that under pressure he makes bad decisions. This is the key for our defense.
Offensively, we must stay on schedule. 3rd and long will not bode well for use.

#16

The playbook does some expanding for this game with some of the backfield passes etc. This game I think we pull out some new wrinkles with our run game as well. We lost the last two games very close and so we are due for better 4thqtr. HOGS YA’LL.

#17

I think we have played a lot of vanilla thus far this year. I think we have some surprises for aTm.

#18

I’ve said since before the season that if we can beat both A&M and Mississippi State finally I will be happy. Even happier now knowing that would likely put us in a bowl given unexpected success at TCU. Those two teams should never win five in a row against us and to be in the top half of the west we will need to beat them more than 50% of the time. A&M looks great but they always do this time of year and the last two years have been frustrating with close games we should have won. Hopefully we can beat them and MSU this year - with the way that Auburn and Missouri are looking that could put us at 8 wins without having to beat Bama, Ole Miss, LSU, or Florida. Of course, I’d also love to get our first SEC win against UF - there’s a lot of talk about the Kentucky/Florida streak but they’ve beaten them more recently than we have…

#19

Hopefully our defensive focus will be there and then we can play our tempo offensively. The Oline has been the focus from the start and they have been good. We have the SEC #3 RB and #5 passer. And 5 quality receivers. Penalities and sacks need to go down. Our D is gonna bend in this game, whether it breaks will determine if we win.

#20

Maybe but if the offensive line can’t keep their d-line out of our backfield it doesn’t matter how well the defense plays. I think this one will come down to our o-line versus their d-line.