Though songs and poems have been written about love and loss, there was not much to love in Texas A&M’s 29-19 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday.
There were some things to love. Who couldn’t love the running of Devon Achane or a couple of goal-line stands?
Unfortunately, there was more to loathe and some hard lessons to learn.
Learned
Texas A&M will not play in a New Year’s Six bowl game: Maybe a scenario can be argued that would put the Aggies in one of the more prestigious games. It would be better to face reality. A three-loss team isn’t likely to land in one of the six major games. Especially considering A&M cannot assume it will finish with just three losses because…
The Aggies are not a good road team: A&M just hasn’t been good away from Kyle Field. They’re 2-2 on the road. They pulled out an unimpressive last-minute 10-7 victory over Colorado and Denver. They managed a solid, though unspectacular 35-14 victory at Missouri.
The defense has holes: There were thoughts this 2021 defensive unit could be the reincarnation of The Wrecking Crew. That was probably re-thought after Ole Miss ran up 408 yards in the first half alone. The defense made several clutch plays to deny touchdowns, but Ole Miss picked up big chunks of rushing yards. The Aggies were vulnerable on passes in the middle of the field, too.
Jamie Maury, TexAgs
The Aggie defense gave up 408 yards in the first half, which is the most this season.
Loved
Clutch defense: Three consecutive Ole Miss drives in the first half advanced deep inside A&M territory but only resulted in three points. A DeMarvin Leal sack and forced fumble ended one threat. A Demani Richardson forced fumble and 18-yard loss from the 1-yard line left Ole Miss settling for a field goal. A fourth-down tackle from Tyreek Chappell at the A&M 2-yard line stopped another. The Aggies also stopped a fake field goal a yard short of a first down in the fourth quarter.
Devon Achane: The sophomore speedster also ran with great power. He used that power to score a 24-yard touchdown. He also had a 9-yard touchdown. Achane rushed for 110 yards.
A&M’s competitiveness: The Aggies could have been out of it by halftime when they were outgunned 408-91. But A&M hung in and twice in the second half started drives with an opportunity to take the lead. They could not capitalize, but the fact they were in that position was encouraging.
Loathed
Achane’s underutilization: As previously mentioned, Achane rushed for 110 yards. He did that on just 12 carries. Achane’s longest run was the 24-yard touchdown, so that average wasn’t distorted by one long run.
Penalties: A recurring problem reared its ugly head again. The Aggies were flagged 11 times for 90 yards in the loss.
Not challenging Ole Miss’ run defense enough: The Rebels were 108th in the nation against the run. Five of their last six opponents had rushed for more than 200 yards. Yet, A&M seemed to rest its hopes more on Zach Calzada’s passing than the running game. Calzada threw 41 times. The Aggies only ran on 29 plays. Calzada also had two interceptions that resulted in two Ole Miss touchdowns in a span of 1 minute and 32 seconds.
