Jimbo Fisher addresses the play of Max Johnson in win against Arkansas

On3 imageby:Chandler Vessels09/25/22

ChandlerVessels

Max Johnson might not be the flashiest quarterback in the SEC, but he is getting the job done for Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M. After helping the Aggies defeat No. 10 Arkansas 23-21 on Saturday, Johnson improved his record to 2-0 since taking over as the starter in Week 3.

The junior finished the day 11-of-21 passing for 151 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He also made a few plays with his legs to end with 39 yards rushing. It wasn’t the perfect performance, but overall Jimbo Fisher was pleased with the progress he saw out of Max Johnson in just one week’s time.

“He’s getting better and better at it,” the Aggies coach said. “He’s scrambling, he’s tough. He made some great runs and scrambles. His heart’s big. He plays hard, plays tough and he’s still learning it. There’s still a lot of things he can even do better — and I’m not trying to criticize him in any way — there’s some throws and plays we had there and he knows it. Just some reads that we’ve gotta keep going over and over.

“He’ll get used to the guys, players and those guys in the game. The guys around him have to run ’em just like they’re supposed to run ’em. He did a great job managing the game, the run checks. All those big runs, he checked and got us out of there one play and got us into another and what we were trying to do. He just gets better and better. He’s a real competitor and a high-quality young man.”

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Johnson had two runs of 10 yards or greater, including a 33-yard scramble early in the third quarter. His lone touchdown of the evening came in the second quarter on a 10-yard connection with true freshman receiver Evan Stewart. It was an understated performance, but marked the second straight week he helped A&M to take out a top 25 opponent after their victory against then-No. 13 Miami this past week.

Max Johnson will hope to continue to make progress as the Aggies (3-1, 1-0 SEC) look to make some more noise in conference play. Their next chance to do so will come at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday on the road against Mississippi State.