The Hangover: Picking up the pieces from a tough loss

There’s a lot of negatives from Texas A&M’s 42-21 loss to Mississippi State. It was an embarassing performance all around and there’s a lot to get to. We’ll address some of the questions and concerns coming out of Saturday’s game later in the week, but for now, here are five positives to hopefully boost the mood.

Five Positives from Saturday

Passing offense eventually got going

There were some legit flashes of a functional passing attack in the second half of Saturday’s loss. Johnson completed four straight passes on Texas A&M’s first touchdown drive of the game which included passes of 18 and 36 yards. After he left the game with an injury to his throwing hand, Haynes King entered and was able to get some downfield throws as well, though he did throw two interceptions that ultimately ended any chance of a potential comeback. The plays are there, Jimbo Fisher just has to call them, and the offense has to execute.

Devon Achane

Achane rushed for over 100 yards once again, averaging 6.9 yards per carry and is the most consistent and best player on Texas A&M’s offense. He’s improved his ability to run through contact and his overall balance and that’s led to his early success in his first year as the Aggies’ bell-cow back.

Moose Muhammad

Muhammad showed on Saturday that he’s more than capable of stepping into Ainias Smith’s role. After a rough outing against Arkansas, in a bigger role against the Bulldogs, the sophomore shined, leading the team in receiving yards, finishing the day with six receptions for 119 yards and one touchdown.

Messy week all around

If it makes anyone feel any better, it was a messy week all across college football. Georgia struggled, but eventually won, against Missouri. Oklahoma was blown out by TCU, Kentucky lost to Ole Miss, Minnesota lost to Purdue, Washington lost to UCLA and Pitt lost to Georgia Tech. It was a weird week of injuries, some strange losses and struggles. The season is far from over, Texas A&M still controls their own destiny in the SEC West. Playoffs feel off the table at this point, but that should have never been the expectation for the 2022 Texas A&M Aggies given their youth.

Texas A&M never stopped fighting

As many concerns as there are about the offensive and defensive schemes, level of execution and consistency, it says a lot about the culture that Jimbo Fisher has cultivated that Texas A&M never stopped fighting. Fisher has his flaws no doubt, but his ability to recruit, connect with his players and get buy-in from them week in and week out is really, really impressive.