Texas A&M should be better than they’ve shown and I’m beginning to wonder if that will change under Jimbo Fisher’s watch.
This is not what Texas A&M envisioned when they backed up the Brinks truck for Jimbo Fisher. The Aggies survived vs. Arkansas in a rivalry game that always seems to be decided on the final play, but the 31-27 win isn’t going to inspire much confidence for the Aggies.
In fact, this is one of the rare games where the winner comes out feeling like a loser and the losing team comes out feeling inspired and gets a little bit of confidence. There is no such thing as a moral victory in football but after losing to San Jose State last week, only losing by four to the No. 23 Aggies is close.
Perhaps my expectations were just too high, too soon for Fisher’s Aggies, but I didn’t expect them to be sweating out wins vs. Arkansas who is playing with their backup quarterback who they benched earlier this month.
Texas A&M has a brutal schedule this year so it’s not like I was predicting them to win the SEC West by any stretch, but I figured they’d dominate the inferior teams and at least be competitive vs. the tougher teams on their schedule.
So far, it’s been a mixed bag.
They were bodied vs. Clemson and weren’t competitive in the least.
They lost to Auburn but again never looked like they were ever in a position to win that game.
Then, they barely win against Arkansas.
Is this what Texas A&M is paying Fisher for?
Absolutely not.
If Texas A&M can be rewarded for good losses, surely they will be penalized for bad wins.
Texas A&M should not be ranked next week.
This is a team that was as high as No. 12 earlier this year, but it’s clear they were overrated and Fisher’s rebuilding effort at College Station is going to be much more difficult and take much longer than initially anticipated.
Fisher is recruiting well. But he’s not developing well.
Quarterback Kellen Mond is not taking his game to the next level. This was supposed to be a big year for Mond. He hasn’t been bad. But he hasn’t been great either.
But the issues are deep and widespread.
The rushing offense was non-existent vs. Arkansas. The Hogs leading rusher, Rakeem Boyd, matched the Aggies with 89 yards and he did it on 18 carries vs. 33. for the Aggies.
The defense could really use another Myles Garrett coming off the edge. They’ll settle for another Daeshon Hall.
Maybe those type of impact performers will emerge later this year or next year, or maybe it’ll be the year after that. In any event, Texas A&M needs to be better than what they’ve shown.
If Aggies fans are satisfied with the product put on the field so far, they are satisfied with eight-win seasons and annually being punching bags for the likes of Alabama and LSU in the SEC West.
That’s not what Texas A&M is paying Fisher $75 million over 10 years. That’s Jon Gruden money and so far the results are only slightly better than what the Raiders are getting out of him.
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