Jimbo Fisher’s first game on the Texas A&M sidelines could have gone more smoothly, but it was overall a successful debut. We learned a lot from it, too–though precisely what will take some time to figure out.
It’s hard to really judge anything about a coach or a team when facing an opponent so overmatched. And Northwestern State — an FCS program that hasn’t had a winning season in a decade — was the definition of overmatched in this game. The Demons couldn’t do anything on offense, and that’s before they hurt themselves with nonstop unnecessary penalties.
Fisher essentially treated this game like an NFL preseason game, which is a luxury that Texas A&M had due to the massive talent disparity. The new head coach is pretty sure that he wants Kellen Mond as his quarterback, so Mond played the first half and a series into the second. However, Fisher also still wanted to see what Nick Starkel could do under center. Therefore, even with a 42-0 lead, Texas A&M kept the playbook open for a few series to see what Starkel can do.
Similarly, this was Texas A&M’s first game to showcase a new offense. The Aggies had been running a spread offense under Kevin Sumlin for the last six years, but Jimbo Fisher prefers something closer to a pro-style offense. Mond did take a lot of snaps in the pistol as well as under center, but it was certainly a deviation from the shotgun we’re used to seeing from Texas A&M offenses.
The transition from the spread seems to be going very well. Again, it’s so hard to really tell what the offense is like when the opposing line is so hopelessly overmatched. Trayveon Williams had huge gaps whenever he ran the ball. His 240 yards on 12 carries is far more an indictment of the competition than a statement of his talents. That much was obvious from the opening drive, which Williams capped off with a 73-yard burst up the middle. Nevertheless, the offense seems to be running smoothly- far from a guarantee after switching up so much in just one summer.
The defense was stout, but once again it’s hard to really know anything based on the level of competition. One worrying sign is that two Texas A&M starters were ejected in the first half for targeting- against kickoff returners. These weren’t bang-bang plays either. Each case was a clear launch and textbook targeting. This rule has been in effect for over five years now. Players should know better, and coaches should be making sure that players don’t do it- and certainly that they don’t celebrate after they do it. Both penalties were in the first half, so no major starters will be missing a half against Clemson next week, but it still was concerning to see.
At the end of the day, Texas A&M picked up an easy, guaranteed win against an overmatched opponent. It was solid prep for Clemson next week, which should tell us just how far Jimbo Fisher has brought the program so far. Based on this week’s performance, there are good signs, but we won’t have anything at all solid to say until we see the Aggies face real competition.
