Sunday Synopsis: Fightin' Texas Aggies (Week 9)
Howdy!
I am livid. We couldn't manage to kick one more field goal and cover the spread (-43.5).
But what did we learn from the Aggies this week? Unfortunately, absolutely nothing. All it did for me was re-affirm my belief that Christian Kirk is not human, returning two punts for touchdowns, each over 70 yards. Sure, we won big after our first loss of the season - something the teams of the past few years have not been able to do. But, we beat New Mexico State.
Texas A&M place holder, Conner McQueen, got some play-time at Quarterback in the blowout win against New Mexico State.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Teams get criticized for these out-of-conference games all the time, but they are so important to a team's development. Our offense ran five different running backs, three different quarter backs, and back ups at every other position. The defense started a few back ups, allowing some playmakers who were injured to get healthy. This week allowed our guys to build up some confidence heading into the final stretch, get some backups that will be needed in the future some valuable reps, and allow our studs, like Myles Garrett and Armani Watts, to get back healthy and make a run at that fourth playoff spot.
The Aggies did manage to jump two spots this week, up to No. 7, and I am not pleased. Ohio State and Louisville, both one loss teams in front of us had questionable weeks.
The Buckeyes squeaked out a close one to a decent Northwestern team. There really isn't shame in having a close game with Northwestern, unless you're the No. 6 team in the country coming off of an embarrassing loss.
Louisville played a Virginia team who is atrocious in almost every facet of the game. They lost to Richmond in Week 1. It took some more Lamar Jackson magic with under 30 seconds left to lift the Cardinals over the Cavaliers this week.
I wasn't happy when these two teams were ranked above us even after our loss to Alabama, and this week only strengthened my biased opinion. The only factor that I can see them getting the advantage with is in their more reasonable shots at Conference titles in the BIG 10 and ACC respectively. But, with Clemson winning against their last major threat this week, Louisville's chances are looking very slim to even reach the title game. And in Columbus, Ohio State would have to knock off No. 2 Michigan to put themselves in that conference's driver's seat. Baylor, West Virginia, Nebraska, and Boise State all dropping their first games of the season certainly helps, but Washington holding on does not.
With the College Football Playoff's first poll being released this Tuesday, I think everyone assumes that the four teams in are the four unbeatens. I will be very interested to see how much their first teams out (No. 5,No. 6, No. 7,and No.8) coincide with the AP.
Sure, there is plenty of time for things to change and a lot of football to play. Hell, the Aggies still have to beat Ole Miss and LSU for any of this to be possible. This week was hard to write about, many because there's no use in bragging about beating a team who can't even win in the Sun Belt. Have a good week guys and Beat the Hell Outta Mississippi State.
