Hm.
Well… that was certainly one of the football games ever.
In what was a very close, slug-it-out affair under the Kyle Field lights, the Texas A&M Aggies were able to grind out a 26-20 win over the pesky Bowling Green Falcons, who were seeking to get a statement win after falling just short against Penn State a few weeks ago. While the visitors gave the Maroon and White a real scare throughout this game, some big plays late allowed the Ags to breathe and survive the upset bid.
Led by a clean game from QB Marcel Reed, another good showing on the ground, and the defense coming up big in the waning moments of this game, A&M can exhale and fully focus on SEC ball, which continues next week in the Southwest Classic against Arkansas Saturday afternoon.
The win comes with kind of a muted relief, and I wouldn’t blame people for saying this was kind of a step back after a big win on the road against an SEC opponent. However, maybe there’s some positivity that can be drawn from this game (I’m gonna talk about this later). I mean, a win is a win is a win.
There’s a lot to break down before conference play kicks into high gear in the coming weeks.
Doing Just Enough
“If you ever relax in this game, it will find a way to humble you instantly.”
That’s what Mike Elko said in his postgame presser after the narrow win on Saturday. And as the opponents only get tougher, this statement will hold true more than ever from now on.
It kinda felt like the Aggies relaxed a little bit after that win against Florida more than a week ago. And that almost came back to bite them in a brutal way against an experienced, talented, and extremely well-coached Bowling Green squad coming off of a bye week. Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. is going to be an NFL player, and he proved that with a massive showing against the Aggies. The veteran status of this Falcons team showed - that roster loaded with juniors and seniors were hardly fazed by the 99,000+ at Kyle Field on Saturday night.
It took everything that A&M had to eke this one out. Despite all of the defensive breakdowns, a special teams miscue on the blocked punt, a critical fumble late to give the Falcons some life, and some inconsistency in the passing game, Texas A&M was able to get the win. They just did enough. And honestly? That’s encouraging to me. It sounds weird now, but here’s why.
I figured Bowling Green was going to present a real challenge for the Aggies. I said that myself. However, with the way the Maroon and White played on Saturday, I’m coming to the conclusion that A&M teams in the past would’ve lost this one. It was like that against Appalachian State under Jimbo Fisher, and in the collapse against UCLA under Kevin Sumlin.
Instead, the Aggies were able to keep calm under pressure and close this game out, and both sides of the football were able to do just enough to get by.
I’m not saying that’s gonna let A&M get through conference play for the rest of the year - far from it. They’ll have to play much, much better, without a doubt. But the fact that Mike Elko was able to get his guys to rally and finish the job rather than just collapsing is nice to see.
Bowling Green had the Aggies reeling for a good portion of the evening. They threw a lot of haymakers. But maybe a punch in the mouth is what the Aggies needed for this season heading forward. It’ll hopefully show them to not underestimate anyone and to come out with something to prove in every game.
Marcel Reed
First home start for Marcel Reed was… well, more of the same.
There were some flashes, especially as a runner, but there’s still some stuff that needs work. And that’s okay - he’s a redshirt freshman making his second career start. I’m sure that’ll improve with time.
His athleticism continues to let Collin Klein be creative in his playcalling. It opens up a lot of possibilities for trying new things and making something out of nothing, even if the offensive playbook may be a little simplified (which is probably still needed at this point in his development - don’t want to hamper him down too much with a bunch of complexities). Reed has also continued to show the ability to throw some lasers - my goodness, just go look at his touchdown toss to Theo Melin Öhrström.
However, there are still some really noticeable flaws that reared their head at times in this one. It feels like Reed is maybe a little too willing to take contact when running, which… isn’t great! I admire his toughness to absorb that contact but please, dude, just slide! For your health!
His accuracy was also inconsistent at times, completely missing Noah Thomas on a probable touchdown and missing a wide-open Terry Bussey in the endzone as well. That was the main flaw that he came into this year with (other than inexperience, I guess), so it’s not too much of a surprise. Hope that can get fixed soon.
Overall, he played clean football and had his ups and downs. But all that matters is that he quarterbacked this squad to a win against a stingy opponent, and that’s the reality of it.
Theo Melin Öhrström
We might have ourselves a legit weapon at tight end.
The Swede continues to impress in his snaps, and it feels like he’s been getting better and better in every game that gets played this season. He caught yet another long touchdown pass on the opening drive of this ballgame, leaping over a poor defensive back and just Mossing him in the endzone on a Marcel Reed dot.
The third-year man from Stockholm is starting to put it all together out there, and it shows in the increased reps he’s been earning on a consistent basis. At 6’6” and 265 pounds, the dude they call “Thor” is continuing to tighten his grasp on that TE1 spot, one that I think he might not let go of this year. He’s emerging into a heck of a dual-threat tight end, with the downfield receiving capabilities being shown on full display while also impressing as a run blocker.
Defense
Listen, I think that the defense is the strength of this football team. There’s talent and depth at all three levels, and they’ve had a really good start to this season. I can also think that despite the win, there were a few concerns that arose throughout the game to mix in with the positives.
The loss of Tyreek Chappell is gonna hurt a ton - he was the glue guy and one of the leaders in that secondary, and he played a critical role at that nickel corner spot which is so important in Mike Elko’s defense. We saw a couple of defensive breakdowns at the back end that led to two long touchdowns, and there’s a chance those wouldn’t have happened at full strength. Some tackling and miscommunication errors were on display, and they’ll have to clean that up before conference play.
Marcus Ratcliffe is a stud, though. Hoping that Bryce Anderson can recover quickly from his injury as well.
I thought the defensive line was good. Those starters just continue to be nasty up front - Albert Regis is a monster run-stuffer, the Shemars are incredibly consistent (Shemar Stewart… whew he can play), and Nic Scourton has been as advertised even if the production hasn’t quite been matched yet. They’re also victims to an incredible amount of holding penalties that don’t get called, Scourton in particular.
They just gotta limit the big plays. That will take this team a long way to becoming the team they want to be.
Offensive Line
I thought the offensive line played great again. This is starting to be a theme.
I am, though, worried about some of the depth inside after TJ Shanahan got nicked up.
Koli Faaiu was already hurt and had to step in for Shanahan after he was carted to the locker room (he should be okay, though). But for a center group that has already lost Mark Nabou for the season, the Aggies are relying on Faaiu and Shanahan to really stay healthy for the remainder of this season.
They can’t afford to have any more injuries hit them on the interior of an offensive line that has been really working this season, especially with bigger, tougher fronts in conference play awaiting them.
Randy Bond
Needed some more consistency from Randy Bond at the kicker spot, and he delivered in front of the home fans on Saturday.
Everyone’s favorite aerospace engineer that is also a kicker was perfect on the day against the Falcons, going 4-for-4 on field goal attempts with a long of 42 yards. Call that a Wendy’s deal, I guess. But his contributions were big for an A&M offense that struggled a little bit in the redzone and had to settle for 3 on a number of occasions.
The main flaw with Bond was his consistency on his kicks, and it showed against Florida last week, even in the horrible conditions there. Good to see him get back to quality kicking against Bowling Green on Saturday.
That will basically do it for this game. Some other quickies:
Don’t know why Jay Bateman kept calling coverages that never handled the flats or underneath. Seemed at first glance like he was trying to prevent any more big plays after the two long touchdowns by calling a lot of quarters (zone coverage with an emphasis on four deep zones), which let the Falcons dink and dunk all game. I feel like he should’ve let the corners go man-to-man with Bowling Green. They are better at that than in zone.
Liked seeing the continued integration of Jabre Barber in this wide receiving corps. He presents another weapon that really can present some dynamism out wide, especially in the slot. Coaches raved about him in the spring before his injury, and hopefully that praise can translate sooner rather than later.
Noticed another game where Moose Muhammad put up zero snaps. At this point, I feel like it’s fully an effort problem with him. For as talented as he is, he’s gotta at least try in the other aspects of the game like blocking and hustling. Hoping he figures it out, but I don’t really feel sympathetic for him at this point. It’s up to him to determine if he can get on the field through his effort.
Thanks for reading if you’ve made it this far - see you soon!
-Sourav