First and foremost… the heart and soul of this team Ainias Smith is out with what appears to be a serious leg injury. It breaks my heart for him because he is the emotional leader of this team and has given so much to this school. I cross my fingers and pray that he is well.
This game was our season in a nutshell. On the brink of disaster, down 14-6 (odd scoreline) in the second quarter with KJ Jefferson about to kick the ball to go up 20-0…instead he’s trying to jump over the line of scrimmage and has the ball stripped by Tyreek Chappell. And if that wasn’t enough, Tyreek and Demani Richardson have enough communication to plan a transfer… and Richardson comes down the field to score and we’re down 14-13.
We then score 10 unanswered to go up 23-14…drop a TD, then the d[oink] of all doinks occur.
Your Fightin Texas Aggies go 3-1 on the year with back-to-back ranked wins (don’t mind what Miami did today). Let’s break it down
OFFENSE
As if I didn’t even know where to start. It’s not like that offense played very well (aside from Devon Achane)… but we made plays when needed. Whether it’s a conversion like 2nd and 30 or a must-see first to Donovan Green, or some wild catches by superstar Evan Stewart. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times with penalties and silly plays, but we did enough to win the game.
Let’s talk about Devon Achane. 19 carries for 159 yards and added 3 catches for 15 yards. The team crosses it. He is the center of interest. And he can handle it.
The props go to our offensive line which came together to muster 192 rushing yards and just 2 sacks against a formidable Arkansas front 7.
DEFENSE
Bend but don’t break. Make games when you need to make games. After giving up 280 yards in the first half, the defense locked in to give up just 135 the rest of the way. It wasn’t perfect, but it was solid… and we finally saw the defensive line light up the opposing offense. Guys like Shemar Stewart/Turner, Fadill Diggs, LT Overton all played really, really good games.
And how about this secondary? Tyreek Chappell will always have a piece of my heart. I love you, my brother.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Handsome Nik continues to be a weapon for us averaging 44 yards per punt.
GLOBALLY
I’m sure I missed something but damn it. I’m tired. I’ve done postgames for the past 10 years and this might be the dumbest A&M-Arkansas game I’ve seen…which is saying a lot.
But nevertheless… we got the win and we’re off to the next one.
BTHO miss st.