One off or we’re screwed?

Here’s the big question about Saturday’s loss to Kentucky: is it a one-off or is this a bad football team? You can make arguments either way, but the fact that it’s even being discussed is a problem.

Here’s the argument for a day where everything aligned for a disaster. This game was really decided in four plays. First, the fourth and 1 at the Kentucky 11. Nobody blocks Sam Greene (it looked to me like Richie Anderson totally blew his assignment) and it’s a loss of possession. It should have been at least three points.

Number two, the interception thrown by Marcel Reed to Greene on the next possession. It was, bluntly, a stupid throw. It was a 2nd and 8 and there was no reason to force the pass. And it wasn’t like Greene couldn’t be seen. He was just tunnel visioned and just completely oblivious to the fact the linebacker had jumped the route.

Number three, going for it on fourth down deep inside A&M territory in the third quarter. That was a panic call. Still, it should have worked but Reed throw an absolutely horrible ball that never had a chance. 

Number four is the long touchdown to DJ Moore. On the same kind of route Arizona State hit a big one on the week before. There’s your ballgame. 

The Aggies also suffered a disastrous bunch of injuries at the skill positions. KJ Edwards and Terry Bussey were both hurt during the game — and I’ll bet that’s all for Bussey in 2026 — and Jamarion Morrow and Ashton Bethel-Roman were ruled out before the game. The Aggies missed both of them badly after Edwards and Bussey went down.

So that’s the argument for a fluke. Here’s the argument for why it isn’t — Kentucky absolutely kicked their butts physically. UK ran 54 total offensive plays and kept it on the ground for 35 of them. An average of 4.3 yards a carry isn’t great, but it is good enough that, if you do it three times in a row, that’s a first down you keep driving. And the Aggies were just getting absolutely blown off the ball in the third quarter when things fell apart. You could make the argument they weren’t tough enough or interested enough, because there was no spine in the middle of that defense.

We’re seeing at trend, and it has to be addressed. The safeties are supposed to be the best Mike Elko’s ever had at A&M, and they’ve played terribly for two straight weeks. They can’t tackle, period. Dalton Brooks had five missed tackles Saturday, and Marcus Ratcliffe had three. The whole team had 12! They’re playing assignment poor. Those two big touchdowns in two straight weeks? On the safeties.

Three straight teams have looked at Dezz Ricks and gone, “nah”. Ricks has taken half the field away and the Aggie defense is still getting toasted. Julio Humphrey is getting picked on. Let’s be honest. Physical receivers are battering him. Rickey Gibson isn’t doing any better. So why throw at 2?

And where’s this pass rush? The Aggies had two sacks Saturday, but Kenny Minchey had a clean pocket to the point where he averaged 18 yards a completion. The Aggies are not pressuring with four, but frequently that’s all they’re bringing. An aggressive defense from the last two years has become blase’ so far this year. Bringing four is probably ok if one of them is Cashius Howell. Marco Jones is not Howell yet. If this secondary is as good as Elko says it is, then they need to suck it up and allow for more blitzing. At least give them some different looks.

But this is a mental thing as much as a physical one. The Aggies have sleepwalked through a game and a half now, thinking their talent will just win out. They’re not showing the desire or drive last year’s team did. Two teams last year held up at the line of scrimmage against A&M and both won. Kentucky is not Texas or Miami. But if A&M doesn’t wake up realize they got punched in the face and figure their crap out fast, this season is going to be a massive disappointment.

Marcel Reed vs. Marcel Reed

There suddenly seem to be a lot of problems with this football team, but the biggest, frustratingly, has become quarterback Marcel Reed. Again.

Reed is an incredible athlete and a very smart young man. Perhaps too smart for his own good on the football field. The thinking part of the brain is an athlete’s worst enemy. The part the controls the synapses, the electric jolts to nerve endings forcing their movement, is their ally. When you’re on the field or a court, the idea is for you to trust your training and react. You move on instinct. The more you think, the more screwed you are.

I can talk about this from firsthand experience. At one time, I was a really good baseball player. I could hit anyone. But I completely sabotaged my career by obsessing over mechanics. I was so intent on doing things exactly right that it completely destroyed my ability to throw the baseball. I physically could not do it. Then I started messing with my batting stance and slumped. It took me walking around one night taking ghost swings and noticing that, in my most relaxed stance, my legs were much closer together. So I ended having to nuke everything I’d been taught and going with what was natural. I went 5-5 with two homers and 7 RBI the next game, and I ended up deconstructing my throwing motion as well. 

I’m not Marcel Reed. He’s more talented in his sleep than I was at my best. But I do recognize when an athlete is struggling with his confidence and when he could be in his head.

Reed is pressing. I don’t think there’s any other way to look at that horrible throw on 4th and 2 and say that he was thinking about making a good pass instead of thinking about not making a bad one. It seems like semantics, but if you’ve played any sport, you know they’re not variations on a theme. 

I also think he’s not getting help from his coaches. Reed has tremendous running ability and it’s not being utilized. What happened to the rollouts that were supposed to maximize his athleticism? We haven’t seen one since week one. Reed is at his best when he doesn’t have time to think — no huddle, up tempo. We’ve seen it before. I think I mentioned it a few times last year and the year before. It’s still the case. When he’s forced to react and doesn’t have time to do anything else, the effects are noticeably different.

Marcel Reed’s biggest problem right now is Marcel Reed. He’s got to get off his own back. Just let the talent play. He’s not perfect. He’ll make mistakes. But he’s going to play with fewer limitations and his ceiling will be higher.

Play them more

This isn’t baseball, where you can change lineups largely in a slump, or hockey when you get behind in the playoffs and change goalies. In this day and age, just about every college football player is going to get some playing time. But there are some players who have earned the right to be out there more — both because they’ve earned it and the players in front of them have not performed.

Left tackle Lamont Rogers: Rogers is the future. Tyree Adams was brought in to give him another season to develop. Last weekend, Rogers outplayed Adams, who had troubled with speed rushers. A&M’s best second half drive came with Rogers in the game. He was back on the bench the next drive, which had me gobsmacked.

Defensive tackle Landon Rink: So far, portal DTs Brandon Davis-Swain and Angelo McCullom have provided little. Rink, on the other hand, has been really good. He plays with a high motor and a toughness that grabs your attention.

Defensive end Bryce Perry-Wright: Freshman or not, he’s got size and he hasn’t looked like he’s overmatched.

Safety Tawiq Byard: If Dalton Brooks and Marcus Ratcliffe are going to continue to miss tackles and make the same mistakes, then he should be out there.

Tight end Kiotti Armstrong: Richie Anderson missed a critical block Saturday. Houston Thomas hasn’t done much. Micah Riley has become the lead tight end, but Armstrong was out there Saturday and, if the veterans aren’t going to step up, then let the kid play.

The Bottom 10

10. Arkansas (1-2): They’re not just bad, they’re not competitive. In their last two losses to Utah and Georgia, they’ve been outscored 88-27.

9. Stanford (1-2): They’ll beat your butts in Knowledge Bowl, but this is not Knowledge Bowl. This is where they’ve been outscored 80-13 in two conference games.

8. Rutgers (0-3): They’ve lost their last two games by a touchdown each. But 0-3 is 0-3.

7. Sacramento State (1-3): I don’t know why they’ve played one more game than everyone else, but they probably wish they hadn’t.

6. ULM (0-3): They lost to Southeast Louisiana last weekend. That’s an FCS team that hadn’t beaten FBS team since George W. Bush was still in the middle of his first term (2003).

5. Northern Illinois (0-3): It was only a couple of years ago that NIU beat Notre Dame before Touchdown Jesus. Now, they’re losing to Illinois State.

4. Charlotte (0-3): Two of their losses have been tough ones. But one of those tough ones was to The Citadel. 

3. Bowling Green (0-3): In their last two games, they’ve been outscored (sit down for this): 111-14. 

2. Western Kentucky (0-3): Ok, I feel kind of sad about this pick, because their last two games were against Georgia and Indiana. And, predictably, they were outscored 108-20. But they also got punked 49-14 by Nevada to start the season, so I don’t feel that bad about it.

1. NC State (1-2): TAKE A KNEE AND THE SAFETY AND YOU WIN THE GAME! Instead, the choke against Vanderbilt will literally be discussed as one of the all-time worst in the history of college football. Maybe the worst.

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