Texas A&M did what it was supposed to do Saturday against The Citadel: work on your problems, win soundly and avoid additional injuries.

The Aggies were playing a bad FCS team and they dominated in all phases, as they should. But who they dominated with, and how, are the interesting stories of the day.

Offense

You can’t be too pissy if your starting offense puts up nearly 250 yards of offense in just four drives and you end up scoring on seven of eight possessions in the game. Sure, you can say that not a whole lot can be taken from this game since it was The Citadel, but A&M needed to feel good about things and they should after today.

Marcel Reed looked light years more comfortable today than he has at any other point this season. He threw the ball with zip — sometimes too much — and was on target most of the time. If things weren’t there, he moved forward, not back, in the pocket and got out to run. It was the best he’s looked throwing the ball down the field, and, coincidentally, he had a clean pocket. Actually, there’s nothing coincidental about that at all, but I digress.

The thing that I liked was that the Aggies came out and did something I’ve been yelling, screaming and darn near begging for — they used tempo. And, shocker, Reed responded in a positive fashion. A&M moved the ball well, showed they could do it when they’re not three touchdowns behind and scored points. That’s how they should start things next weekend in Tuscaloosa and stick with it, so long as Reed’s in charge.

Reed was 9-13 for 130 yards and a touchdown. He threw a couple of really nice deep balls to TK Norman and Aaron Gregory and, had Isaiah Horton actually displayed some effort, probably would have had another one. He had a couple of drops, or his numbers would have been better. This was the closest we’ve seen to the 2025 Reed, and hopefully it will continue.

Brady Hart got the most work of his career and, I thought, looked just as good as Reed did (against backups on a bad FCS team in the second half). He was 8-12 for 107 yards and a score and threw the ball more accurately on the move than Reed did. The arm strength is there. Coach Mike Elko indicated after the game that he’s still moving too quickly (may not be fully comfortable yet), but he definitely didn’t do anything to stop the idea that he should get a look if Reed struggles again next weekend or beyond.

Reed and Hart did their damage very short-handed. Three of their top four receivers — Terry Bussey, Mario Craver and Ashton Bethel-Roman — were all out today. Craver was held out as he deals with injuries, and Bethel-Roman is away from the team dealing with “personal matters.” That does not sound good and it would probably be the prudent thing to assume we won’t see him for a while. To boot, speedster Kelshaun Johnson also didn’t play.

Instead, TK Norman and Aaron Gregory came in and took over. Both had their best games to date and we’re probably going to see them more moving forward. Norman caught five passes for 88 yards, while Gregory caught another six for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Norman is really starting to become a receiver Reed and Hart can rely on, while Gregory is a future star. They’re getting pressed into more obvious roles right now due to the injuries the receiver corps is dealing with, but they have responded well. Horton, the lone veteran of the group, didn’t impress with a single catch for 10 yards and questionable effort on what should have been a touchdown pass from Hart and the aforementioned deep ball from Reed.

If Craver returns next week, and I’m guessing he will, the top four in Tuscaloosa will likely be Craver/Horton/Gregory/Norman. Not quite what we expected starting the year, but you dance with what you brought.

The offensive line allegedly gave up a sack late in the game, but please. That was the ultimate in garbage time. The starters performed well, minus the injury to Mark Nabou which did not appear to be serious. True freshman Sam Roseborough started at left guard today, making him the third starter at that position in seven games. And, so far, Roseborough has looked good. He’s supposed to be the center of the future and got plenty of snaps there after Nabou got the hook, and fellow true freshman Zaden Krempin came in at left guard and performed well. The fact that Roseborough and Krempin have been getting serious snaps is both good and bad. First, it’s good because the Aggies found some young talent they think they can work with in the future; it’s also bad because that means a whole lot of guys A&M really wanted and worked hard to add have busted hard.

I liked the blocking scheme today. Nothing special, far fewer counters, pulling linemen or slow developing runs. It was straight zone blocking, get a guy and hit him. With this group, I think that’s how you roll. They’re not quick enough right now to get out there and have your guys pull and lead the back through the hole. Things break down too fast. Just put a hat on a hat and move people.

If it wasn’t clear before, it is now: the running game goes through KJ Edwards and Jamarion Morrow. I told you Edwards was special, but he’s showing more, quickly, than I expected. He’s so aggressive in hitting holes and his vision is excellent. He ripped off runs of 32 and 34 yards today and looks like he can handle 15 carries a ballgame. Morrow put in his best work, by far, of the season. That’s what they’ve been expecting from him, and he showed a little more power than I was expecting. I hate it for Rueben Owens, but he’s flat out been outplayed. Carsyn Baker looked good in the second half as well, so if the O-line can do their jobs, the talent is clearly there.

The Aggies were without Bussey, Craver, Bethel-Roman, Trovon Baugh, Blake Ivy and Kelshaun Johnson today. For much of the day, two true freshmen were playing up front. Net result: 501 yards of total offense.

Again, it’s The Citadel. But it’s also something to grow off of us. They found some things that may work and some players they can lean on.

Defense

A shutout is good. Not allowing the opponent into the Red Zone is also good. But I’m not thrilled with what I saw from the defense today and that is concerning.

Texas A&M should not be giving up 183 yards of total offense to The Citadel. Period. Full Stop. The Citadel should not hold onto the ball for eight minutes more than A&M did. Also full stop.

The Citadel averaged three yards a carry today. Which doesn’t sound bad until you consider that’s all they do and you knew it. A&M had three tackles for loss. Three. They only forced two 3 and outs the entire game.

I normally wouldn’t even think about it, but after being absolutely bullied by Missouri last weekend, it’s a concern.’

I noticed today that both Marcus Ratcliffe and Tawfiq Byard were down in the box as de facto linebackers. Byard, especially, was outstanding at it. He had seven tackles and 1.5 TFL and came off the end like he was shot out of a cannon. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Byard is playing better than anyone else on the defense right now.

A lot of players did not play today that were not officially “out” and Noah MIkhail appears to have been one of them. So DJ Sanders and Ray Coney stepped up. Sanders had a career high five tackles and really made his presence felt for the first time. Coney had seven tackles and really looked he “got it” today. That’s what they’re going to need consistently going forward.

The other starter at linebacker was Jordan Lockhart, and he tallied 6 tackles, showing his ability to get to the ball. He also got nailed for a 15-yard hands to the face penalty, highlighting his penchant for being reckless. Tamarion Watkins played a lot and racked up four tackles himself.

The defensive ends never really were called on to pressure the quarterback, so Marco Jones and TJ Searcy had pedestrian days. But I was impressed, again, but freshman Bryce Perry-Wright. I said before the season I figured he’d end up getting real playing time, but he seems to have passed up veteran Ryan Henderson. The reason, if I’m right? He’s better against the run. Today, he had a couple of tackles, .5 TFL and was a consistently breaking down any outside rushing lanes available.

Landon Rink and Brandon Davis-Swain got the start at defensive tackle today, something you never would have guessed at the start of the year. They both put up numbers, and Rink’s quickness continues to be a differentiator — he had half a TFL today. But The Citadel’s best runs were right up the gut, and I’m concerned that’s where Alabama will be going too. The Aggies have to do something about that, and hopefully getting DJ Hicks back next weekend will help.

The Citadel had 43 total passing yards. Their passing game is awful. A&M’s corners could have gone, had a nice, relaxed lunch, come back and have missed nothing.

The Aggies have two shutouts already this year. That hasn’t happened since the early Clinton administration. That’s a plus. I realize they didn’t do anything special at all in terms of scheming — it was “go out and stop those guys”. But the inability to completely strangle the running game bothers me.

SPecial Teams

David Olano remains perfect on field goals and PATs. Tyler White only had to punt once and it wasn’t a disaster. Bravion Rogers returned a punt 42 yards on his first try as a returner. Colton Chmelar kicked off well and the 12th Man kickoff team got to run down the field. Nice day at the office.

Coaching

Credit to Elko for not letting last week’s disaster spread and allow the locker room to become a cesspool (sorry, had to). The team was focused today, even against a significantly inferior opponent.

Here’s the list of players who either did not play or played very little:

Bussey

Ivy

Bethel-Roman

Kelshaun Johnson

Baugh

Houston Thomas

Hicks

Daymion Sanford

Mikhail

CJ Mims and Rickey Gibson did play, but I don’t remember seeing them.

Still, the team played hard and disciplined for the most part. Three of the seven penalties, at least, were pre-snap.

Offensively, I like the tempo. They need to keep that up. Keep up the simplified running game. Do what works. Don’t be so insistent on something that looks good schematically but fails in practice (right, Jimbo?). The idea was to get the quarterbacks feeling good, let the running game lead and go for eventual balance. They got it.

Defensively, they were as bland as humanly possible and threw a shutout. But the concerns with the running game remain, and I’m going to be stubborn on that one.

Overall, the Aggies played a bad team that they should have outclassed. They did. But they also took away a few things that may help next weekend and in the second half of the year.