COLLEGE STATION — There a lot of things you can say about Texas A&M’s offense. None of them are nice.

Awful. Putrid. Vomit-inducing. A whole lot of words that I can’t print without being unprofessional.

I have been watching Aggie football for more than 25 years now, so that includes the Gulf Coast Offense and Fran’s option scheme. But this offense? This is the worst offense I have ever seen from Texas A&M.

And they’re wasting one great effort from the defense after another. That’s the third straight game where the defense has played well enough to win, and the offense completely failed them. At least we saw some players and coach Mike Elko finally snap from the offensive ineptitude.

Offense

Just disgusting. 179 total yards. 91 yards passing, 86 rushing — and only 13 after halftime. Two of 11 on third down conversions. An offensive line that couldn’t block anyone in pass protection and a quarterback who’s confidence is absolutely shot.

Today should be the last start for Marcel Reed. Elko says he gives the Aggies the best chance to win, but they’ve scored 16 points in the last two games. They’ve failed to reach double-digits in three of their last four conference games. Yes, he was under a lot of heat today, but he still could have made plays. Instead, he pressed, trying to force the ball down the field. He has completely forgotten the element of the game that made him special: his ability to run. Was Tennessee spying him? Yes. Should Reed still find a way to beat a linebacker, at least some of the time? Also yes. And 9-22 for 71 yards is so astonishingly bad that it begs for a quarterback change.

KJ Edwards and Reuben Owens were both really good in the first half. They did zilch after halftime. Most importantly, they couldn’t get a first down on 3rd and 1 — twice. Sometimes you have to put your head down and make a hole, but they couldn’t. So what started off as a good performance ended up being pretty average. Neither Edwards or Owens got a lot of carries, probably because the offense couldn’t stay on the field.

And the offensive line bears the brunt of the responsibility for that. They were totally whipped in the second half. They were personally embarrassed, each one of them. They never held up in pass protection, but they lost the momentum they had with the running game as well. In the second half, the Aggies went three and out four straight times, then four and out two more times. Six possession in a row without a first down. When they finally did get their two first downs of the second half, it was with Brady Hart at the helm.

The receivers didn’t have a chance to do much, but Mario Craver gutted his way through to five catches. Isaiah Horton didn’t contribute anything except some choice words for Reed on the sideline. Houston Thomas deflected a fourth down pass intended for Craver, and we’ll return to THAT playcall in a minute. Losing TK Norman seriously hurt, because he’s a very good blocker as well as a guy who is finding ways to get open. Their failures were not as blatant as last week, but the receivers didn’t help much either.

This group is completely clueless, doesn’t believe in itself and can’t punch out yards when it needs to. It’s disgustingly bad.

Defense

What can you expect when you’re out on the field for 42 minutes, 11 seconds because your offense is incapable of picking up a first down? The Aggie defense played their butts off today, but finally wore down.

In spite of being out there for nearly three-quarters of the game, the defense held Tennessee to 10 points under their season scoring average and 83 yards below their season total offense average. They even held Tennessee to 20 yards under their season rushing average, even though Tennessee ran it 56 times.

Fifty-six carries for 196 yards. That’s 3.5 yards a carry. They did even better against DeSean Bishop, who needed 34 carries to pick up 97 yards. His long rush was nine yards. Shutting down Bishop should have meant a win, but again, the offense stinks.

The guy who got them was former third-stringer Javin Gordon, who picked up 78 yards on just 11 carries and worked as a great change of pace for Bishop. He was faster and hit the holes better today. Still, if you hold Tennessee to less than 200 yards and they ran the ball 56 times, you did your job.

The defensive line did a solid job. One of the few bright spots in the second half was DJ Hicks holding up at the point of attack to stop Bishop for little or nothing repeatedly. He’s one of the few guys who can take this tape and use it for his draft profile (if he leaves). CJ Mims had a good game. Angelo McCullom had his best performance, by far of his Aggie career.

Marco Jones is really starting to come into his own. He got hosed on the roughing the passer call, but he was all over the place today. He had seven tackles and provided a good bit of pressure. Sam M’Pemba has really found his niche in college football — finally. He’s become a really good speed rusher and a capable three-down end. He should return next year for even more playing time. TJ Searcy was his usual solid self with another five tackles. But Anto Saka continues to be a major disappointment, with one measly tackle in 74 snaps by Tennessee.

The secondary really didn’t get tested much. George McIntyre threw several slants over the middle that went for first downs and decent-sized gains. They picked on the nickels again today, but Dezz Ricks also gave up a catch. All three safeties — Dalton Brooks, Marcus Ratcliffe and Tawfiq Byard — were really strong against the run. But they also got fooled on Tennessee’s one touchdown, leaving the tight end wide open.

The Aggies had a pair of sacks and six tackles for loss. Tennessee threw for 114 yards, even if they completed 14 of 18 attempts. That’s way below their already anemic passing average of 179 yards a game. They gave up one touchdown. They held Tennessee to four field goals on their other trips into the red zone. That should be enough to win. It wasn’t even close.

Special teams

David Olano missed from 50 into a swirling wind. I’m not broken up about that, though it could have given a momentum boost. Tyler White averaged 51 yards a punt on his seven attempts. The coverage teams weren’t good, but Bravion Rogers had two nice returns in the punting game (one was called back on a penalty).

Coaching

I will give Elko credit; he takes bullets for his guys. This is what he had to say about the offense after the game: “Our offense is inept. I don’t know how you can put this on one kid. this is not on one kid. The narrative that this is just on Marcel. Anybody who watched that game and thinks that is just on Marcel Reed… It’s on me. It’s on me. It’s a completely non-functional offense and that’s on me. It’s my own fault. I own it.”

That’s 100% true. But Reed isn’t helping matters, and this season is lost. It’s time to see what Hart can do.

Elko’s biggest mistake was hiring Holmon Wiggins as his offensive coordinator. That move has been an utter disaster. I liked his play calls in the first couple of games, but everything we expected to see has gone out the window in favor of…whatever that was.

The fourth down play call, to roll Reed to his left, which makes a throw far more difficult, and then throw might be the worst play call I’ve ever seen. Your quarterback is struggling with the basics, so you’re going to roll him so he has to throw across his body with half the field taken away. That’s just so bad it defies description. The offensive line couldn’t block. They just got flat whipped. It’s an embarrassment, and a lot of the playcalls were either baffling or uninspired. There will be a change in the offseason. You don’t say what Elko did today without making a move.

Defensively, the only thing you can complain about are the two fourth down conversions. As inept as A&M’s offense was today, Tennessee averaged one-tenth of a yard more per play (4.2 to 4.1). The Vols were 5 for 17 on third down conversions and, obviously, got stuffed repeatedly in the red zone. It may have taken a while, but it seems like Lyle Hemphill has found a groove and has his players responding.

Can they play offense?