Texas A&M Postgame

[MacIrish75]

Youve got to be shitting me? It was obvious as hell.
Anyone who continued trash talking 08 for longer than a laugh or two was a total dope.

You didnt use italics which means you must be serious. You know the season is on tilt when we’re circling back to 08 actually being sort of onto something.

 

[Luckylucci]

Well, that gives me BVG vibes with Ash. Doubtful he’s went as far with the “changes” as BVG did but something in dreadfully wrong. Whatever it is, Freeman needs to unwind that shit quick before players quit on him like they did BVG and Kelly in 2016

 

[Rudy89]

Kind of got to blame Freeman for hiring him.

AD needs to tell Freeman “you win 8 games, finished ranked, beat Boise, Purdue, Arkansas, Navy, USC, & Stanford as part of those 8 games or you can join him in the unemployment line.” But they won’t because likable coach, going to class, & graduations, and quality young men with no wins or championships gobbeldy guck that always gets thrown around when we have a trash program but people act ok with it around these parts.

 

[GATTACA!]

The Good:

- CJ Carr is the truth. I think he's ahead of any of our expectations of where he would be at this point. Especially after a heated battle with Minchey that made us question if CJ had the stuff.

- Offensive line took a step forward tonight. Still tons to be cleaned up and they are missing Jag badly, but they looked much more competent than last week. Carr mostly had the time to sit and read when required and there were enough holes for the running game to be effective.

- WR play. This is the best group of WRs we've had in a long time.

- Drayk Bowen. I know he gave up the final TD but he should have never been put in that position to begin with. He was the only defender I saw tonight that was playing with bad intentions. He laid several huge hits and showed a real fire that the rest of the unit was lacking.

The Bad:

- No more wildcat. Someone in the game thread said it seems like Denbrock finds something new in NCAA25 every week and decides he's going to lean on it weather it's working or not. Last week was the screen game. This week we're running the wildcat and asking CJ Carr to seal the edge. Just stop.

- Our defensive line is terrible. Unacceptably bad. Donovan Hinish wouldn't sniff the field for any team with serious championship aspirations. He wouldn't have even been offered a scholarship at places like OSU, Georgia, or Alabama. Not only is he seeing significant snaps for us in high leverage situations HE HAS A FUCKING C ON HIS CHEST! How? The talent level on our defensive line is low P5 caliber.

Until we're serious about going into the south and paying whatever NIL is required to field a 3 deep of 5* NFL caliber defensive lineman, 2024 will be our greatest achievement. Even last season when the DL was way better our two biggest interior lineman Cross and Mills were a 5th round pick and a UDFA. Georgia is sending multiple first round picks every single year.

- Chris Ash blows. It was called by many of us when the hire was made and it feels terrible to realize how right all the predictions were after only 2 games. Players that were key parts of a run to the NC game last season look like trash. That should tell you everything you need to know. Our DBs are out of place, slow to react, and clearly playing a system that doesn't fit their capabilities.

We got torched in his shitty zone against Miami. We switched it up at half and mostly put the clamps on in the second half. Why they thought going back to the zone, and being stubborn to get out of it again was the right move is alarming. Both from Ash and from Freeman who is overseeing these game plans.

- If I was Freeman I would be showing Ash the door tonight. I know it's the typical knee-jerk fan reaction after losses to want coordinators fired, but in this case I think it actually is warranted. Freeman is risking losing the locker room keeping this loser around any longer. He had to have this defense ready for 2 games this year and he failed miserably two weeks in a row. From this point out the schedule softens and he's going to be able to mask how bad he is with the sheer disparity in talent. Then we'll get smacked in the mouth by USC or even Arkansas.

Fire Ash and go bring in Ed O. No italics. He'll get this soft roster playing with and edge. Make Mickens the Co DC and groom him to take over next year or in 2027. Fuck whatever the BoT has to say about Ed O.

 

[MacIrish75]

My only pause with Freeman is I’m not sure how good he is at hiring.

Tommy left. He hires Gerry. It’s a tire fire. He gets Denbrock.

Al left. He hires Ash…

Marcus just panics and seems to revert back to hiring someone he knows. Which is fine if it’s someone you know who is an also a good and experienced coach.

Unfortunately all Marcus’s good buddies are shitty coordinators.

 

[IrishTusker]

My only pause with Freeman is I’m not sure how good he is at hiring.

Tommy left. He hires Gerry. It’s a tire fire. He gets Denbrock.

Al left. He hires Ash…

Marcus just panics and seems to revert back to hiring someone he knows. Which is fine if it’s someone you know who is an also a good and experienced coach.

Unfortunately all Marcus’s good buddies are shitty coordinators.

This. His coordinator hires have sucked, except for Golden.

 

[Irish2155]

Rewind the game at any point. Pause it pre-snap on D, and just look how small our DTs are.

 

[greyhammer90]

Sampson and Fortuna indicating on the post-game show that the staff was made aware either late in the game or after the game that Carr is tipping off the play call in some way. How another staff sees that and Denbrock/Gino don't, I have no idea. Will be interested to see what it ends up being.

 

[Rudy89]

My only pause with Freeman is I’m not sure how good he is at hiring.

Tommy left. He hires Gerry. It’s a tire fire. He gets Denbrock.

Al left. He hires Ash…

Marcus just panics and seems to revert back to hiring someone he knows. Which is fine if it’s someone you know who is an also a good and experienced coach.

Unfortunately all Marcus’s good buddies are shitty coordinators.

Marcus’ buddies are shitty coordinators to go along with him being a mid-coach.

 

[GATTACA!]

My only pause with Freeman is I’m not sure how good he is at hiring.

Tommy left. He hires Gerry. It’s a tire fire. He gets Denbrock.

Al left. He hires Ash…

Marcus just panics and seems to revert back to hiring someone he knows. Which is fine if it’s someone you know who is an also a good and experienced coach.

Unfortunately all Marcus’s good buddies are shitty coordinators.

He get's a pass on the Porker one. Rees fucked them with his timing and the UTAH guys wife wagged her finger at him or something. Freeman was in a terrible position for that hire.

 

[Dale]

Sampson and Fortuna indicating on the post-game show that the staff was made aware either late in the game or after the game that Carr is tipping off the play call in some way. How another staff sees that and Denbrock/Gino don't, I have no idea. Will be interested to see what it ends up being.

I know some QBs in the past have staggered their feet slightly differently run versus pass would be my guess.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

AD needs to tell Freeman “you win 8 games, finished ranked, beat Boise, Purdue, Arkansas, Navy, USC, & Stanford as part of those 8 games or you can join him in the unemployment line.” But they won’t because likable coach, going to class, & graduations, and quality young men with no wins or championships gobbeldy guck that always gets thrown around when we have a trash program but people act ok with it around these parts.

LOL, you don't fire a coach a year after making the NC game, barring scandal.

 

[Rudy89]

LOL, you don't fire a coach a year after making the NC game, barring scandal.

You do when they have a losing record the following season, & mark my words they will have a losing record this season. That’s a failure, thats a disgrace, & it should be the end of the Marcus Freeman experiment.

 

[SportsingHard]

Feel like I’m back to pre-2017 Kelly with complaining about refs in losses but It’s just so egregious.

There were other officiating choices that overhauled the complexion of the game, including the phantom targeting call and a couple PI no-calls.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

You do when they have a losing record the following season.

I have news for you, dude, even if the bottom falls out and we go 5-7 or worse, Freeman is not getting fired.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Atmosphere was great. Too much maroon, but whatever. Tailgate was half maroon. Weird.

I thought Bowen played his heart out. Price too. Good looking night for Raridon as well, who was due.

Knapp is still a liability.

Carr showed he can ball. I have minor complaints, but he needs experience.

Long year if we can’t win with 40 points.

reroute all nil money to get Al Golden back. Have Gillis do a stadium show to fund it.

Watching on TV it looked/sounded like the ND fanbase did their part. I never got a vibe that aTm fans were a factor so kudos to ND fans.

Bowen is excellent for the most part. He nutted up and insisted on talking to media so at least he‘s a leader. He said he knew the route that was coming. Had leverage & then lost leverage. It happens. My question, was KVA in there on that last play? If not, WTH not?

Sounds like Gray is playing w/ a bum shoulder. Is that why he had the piss poor effort on the 1st aTm TD by Craver? That was embarrassing.

What was Stroman thinking on that 1st TD?!?

Devonte Smith was reportedly out w/ an ankle injury incurred in warmups?!?

Kudos to Leonard Moore for sacking up and getting back out there on a bum ankle. He’s got siX days to get ready for Purdue.

Edge rushers have been disappointing To say the least. Traore is the best of the bunch but that’s a low bar. Bothelo, BY, &Thomas have been ghosts for the most part.

Knapp continues to be a liability. There were too many plays where a defender was unblocked while an ND OL blocked air.

No issues w/ the RB. They earn every yard they get b/c that OL is trash.

The pass blocking was actually good at first glance…comparatively speaking. Maybe Denbrock needs to scheme pass first to set up runs b/c that OL is not moving the opposing DL.

The coverage on that final kick return looked horrible. Was the hold legit? Bussey had an easy path to the EZ regardless.

Gray has to learn to control his emotions. You can’t get that personal foul flag late no matter what. If he’s compromised by that shoulder then throw one of the backups into the fire.

The Portal pick ups have been less than impressive overall.

Captains better step the fuck up and show some leadership b/c the team could be teetering on a 2016 type finish if they lose some of the team to indifference.

Rudolph needs to figure out the OL b/c there’s too many deficiencies.

Carr can spin it & should be really good next year. In the meantime, expect his lack of pocket presence to lead to some rookie mistakes. Remember Clausen in 2008 vs 2009?

 

[SportsingHard]

Drayk Bowen, you're a pussy.

I've literally never seen a player with a trio of big hits like Bowen had tonight.

 

[sfk324]

I have news for you, dude, even if the bottom falls out and we go 5-7 or worse, Freeman is not getting fired.

You're wasting your time trying to reason with some of these people tonight.

 

[T-Boone]

Hinish went down too easily.

 

[calvegas04]

This. His coordinator hires have sucked, except for Golden.

Didn't Jack make that hire?

 

[Irish2155]

Freeman isn’t being fired but 0 for your last 3 isn’t something that I’d just turn my head either. He’s not Ara, yet.

 

[NDPhilly]

The pain only will make the title even more fulfilling boys 🫡

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Freeman isn’t being fired but 0 for your last 3 isn’t something that I’d just turn head either. He’s not Ara

Lol, no shit he isn't Ara, or Rockne, or Holtz, or Leahy. He might never win a NC, he might win a few. But, let's be sensible here.

 

[Luckylucci]

Sampson and Fortuna indicating on the post-game show that the staff was made aware either late in the game or after the game that Carr is tipping off the play call in some way. How another staff sees that and Denbrock/Gino don't, I have no idea. Will be interested to see what it ends up being.

Yea, there is a bit to unpack there, if true.

The Golden and Gino angle.

But what does that say about A&M’s defense if we still scored 40.

 

[Rudy89]

I have news for you, dude, even if the bottom falls out and we go 5-7 or worse, Freeman is not getting fired.

Unfortunate for this team

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Yea, there is a bit to unpack there, if true.

The Golden and Gino angle.

But what does that say about A&M’s defense if we still scored 40.

Fair point. Aggies lost three DL to NFL & returned the same secondary from last season. IIRC, broadcast showed a stat where aTm gave up most points per game in SEC last season. You knew Elko was gonna make sure ND didn’t bulldoze their front seven. Other than the Moore interception & a few nice plays, our secondary looked no better than theirs.

 

[calvegas04]

CAL looks better than ND

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Almost forgot…

Eli Raridon played a helluva game. Stud when it came to receiving. Missed a blocking assignment or 2 but overall excellent.

aTm had 8 TFLs

ND had 2 TFLs

Both QBs averaged about the same YPC

Craver had over 200 yards receiving despite some saying he wasn’t that great & padded his stats vs 2 bad teams.

 

[IrishTusker]

Yea, there is a bit to unpack there, if true.

The Golden and Gino angle.

But what does that say about A&M’s defense if we still scored 40.

Nobody said A&M is good, we just suck lol

 

[MPClinton22]

Nobody said A&M is good, we just suck lol

I’m so curious if this is gonna turn out like ND-Texas 2016. A seemingly heavyweight matchup that ended up being two below average teams, because man it really felt like that game while watching it.