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Longhornfrenzy

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Everything posted by Longhornfrenzy

  1. Elko is in a no win situation at aggy. Those window lickers are all into their feelings. One thing is causing all of this and it's TEXAS
  2. Fat Hamm Key notes from Recruiting Country interview I can't remember the last time we were caught completely off guard by a commitment. We had nothing prepared. It doesn't happen often. It reminds you how important all the preparation work is. I think Rashad Johnson‍ surprised a lot of people in the Bright Football Complex. He came into town for the Notre Dame game. Texas A&M quietly has done a much better job with him than most people around the country thought. The general consensus was that he would de-commit from Georgia and possibly go on a few trips. Him immediately flipping to Texas A&M caught a lot of people off guard. Texas A&M is getting a need player at a need position in this class. Safety is a position where you look at the depth chart and can tell you are going to need some guys. Rashad Johnson was not a name we were even talking about as a possibility. We had to do a deeper dive on him as soon as he committed. When you look at his Hudl, it is clear why Georgia was keen on taking him. It is downhill and aggressive. He is physical and plays sideline to sideline. My favorite thing about him is his willingness to strike the ball carrier. That is what I saw when I would go watch Dalton Brooks. When he impacts the ball carrier, the play is dead right there. For Mike Elko and Ishmael Aristide, this was a player that was a necessity. They never wavered in their pursuit of him behind the scenes. A&M wasn't even mentioned as a possibility if he were to leave Georgia. He had a good offer list before committing to Georgia. Texas A&M is at 21 commitments right now. Inevitably, someone committed to the Aggies right now will not sign with A&M. It happens that way every recruiting cycle. The transfer portal can help mitigate losses in high school classes and help fill the gaps in your roster. There is so much that can happen between now and whenever we see the final roster for Texas A&M next year. Any new coaching staff gets a little bit of a leash. It stung to lose to Notre Dame, but because of the nature of recruiting, Texas A&M will get some leash. In the end, it comes down to the steak. You can still sell the sizzle right now. That is an analogy I used with Jimbo Fisher. Towards the end, the sizzle had worn off, and he had to sell the steak, which meant he had to start winning games. Weston Davis, Ty'Anthony Smith, Drelon Miller, Dominick McKinley and Gabriel Reliford all ended up elsewhere because they lost games. In the end, it comes down to winning and losing, but right now, coach Elko has a leash on that front. A lot of these kids are one-year rentals. A kid could have a great season, and he doesn't feel like he's playing enough, so he leaves. What does that do for other kids that are committed at that position? Everything is so fluid and independent of each other that it is hard to put recruiting into one basket. Everything is different with every kid. Some kids have made decisions based on NIL. There are also kids I know who signed with A&M for less money because they value other things. NIL is not the king all the time. Every family and every kid values different things. How much I keep up with a recruit who doesn't choose Texas A&M depends on my relationship with the kid. I have known Drelon Miller forever so I still follow what he is doing. Playing the what-if game is easy to do in hindsight. I saw two of the best performances in the state of Texas this week. Jermaine Bishop‍ from WIllis is our No. 1 player in the state for 2026. He is a legit two-way player. He can play nickel/corner or receiver. He has enough skill on both sides of the ball that he could be a Terry Bussey-type. Cardae Mack‍ is playing quarterback for Atascocita but is being recruited as a running back. He ran for 109 yards, threw for 254 and scored four touchdowns. Atascocita beat Katy by 17 points. I don't know the last time Katy got beat at home by more than a touchdown
  3. By Billy Liucci Segment 1 (00:00:00 - 11:16:11) I don't think Conner Weigman is anything similar to Zach Calzada. Calzada was known for his incredible arm. Conner came with a lot more hype. Texas A&M football has made a lot more of a commitment to Conner. Zach was never in that position. I thought Zach was gutsy and played through a ton of injuries. He had that amazing win over Alabama. Conner does not have that yet. They beat LSU in 2022, but that was really the Devon Achane game. There is nothing comparable between the two. Weigman is a much more accurate passer. Conner Weigman needs to show more starting this weekend. This weekend, he's playing against a true freshman from the greater Houston area in DJ Lagway, who has no more to work with than he does. He needs to play well and win that game. A couple of weeks from now, they go to Arlington to play Arkansas. He needs to play well and help A&M win that football game. I think that is a fair expectation. This is his chance to be the best player on the A&M offense and to set himself up to come back to Kyle Field to take on Brady Cook and Missouri. That should be Conner's mindset. Weigman did not play a perfect half against McNeese, but he played pretty well. He led them to touchdown drives on every possession. There were a couple of big plays he missed. He did get some yards with his feet, which I wanted to see more of. I was perfectly fine with his outing. Weigman has to turn it up, and the receivers have to help out and get better starting this weekend. The good thing is they are not playing a murderers’ row of defenses. Did you see what Arizona State did to Mississippi State? Did you see what Oklahoma State did after falling behind to Arkansas? Did you see what Florida gave up to Miami? Missouri is known more for its offense than its defense. South Carolina's defense looks pretty good, but Kentucky's offense hasn't figured it out. I don't think Texas A&M will see a daunting defense until the final game of the year. Segment 2 (11:16:12 - 15:07:20) I think that's still a really good Notre Dame defense. I specifically remember saying, "This is not an SEC elite defense that we've seen in the past." I'm still not sure. I'm looking around the SEC and saying, "Where are the elite defenses other than Georgia?" I think Texas' defense looks good when I watch them play, but they played Colorado State, and I'm telling you that Michigan's defense is bad, bad, bad. Notre Dame doesn't have those "creatures" in the front seven. Those absolute beasts that wreck games in the front seven that these SEC teams have. They have a couple of secondary guys that are really, really good. I don't think they have it as much in the front seven. A&M should've moved the ball better through the air, just with some degree of consistency, and they would have won that football game against Notre Dame. Segment 3 (15:07:21 - 27:19:04) I saw somebody say, I mean, I'm assuming it's a Longhorn fan, but they said, "I can't wait for Liucci to explain how Northern Illinois is the best team or top-5 in the country." We've seen this a million times, but I did not think Notre Dame would lose to Northern Illinois. I thought they were top-10, but after next week's evidence, I don't think they're anywhere near that. You can't do it on defense alone. It's impossible in this day and age in a 60-minute game. There are exceptions. People are going to say, "What about A&M vs. Auburn a few years ago?" I think the final was 20-3. Auburn's offense wasn't very good. No matter how good your defense is, you're going to have to score when you play teams like Georgia, obviously, but even Ole Miss, Texas and Oregon. You'll have to score points to beat them, and I don't think Notre Dame can do that. These first two conference games are such a big key for this A&M season because they aren't playing good enough ball yet for us to say that they will beat Florida on the road or for us to look at Arkansas to take down that Bobby Petrino's offense. They have to get through these two first. That Arkansas offense is a problem, and so is “The Swamp.” I think it's every new coaching staff, every new coordinator, new portal players, and you're trying to figure out who can get things done and who can't. All that stuff will tighten up, but like I said yesterday, we should stop being disingenuous and look at it how it is. Let's see this run defense and how it goes against Florida. Let's wait and see. I don't think it's a given for me to sit here and say they will stop Florida's run game or they will not let Arkansas move the ball on the ground on them. That would be giving too much credit to a group that has not shown up to that level yet. If we're being real, they've given up four running plays. The second part is the offense. They need to grind out these next three weeks for Missouri. Arkansas and Florida will struggle to be bowl-eligible teams, but both games are "should-win" games. I think Marcel Reed will be a really good QB. I think Reed was on the sideline and got thrown out there when Jaylen Hendersen broke his arm. I've seen what Petrino can do, and I see a dangerous quarterback. I would’ve loved to see Ja'Quinden Jackson in Maroon & White. They should've caused more havoc and carnage against Notre Dame because I watched Northern Illinois do it. When you talk about Arkansas, when you have really good skill guys, this A&M defensive front has to start destroying offenses. Segment 4 (27:19:05 - 39:09:24) There's no reason for Billy Napier to say one way or the other on the quarterback. Coaches think information matters. He's not going to say who is starting. They think it hurts them if they tip their hand on who is going to be the quarterback. In this case, I think it helps Florida not to say because Texas A&M will have to prepare for both. In my opinion, Napier would be crazy not to start DJ Lagway. I think you start Lagway and then you can go to Graham Mertz if you need to. Ninety-nine percent of coaches would go with Mertz and then bring in Lagway if he's struggling. You wonder if Texas A&M's offense can do to Florida's defense what Miami's offense did. I think the answer will be yes at some point in the season, but I don't know if that is this Saturday. Lagway's mistakes don't have to be turnovers. They could be bad reads, sacks or checking in or out of the wrong plays. He gives you the opportunity to scramble and create plays. He can hit over-the-top stuff with his incredible arm. I think we will see some more wrinkles as Conner Weigman gets more comfortable in the offense. I think we could see more use out of the tight ends. I saw one clip where Theo Melin Öhrström pancaked a guy. I want to know how all those guys are blocking right now. Implementing more of the tight ends is an ongoing thing. Can you start seeing more and more of Terry Bussey? He is an amazing athletic talent but has a long way to go in terms of learning the receiver position. It's more than just running a reverse. It's blocking and running the right routes. There is a different level of physicality blocking and at the point of attack. I really like Texas A&M up the middle with Chase Bisontis, Kolinu'u Faaiu, and Ar'maj Reed-Adams. I like that Dametrious Crownover is getting more experience at right tackle. If he comes into his own, then this line has a chance to be really good. I think this offensive line is off to a very encouraging start. It's hard to punch it in the endzone, even against McNeese State. Once you get inside the ten, those are the hard yards. It's a little early to call this team a good redzone team, but it's not too early to say Collin Klein is an outstanding redzone play caller. Go look at what he did at Kansas State in that department. They were outstanding. Segment 5 (39:09:25 - 49:36:00) It's a brutal game, man. You see injuries all throughout college football right now and they seem to happen more when these guys go from practice to actually playing games. On this top level right now, I'm keeping Georgia at No. 1. They are going to have their hands full in Austin. I'm keeping Texas at No. 2. At No. 3, I've got Ole Miss. Sadly, there are no longer divisions because I would love to see Texas and Ole Miss this year with those two offenses going at it and Lane Kiffin vs. Steve Sarkisian. I know somebody's going to say, "You might see it in the SEC title game!" Ugh, I hope not. Can we please not? I have Alabama No. 4, but there's a team right on their heels, and that's Tennessee. I thought two bets were the safest to make this week: Texas to cover against Michigan. I said Texas would throttle Michigan, which was a terrible matchup for Michigan. The other bet was Tennessee vs. NC State. Those were the two easiest picks you might have gotten all year. I might even move Tennessee above Alabama now. It's a five-team tier at the top right now, and the next tier starts with Mizzou. LSU, A&M, and after seeing that game against Kentucky, I might put South Carolina up there. Oklahoma is in there, but damn, OU, you didn't look great against Temple, and you really could've, should've, would've lost to UH. You might get clipped by Tulane this weekend. OU is on red alert. Then you have the teams that A&M is going to play. Florida, Auburn... What a bad loss for Auburn. I think they will get better, but can they with Payton Thorne? My next four are Missouri, LSU, A&M and OU. That's my next four. Then you got the back, including Vandy. Kentucky might be the worst. I wouldn't take A&M against LSU today, but I think that gap is insignificant. All these teams behind A&M can say the same about A&M. If the Aggies can steadily improve, we know what that is going to take. It’s going to take Conner to play with more confidence. We need Noah Thomas have some big games. I think the defense will just get better and better, but from now and Saturday, you have to accelerate faster than Florida does, and you have to accelerate faster than Arkansas does in two weeks. Segment 6 (49:36:01 - 55:08:05) It is not surprising that we saw Marcel Reed before Jaylen Henderson. Reed is so dynamic that there is a little bit of a wild card factor to him. It also has to do with looking towards the future. I think Reed would still get that call if needed over the next few weeks. I don't think the gap is that wide, but Marcel Reed is No. 2, in my opinion. I don't think you need Mike Elko to say that. I think they want to see what he can do. They have got to attack the field by throwing the football. That is why it was never a question if Conner Weigman was the guy. He gives you the best chance to win by being two-dimensional and throwing the football right now. Marcel Reed has the potential to be a dual-threat guy. They need to continue to let him play when he can. I don't know about a move to running back for Terry Bussey. He was at cornerback for the first couple of weeks of fall camp and then at receiver. Now, you guys want him to move to running back. It's not as easy to do that as you guys think. Give it time, and I think you will see his role increase. It would not shock me to see him become a jack-of-all-trades player in this offense. He reminds me in some ways of Ramonce Taylor. You can use him in a ton of different ways, and I think you will see Collin Klein do that as the season progresses
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