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Frank Drebin

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  1. Copy and paste job: unch with Liucci: Billy Liucci joins TexAgs Radio (Monday, November 6) By Billy Liucci November 6, 2023 7 1,196 Tweet Share Jump to Discussion TexAgs co-owner and executive editor Billy Liucci joined TexAgs Radio Monday morning to share his thoughts following Texas A&M's loss to Ole Miss. Liucci also discussed the state of the football program in year six under Jimbo Fisher and Aggie hoops' non-conference slate. Segment 1 (00:00:00 - 14:43:10) Unfortunately, we have been here before. When you get to the point where people say nothing will work, most of the fan base is upset. I check that to a level. I try to stay in between a level three and seven. We are fans. The people who make decisions are fans. Massive donors are fans. Many of those people post on our site or read it every day. They are fans. Businesses in their personal lives have helped steer this massive ship and keep it from hitting icebergs. Right now, this thing may be heading towards an iceberg. You gave Jimbo Fisher and raise to keep him from not going to LSU. You feel you had to do it at that time. You need to learn from your mistakes. The money and extension weren't the cutoff. It was guaranteeing it for that long. They wanted to keep Jimbo, and I think it was the right thing to do at the time. They did more than they needed to to keep him. I don't know if Jimbo would have said, "Nine million for this long? Nope. I'm out." Kevin Sumlin had the same thing happen with USC. I talked extensively with him while he was debating A&M and USC. He was going to go to USC. They did a good job with the Buzz Williams extension. It will come up with Jim Schlossnagle. You have to look at the fallout and who you could hire. If the national media smells blood, everyone sees that. Winning Saturday would have silenced all of it. It doesn't mean they are out of the woods, but it would have silenced it. You had a 47-yard kick to tie and go to overtime. I don't want to single that out. The timing of the kick was weird. You were so close to silencing all this. This football team could have easily beaten all three of the SEC teams they have lost to. They are just falling short against the best teams in the league. Scott Woodward went to the board and guaranteed he could get Jimbo when he was at Florida State. I don't know if Jimbo gave any indication he would leave FSU. Woodward believed he could get him. Sumlin knew of that before his season was up. He mentioned it to me in passing. That was awkward. Sumlin would say, “If we lose these next couple, I guess y'all are getting Jimbo." The question was the buyout. They lost to UCLA and lost your starting quarterback. You barely beat Nicholls State, and you benched Kellen Mond. It's crazy he won an Orange Bowl to finish his career. The fear for next year would be, what does your roster look like? Realistically, I would feel a million times better about this team next year than A&M's first year in the SEC. You didn't know what you had in that 2012 team. This team can win, but certain things need to happen. My problem is there has also been something. They are way better than last year. They are losing games. There are a million reasons, but there are always reasons. Segment 2 (14:43:10 - 22:36:16) In a vacuum, losing on the road to the No. 10 team? That's life in the SEC. You would think A&M was right there. That is five straight losses to the Mississippi schools, 6-12 to Power 5 teams, nine straight on the road and 10-11 since the start of last season. Unacceptable doesn't even begin to describe it. Jimbo won't give into the media saying it, but I'm sure he thinks about that while sitting in his office. All things aside, are they doing everything they can? What are we doing wrong? At the end of the day, no matter what level you go to and exhaust all options, it doesn't matter. You have to do more. They are right there with Alabama, Ole Miss and Tennessee, who I believe is a top-15 team right now. Throw LSU into the mix. I don't how they will do if Max Johnson doesn't play. I will be interested to see what Jimbo says cause I have heard is Max will do everything he can to give it a go. I can't imagine him popping up this weekend after a rib injury. There is nobody tougher on that team in terms of wanting to play football. If that dude played with a cracked or broken rib in that game with these hits he kept taking? He is a warrior. I don't know when it happened. There were some plays, to me, where he was gritting them in there. They were complimenting the throws, and he didn't have his normal zip on them. Credit to him. They did not quit on Saturday. They did not let frustration set in. A&M is competitive with the very best in conference this year. The problem is you are in year six. A&M is far from a terrible team. They are tremendously improved and are still playing competitive football, losing their starting quarterback. That's the frustration. You have a tremendous backup. You can win these games as they a currently constructed, and they are just falling short. In some ways, that heightens the frustration. Segment 3 (22:36:16 - 47:20:00) Ohio State is a big game for Aggie basketball. Tonight is a big game because it is the opener. In these early games, they have to win. I know nothing about Texas A&M-Commerce. You see big upsets around college basketball early on, and A&M needs to avoid that. Having a veteran roster will get you through the early games that could blemish your record. I like this team's makeup. How good of basketball can they play early in the season? We have seen them struggle early. Partically, last year. That can't be the case this year. Challenging is an understatement with the non-conference schedule. That's why Buzz Williams was excited about playing Baylor and Texas Tech. I am really interested/concerned in terms of them getting Julius Marble back. I understand when it goes through the university level, you won't get commentary on it. I would not sit here and pedal hope. There's an unpredictability of it, and I don’t know what it's about. That's student privacy stuff involved there. Marble is a really good basketball player and has experience in the system. The combo of him and Henry Coleman III is one of the more potent ones in the SEC. It changes a lot. That's still a damn good roster, but the longer they have to play without him, the more concerned I will be. He is a difference-maker. He helped you win a lot of basketball games last year. This team can navigate without him, but they are a whole hell of a lot better and more formidable with him. It sounds like Buzz and everyone else are in "Wait and see" mode. It sucks that you can't get information or any time because it's a university-level thing. It's crazy. That's as tough as a named non-conference schedule as I’ve ever seen. Virginia should be ranked. DePaul is a good historical. That is a fun non-conference schedule. People wonder how Max Johnson was better at LSU. He was up and down there, but he was also really young. The answer is there. LSU protected him better. Those numbers, 300 yards, 74 percent completion, two touchdowns and a pick, are one thing. Look at how many times he answered, and he bounced back from the interception. It was Ainias Smith and Jahdae Walker, too. Jake Johnson had a big touchdown. Le'Veon Moss really got them going. He got hurt. Amari Daniels comes in and puts up identical numbers. There were a lot of dudes that stepped up. That's the best-extended stretch the O-line has had. Max was still under pressure, but people have to realize it's going to happen in the SEC. That was a quality defense. Statistically, they are No. 3. A&M cut through them. Max was the catalyst of all that. That was a heroic performance, and if he could have led them to one more score... It's so frustrating they fumbled a damn handoff in that situation that took it from, maybe, a 42-yarder to a 47-yarder. You may have gotten a first down. You may have gotten two yards. The play for loss was a freaking disaster. Ole Miss got the ball at the 20 and marched 80 yards on you. It was a momentum killer. A&M had the lead. They took the lead when people didn't think they would. The defense could not get the stop. Someone out of the 11 has to make the play there. You got called for a pass interference. That was just unfortunate. You pointed out Miami and Alabama. A&M did have healthy corners in those two. Had you had Tyreek Chappell and Deuce Harmon, some of those catches Tre Harris made, he still would have made. In three of their four losses, they have been shredded through the air. I said all offseason, I was really worried about corner. I want to see more speed. Jacoby Mathews has it, he is just inexperienced. In your losses, you gave up a kick return for a touchdown and missed a field goal against Miami. Against Alabama, you had a big blocked field goal. Against Tennessee, a punt return for a touchdown and a missed field goal would have given you the lead in the fourth. This week, you had a great blocked field goal, but with the game on the line, you missed a field goal to tie it. I have not even talked about the struggles in the punting game. Conner Weigman did not get sacked against Miami, but he was under insane duress. We saw the sacks to Max against Alabama and Tennessee. A&M has had the most pressured quarterbacks in college football. Mond has a good line. As the game went on, it looked rhythmic. Over the course of time, there is no doubt A&M quarterbacks have been pressured and hit more. Is it the O-line? Is it the play-calling? Is it too slow developing? Is it who we are recruiting up front? I have a hard time believing that. Is it what we are asking the line to do? I have a hard time believing that. Is it the running back pass protection? What have we done to change that? Have they not changed enough? Segment 4 (47:20:01 - 57:31:21) It's 2023 in college football. Let's stop crying about it. Ole Miss has a successful NIL program. Lane Kiffin wishes it was better. Ole Miss plays the portal game. He has still been persistent with McKinnley Jackson over direct messages. A&M needs to really look at who wants to be here because they want to be here vs. who is here because of NIL. If it feels like the only reason you will keep a player is because of NIL, you have to really reevaluate. Everyone is really high on Texas. They had to do everything they could do to keep Xavier Worthy. There is nothing wrong with that. There were strong rumors Malik Nabers was leaving LSU behind the scenes. That was a legitimate possibility. I'm assuming he got a nice NIL bump to stay. That had to happen with some prominent A&M players. It will happen this offseason. It becomes harder to do when you are losing. The portal poachers have A&M circled right now. In 2023, you can fight that. Part of it is NIL. Part of is Jimbo making the necessary adjustments, provided he gets the chance to do that. Don’t misinterpret what I am saying. The frustration level reached a tipping point after what went down on Saturday. Anything is in play. I did get calls around the country from people that I trust who are saying, "What do we need to do to protect ourselves if A&M comes calling?" It's coaches that I do not think A&M would go after, but it is people preparing if the A&M job becomes open. Word is kind of getting out that it could be a possibility. A&M paid $20 million six to seven years ago. That was a lot, then. That would be a lot less now. If Jimbo stays, which I still think he will, you make those changes, and you get out in front of things. You have to start putting out fires as they pop up now. Do you let X walk? If you do, how important is it to keep Y and Z? Say, "Okay, we don't want this player to walk," but if they ask a certain amount of NIL, at what point do you call their bluff or say, "Hey, go on." You look at the production, and what you could get for that. You could get two for one. You cannot have a mass exodus. I mean a real one. Not a perceived one. You will take a PR hit when some of these kids leave. You have to keep the ones you have to keep. When you lose the ones you have to keep, that's a problem. Recruiting is a whole other thing. That's a different deal. You are selling them on the NIL structure. That's another beast. It will be a wild next month. Segment 5 (57:31:22 - 1:02:53:27) I like to go get sushi at Oishi Sushi Asian Fusion. They are great. I may get lasagna at Fritellas. Conner Weigman's decision will be tough. He will need some assurance on what the coaching situation is. If Jimbo remains, it will be the same offensive coordinator. They are not changing from that. You would have to convince him your O-line will improve and that you are keeping your weapons. And if you do lose a weapon, you will have to replace it. The hard part is the timing. You can say, “We might lose a David Nuño, but we might go get an Olin Buchanan,” but you don’t have him. Then, you go into grey areas of tampering, as Kiffin does, but no one will call him out because the media is so obsessed with kissing his ass. Conner has a nice situation here at A&M. He is the starting quarterback and knows the offense. He is the guy you are trying to build things around, and he loves it at Texas A&M. He has been a beneficiary on the NIL front.
  2. If he wants to play on a cheap, short-term deal, maybe. He is going to be 31 next year.
  3. Card is terrible. Notwithstanding how he played against 5-7 WVU, UTSA, his mediocre performance against Tech in a loss, and his bad performance against Alabama. If he can still play WR, he should consider doing so.
  4. He's good enough to win the rest of our games because we don't play any good teams down stretch (Tech with Morton playing is the best). But he has been awful. Case McCoy was significantly better his first few starts his second year in program. And he did not have this line, receivers, TE, or running backs. Murphy has been, so far, about as terrible as Squints and Swoopes were. Let's pray he plays a lot better this week if Ewers cannot go.
  5. Murphy is either hurt and afraid of contact hurting him more. Or he's not hurt and just afraid of contact. Let's hope it's the former. It's not just him refusing to take easy yards scrambling. He throws the ball up for grabs when he thinks he is about to get touched. Sucks, because our OL has pass blocked very, very well the last two games.
  6. Stalin Pol Pot The North Koreans Mao Slobodan Milosevic
  7. That's the point. We almost lost to that dogshit team even though we had largely good QB play.
  8. Yes, he had a good game against WVU and UTSA. He takes a lot of sacks because his biggest problem is he has the pocket presence of Chance Mock.
  9. We aren't a championship quality team right now. Especially on offense. We can be.
  10. I am just glad secular leaders never start wars or do a genocide.
  11. So was UH. If our starting QB and other players keep turning the ball over, we can absolutely lose to TCU. I also don't love, that like UH, their game before was on a Thursday so they have extra prep time. I expect to win even with Maalik because we are better. But we better cut the turnovers out. A couple pick sixes could cost us dearly.
  12. This is for another thread, but in this day and age you probably should not be recruiting QBs who need 3-4 years of development to be good.
  13. Also, it is hard to play defense in the Big 12 when holding is allowed. And against Texas you are allowed to put pass rushers in a head lock when you're beat without risking a penalty.
  14. I also would have kicked the FG there and said so at the time. But man had the snap not been botched, it's probably a TD. Sanders was wide open. I did not like the decision not to go up 20-0 because you risk giving them momentum in a game where they had none if you don't get it. But the play design was really good. And the execution was piss poor.
  15. Sure. Be nice if we stopped giving them short fields though. And maybe have an offense that can stay on the field and not go 3 and out repeatedly to limit some of their opportunities. 1.75 points per drive is really, really good defense. I think overall the defense is playing well. We really need to get healthy. Burke being back is huge. Need Catalon back also. And hope that Watts is okay.
  16. In 17 drives and 42 attempts because they could not run the ball -- 29 yards on 33 carries. He had less than 8 yards per attempt. It was not some banner day passing. His total QBR was 57 and his pass efficiency was 154. We sold out to stop the run. They went 3 of 14 on third downs and the defense blew up their attempt to win the game in OT. They scored because we gave them short fields. The defense has a passing grade.
  17. Next August it will be about how awesome their new OL coach has those boys playing and that Wiggy is a Heisman contender in the JimBob offense. This is a guarantee. Oh, and the portal gains more than offset any portal losses.
  18. Our defense is playing better than people think. Even with the short fields by turnovers and blocked punt, we still held K State to 30 points. Which was 8 under what they were averaging before the game. And on average we are holding FBS teams to 14 points under their season scoring average. Kansas State had 17 possession. Several were in short fields due to turnovers. They scored 30 points. That is good defense. We get healthier and we can play elite defense. And getting Ewers back will help the defense.
  19. So much motivation from paying a buyout is if there is a great candidate to replace Jimbo. Is there?
  20. It’s also dumb. Special teams were a net positive against Miami. A&M Blocked punt and punt return setup very short field touch downs for their offense. Against Ole Miss they had a blocked field goal return for a touchdown. There was a sequence of plays started by a terrible holding call against Ole Miss that took a TD off the board. Was a 14 point swing. And gave Ags life. Only reason they weren’t blown out. Same as Bama. Only reason they were in the game was a ticks tacky personal foul on Bama FG block that would have otherwise been returned for a TD.
  21. The depo transcript was fascinating. I think he is literally retarded. He could not name his starting QB.
  22. Jimbo QBs since Winston 2012 - Jamis Winston (EXCEPTION TO THE JIMBO RULE) 2013 - John Franklin ( TRANSFERRED IN 2014 ) 2014 - JJ Cosentino (TRASNFERED IN 2018 ) 2015 - De’Andre Johnson (ended up at Last Chance U) 2015 - Deondre Francois (KICKED OFF TEAM DOMESTIC ABUSE) 2016 - Malik Henry (ended up at Last Chance U) 2017 - Bailey Hockman (TRANSFERRED OUT IN 2018) 2017 - James Blackman (TRANSFERRED OUT 2020) 2018 - James Foster - (TRANSFERRED OUT 2020) 2019 - Zach Calzada - (TRANSFERRED OUT 2022) 2020 - Haynes King - (TRANSFERRED OUT 2022) 2021 - Eli Stowers - (TRANSFERRED OUT 2022) 2022 - Conner Weigman - TBD
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