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Jimbo 2020: Strangers with Candi

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Neonmoon
Neonmoon

Just to recap Five Star WR and Aggy commit Demond Demas wanted to transfer from North Forest High School to Tomball High School. He stated it was to better his living situation, and not for athle

blacklab
blacklab
BurntOrangeCrush
BurntOrangeCrush

Hey everyone, just got back from Baton Rouge. I was taking my stepson there for an orientation (he got his GED and only qualified for Blinn, aggy, and LSU) and got to hang out with some of the local f

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Neonmoon

Neonmoon 38129

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7 hours ago, Sejjr said:

You know, this thread used to be my safe space. Since Herman fucked our team, this thread has gone fucking dark. Are we too ashamed with our own fucking shit show to make fun of our inbred cousins down the road anymore? WTF??

It’s hard to make fun of a team that has better coaching overall. Elko v Orlando makes me sad. 

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victory88

victory88 5668

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Well, at least aggy has somehow managed to look 100x worse than us this year.  Their o-line, qbs, secondary, LBs are straight trash and they aren’t exactly recruiting well in those areas. 
 

LSU will get their pick in the 2021 class and we will need to fight ou for the the other top end prospects.  They will fight Baylor and TCU for the leftovers.  Not sure why any recruit would want to play for Jimbo and that offense from the 80’s.

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Neonmoon

Neonmoon 38129

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3 minutes ago, Atticus said:

You really think aggy’s defense would look the same if they played in the big 12?

Orlando is trash, but let’s not act like SEC defenses aren’t propped up by going against pretty bad SEC offenses.

They might be a little worse, but you don’t see how bad Orlando’s scheme is? How many delayed blitzes will it take? 

 

 

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Lobwedgephil

Lobwedgephil 1139

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Spoiler

Cover Story: 2020 season starts now as Aggies aim to turn the corner

By Billy Liucci

December 1, 2019

The Aggies knew what they were walking into on Saturday night. For a calendar year, Ed Orgeron and his players made no bones about the fact that they had circled their regular season finale on the schedule. Even during SEC Media Days, LSU was talking about the twelfth game. In fact, the rematch with the Ags seemed to take up as much space in the collective heads of the Bayou Bengals as did their road trip to Tuscaloosa. 

And then the 2019 season happened. The Tigers entered Saturday night's grudge match undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the CFP rankings. They had just fallen one spot behind Ohio State and the talking heads all but said it was because the LSU defense was a liability. Senior night. Joe Burrow – or should I say 'Burreaux' – took the field as a lock for the Heisman Trophy. Aggie fans saw first-hand how 'coronation games' tend to go when Johnny Manziel had his night against Missouri in 2012. On top of all that, this was a night game. In Death Valley.

So while it's an understatement to say that A&M caught what may very well be the best team in college football on its best night, the fact is the Aggies knew what was coming and seemed unprepared for the moment. The Ags weren't up to the challenge, never came close to matching LSU's energy, emotion or execution and never came close on the scoreboard as a result. That was what had to have left Jimbo Fisher more disappointed than anything else. It was obvious that the second-year head coach was putting the blame squarely at his own feet following a 50-7 whitewashing – not only the first time in 25 games at A&M that his Aggies weren't remotely competitive and out of it by halftime, but also one of the most one-sided defeats he's endured as a head coach. 

Lia Musgrave, TexAgs

Head coach Jimbo Fisher is aware of his team’s weaknesses.

The thing is (and it's something most of you have probably noticed by now), Fisher cares about his players too much to ever think about throwing them under the bus. With that being said, the head man is obviously aware of his team's personnel shortcomings. That's why the 2020 and '21 recruiting cycles are an absolutely vital component to A&M quickly reaching the point of competing at the same level LSU is this year. The Aggies lack speed at virtually every position on the field (something that was frighteningly obvious last night), the offensive line isn't SEC West caliber and there aren't enough big-play threats on offense or drive-killers on defense. Fisher knows his team better than anyone, and he had to know that the Ags didn't match up nearly as well with LSU as they did with Georgia the week before. He knew all of those things, but Jimbo couldn't predict that his team would lay the type of egg they did on national television in what was as much a rivalry game as anything that Texas A&M has played in since joining the SEC eight years ago. We'll get to that whole 'rivalry' thing in a minute, but it sure seemed as if the visitors played and coached much tighter than an opponent who had everything on the line. Nowhere was that more evident than on defense, as the Aggies looked confused and tentative while showing a new look designed specifically for Joe Brady’s explosive Tiger offense.

Saturday night's effort was the type of showing that has to leave the head coach asking the hard questions in an attempt to figure out why the Ags came out borderline robotic against an incredibly emotional opponent in a very big game. Facing a great team on the road should have been nothing new for this bunch. The Ags traveled to Alabama last year, faced the Mississippi State defense and the cowbells at night, played at Auburn, faced Clemson in September and just last week were at Georgia. All losses, but they were also games in which the Aggies were in it until the closing minutes (Auburn, MSU and UGA), or were at least trading punches until just before halftime with a No. 1 (Alabama and Clemson). Seven days after taking No. 4 down to the final possession Between the Hedges, the Ags weren't competitive in Death Valley, and Fisher and his staff must now figure out why they were unable to give the Tigers a run for their money. 

Now it goes without saying this was a different No. 1. Ed O's Tigers were out for blood, and the Aggies got the best at their best. They talked the talk all year and they came out and backed it up. LSU didn't run up the score, but they could have. Joe Burrow took last year's loss harder than most, and it was obvious he carried a sizeable chip on his shoulder throughout the offseason. He threw for 352 yards and 3 touchdowns and was virtually perfect though the air, connecting on 23 of 32 throws in roughly three quarters of work. A&M legacy Kary Vincent was inexplicably snubbed by John Chavis coming out of high school, and he was literally posterized by Kendrick Rogers in last year's match-up. He picked off Kellen Mond with the celebration already underway in the second half. Tiger Terrence Alexander called the Aggies "stuck up" in a recent interview. Ed O...well, we know how the head man down in Red Stick had to feel after coaching the overtimes drenched in Gatorade last year.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Aggies earned their win over the Tigers at Kyle Field last year.

Look, I'm of the opinion that everyone in Purple and Gold was a little delusional when it came to feeling that they were robbed last year at Kyle Field. Orgeron was flat out wrong in thinking that one second shouldn't have been on the clock after Rogers went out of bounds. Kellen Mond's knee was clearly down, which was just plain old bad luck. LSU couldn't keep the Ags out of the end zone on the final play of the fourth quarter, and it was actually A&M that controlled most of the contest in regulation. With that being said, any team on the losing end of that game would have felt the same way, and the post-game melee only further stoked the flames. As for what the LSU folks perceived to be an extended victory lap? Well, I don't think the Corn Dogs ever understood that things like the photo of Rogers' leaping TD grab in Fisher's office, the cups at Kyle Field and all things celebrating 74-72 had to do more with the fact that the game was (and will always be) considered one of the greatest in Texas A&M history. Whether misguided or warranted (and I can point to a little of both), LSU used it as motivation, and the Tigers didn't disappoint the 90,000+ in attendance.

I'd suggest the Aggies do the same a year from now. And every day in between. This was one of those games that should stick in the craw of every player and coach wearing Maroon & White. A memory that the players carry into every workout and every practice during the long offseason under Jerry Schmidt. The 50-7 final score should be a wake-up call for any of the guys not named Justin Madubuike thinking they're ready for the NFL and serve as a painful reminder of how far this team has to go in order to be true SEC and national title contenders. For as close as the Ags were to knocking off Georgia, they didn't make LSU break a sweat (which makes you wonder how next weekend's SEC title game is going to go...and I think we all know the answer to that one). The truth, of course, lies somewhere in between. The Aggies aren't as far away as they looked last night, but they're also not as close as they looked versus Georgia. We may find out otherwise next Saturday in Atlanta, but the ‘Dawgs sure don’t look like true contenders. They're a very good team, but they aren’t in the same league as LSU, Clemson, Ohio State or even Alabama before they lost Tua. They’re more like Oklahoma, Auburn or Oregon. Meanwhile, LSU is playing as well as any SEC team I've seen since the Ags joined the league in 2012. How good have Ed O's Bengals been? Three weeks ago, they just about ran Alabama (with Tua, mind you) out of Bryant-Denny by halftime.

So how did LSU do it? How did the Tigers go from being a very good team to an unstoppable force in the span of a single offseason? The Brady hire was obviously a game-changer, and Joe Burrow showed even in last year's loss to A&M that he had all the intangibles you want in a quarterback. Credit the Tiger coaching staff for putting him in the right system with the right coach, and the rest is (Heisman) history. LSU had the players on defense, and they've consistently recruited inside the top-5. More than all of that talent, however, was the fact that Ed O's bunch was clearly a very close-knit group that was hungry and believed they could get it done at the highest level. You could describe last year's Aggies the same way in November...especially on that memorable night versus LSU. The team that took the field in Maroon & White last night didn't have any of that same moxie. It's what Fisher has been fighting all season. You could even hear it last week on The Pulse when the popular show aired his locker room speech to the team following the close loss to Georgia. As we wrap up year two, Jimbo is still fighting to break through and convince his team that it belongs in the upper-echelon, which explains the high points like wins over LSU and Kentucky last year, rolling to a five-TD bowl win and last-possession losses to a top-five team each of the past two seasons, and the lows like falling way behind to Clemson and Auburn this fall and what we witnessed last night. Until that happens – and it’s clearly going to take another big win to get the Aggies over that hump – the Aggies will continue to jockey for bowl position in the SEC while the usual suspects remain in the playoff discussion.

Lia Musgrave, TexAgs

LSU QB Joe Burrow is just one of several NFL-caliber talents on the Tigers’ roster.

What LSU already had were speed and playmakers for days and NFL Draft picks at every level of the defense. It was why the Tigers finished last year in the top 10 and won ten games and a New Year's Six bowl. Heck, they were an inch away from beating the Ags and finishing 11-2 and landing in the top 5, so it wasn't like Orgeron's squad was nearly as far off as the 7-5 Aggies are. But like I said, in college football you're never as close or as far as it seems. Last week, it was Kirby Smart who probably saw a lot of his ‘Dawgs in the team Jimbo was building in Aggieland. Georgia dropped five games in year one under Kirby and played for it all in year two. This week, we're sitting here analyzing the two teams that squared off in Death Valley last night and trying to figure out how in the world the Aggies beat LSU a year ago. It can turn in a hurry, good or bad, which is why I believe the Ags' next game is of particular importance. 

A&M is 0-5 this year against legitimate playoff contenders. Not counting head-to-heads, those five teams have lost all of one game in 2019. Think about that. LSU beat Auburn and Bama. Georgia beat Auburn, who on Saturday knocked off Bama. Clemson is unbeaten. In all other games, those five teams are a combined 44-1. Unfortunately, five of those 44 came at the expense of the Aggies. Meanwhile, A&M doesn't have a win over anyone of note, and the Ags have only beaten one bowl-eligible team. The 2019 schedule was funny like that. Considering the way the Ags lost in Baton Rouge last night, seeing Fisher's group bounce back from such a devastating setback and win a bowl game would speak volumes for this group moving forward. At this point, it would probably serve the Ags well to face a team in late December or the first of January that is as good or slightly better than they are (on paper). The New Year's Day date in Tampa is probably much more of a longshot today, but I'd love to see how A&M would fare against a Penn State, Wisconsin or Minnesota. Even if we're talking Houston and the Texas Bowl, testing your bounce-back ability against a physical K-State squad or even a defensive-minded group like Iowa State wouldn't be as bad as it sounds. Point being, there's a lot to be gained in this final game (and the 15 practices of preparation).

Part of the reason why is because the Aggies absolutely have to turn the corner in year three under Fisher. There isn't an alternate option. For as tough as this year's schedule was – and facing three No. 1s was unprecedented in college football – the 2020 slate offers a golden opportunity to open the season with several wins before a trip to Auburn. Auburn’s offense exploded yesterday, but next year is absolutely a reloading scenario for Gus Malzahn and War Eagle. A&M doesn't face Bama and LSU until the final two games, so there's an entire season to build momentum and belief while letting any new starters and contributors develop. It's set up for a nice run, and we've spent much of this year hammering home the point that Fisher is about to have two elite, LSU/Alabama/Georgia/Auburn-type classes on campus. A nice run through next fall would ensure that a third is on the way in '21. 

You hate to hear it, but the Ags have always been a 'next year' program, and that's a systemic problem that Fisher was hired to fix.

You hate to hear it, but the Ags have always been a 'next year' program, and that's a systemic problem that Fisher was hired to fix. Next year begins now for the Aggies, and it started the moment the team walked off the field last night. The Ags are going to be good in 2020, but how does Fisher make them great? How does A&M make a jump similar to the one LSU made from one season to the next? No, I'm not saying it has to result in the perfect season, but how do the Ags make the leap into the SEC's top tier?

For starters, Kellen Mond has to turn the corner and become a big-game quarterback. I realize most of you reading don't believe it can happen, but Mond took significant strides this fall. He's as tough as anyone I've seen play at A&M in a long time, and (until last night) really cut down on turnovers and served as a dangerous dual-threat who does an excellent job of managing the game. However, watching Burrow in action last night hammered home the point that having a true game-changer at quarterback can sometimes be enough to vault a team into championship contention. Mond won't be able to prove it early, but he's got to play bigger in the Ags' biggest games because he's one of A&M's best players, and he's the guy defensive coordinators fear (I'm telling you, it's true, as I've talked to several opposing coaches this fall before and after games). If Aggie fans could have one wish this Christmas season that would have the greatest carryover into next season, it would for #11 to throw and run his way to earning MVP honors in the upcoming bowl game.

From there, the Aggies have to figure things out along the offensive line. Mond wasn't good last night, but the lack of protection was nothing short of embarrassing. A&M was whipped soundly in the trenches by every quality opponent on this year's schedule. Forget returning starters, every job needs to be thrown wide open up-front during the offseason. If not, the Ags will beat the teams they should, lose to the best teams on the schedule and finish 9-3 at best. I could say the same in the secondary, where the Aggies were significantly better than they were last season but are still a ways away when it comes to guys being able to line up and cover elite SEC playmakers. Speaking of playmakers, Fisher and Co. need to continue to inject game-breaking skill on offense and fast, physical playmakers on defense. Do it by getting guys like Ainias, Corbin, Achane, Demas and Cupp (along with Wydermyer) into the lineup on offense and adding some twitchy edge defenders on defense while getting as creative as you can in the secondary – classification be damned. It sounds like a lot, and it sure seemed like the distance has never been wider than last night, but that's simply not the case. The Ags won't be all the way to where they need to be in terms of roster talent until the season after next (year four under Fisher), but they can be far enough along to cruise through the first half of the schedule. Let confidence build, let the young guys begin to emerge and Fisher's bunch just might be capable of making a legitimate run in the second half.

 

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Sejjr

Sejjr 3246

Posted
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The best part is that they think other people view them as "nice and respectable." 

Well that, and the predictable homophobic insult from a guy called "Daddy98" with a "bear" as an avatar.

 

And thank you aggy...this thread is rolling again.

Edited by Sejjr
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MrPhlegm

MrPhlegm 3413

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Spoiler

Cover Story: 2020 season starts now as Aggies aim to turn the corner

By Billy Liucci

December 1, 2019

The Aggies knew what they were walking into on Saturday night. For a calendar year, Ed Orgeron and his players made no bones about the fact that they had circled their regular season finale on the schedule. Even during SEC Media Days, LSU was talking about the twelfth game. In fact, the rematch with the Ags seemed to take up as much space in the collective heads of the Bayou Bengals as did their road trip to Tuscaloosa. 

And then the 2019 season happened. The Tigers entered Saturday night's grudge match undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the CFP rankings. They had just fallen one spot behind Ohio State and the talking heads all but said it was because the LSU defense was a liability. Senior night. Joe Burrow – or should I say 'Burreaux' – took the field as a lock for the Heisman Trophy. Aggie fans saw first-hand how 'coronation games' tend to go when Johnny Manziel had his night against Missouri in 2012. On top of all that, this was a night game. In Death Valley.

So while it's an understatement to say that A&M caught what may very well be the best team in college football on its best night, the fact is the Aggies knew what was coming and seemed unprepared for the moment. The Ags weren't up to the challenge, never came close to matching LSU's energy, emotion or execution and never came close on the scoreboard as a result. That was what had to have left Jimbo Fisher more disappointed than anything else. It was obvious that the second-year head coach was putting the blame squarely at his own feet following a 50-7 whitewashing – not only the first time in 25 games at A&M that his Aggies weren't remotely competitive and out of it by halftime, but also one of the most one-sided defeats he's endured as a head coach. 

Lia Musgrave, TexAgs

Head coach Jimbo Fisher is aware of his team’s weaknesses.

The thing is (and it's something most of you have probably noticed by now), Fisher cares about his players too much to ever think about throwing them under the bus. With that being said, the head man is obviously aware of his team's personnel shortcomings. That's why the 2020 and '21 recruiting cycles are an absolutely vital component to A&M quickly reaching the point of competing at the same level LSU is this year. The Aggies lack speed at virtually every position on the field (something that was frighteningly obvious last night), the offensive line isn't SEC West caliber and there aren't enough big-play threats on offense or drive-killers on defense. Fisher knows his team better than anyone, and he had to know that the Ags didn't match up nearly as well with LSU as they did with Georgia the week before. He knew all of those things, but Jimbo couldn't predict that his team would lay the type of egg they did on national television in what was as much a rivalry game as anything that Texas A&M has played in since joining the SEC eight years ago. We'll get to that whole 'rivalry' thing in a minute, but it sure seemed as if the visitors played and coached much tighter than an opponent who had everything on the line. Nowhere was that more evident than on defense, as the Aggies looked confused and tentative while showing a new look designed specifically for Joe Brady’s explosive Tiger offense.

Saturday night's effort was the type of showing that has to leave the head coach asking the hard questions in an attempt to figure out why the Ags came out borderline robotic against an incredibly emotional opponent in a very big game. Facing a great team on the road should have been nothing new for this bunch. The Ags traveled to Alabama last year, faced the Mississippi State defense and the cowbells at night, played at Auburn, faced Clemson in September and just last week were at Georgia. All losses, but they were also games in which the Aggies were in it until the closing minutes (Auburn, MSU and UGA), or were at least trading punches until just before halftime with a No. 1 (Alabama and Clemson). Seven days after taking No. 4 down to the final possession Between the Hedges, the Ags weren't competitive in Death Valley, and Fisher and his staff must now figure out why they were unable to give the Tigers a run for their money. 

Now it goes without saying this was a different No. 1. Ed O's Tigers were out for blood, and the Aggies got the best at their best. They talked the talk all year and they came out and backed it up. LSU didn't run up the score, but they could have. Joe Burrow took last year's loss harder than most, and it was obvious he carried a sizeable chip on his shoulder throughout the offseason. He threw for 352 yards and 3 touchdowns and was virtually perfect though the air, connecting on 23 of 32 throws in roughly three quarters of work. A&M legacy Kary Vincent was inexplicably snubbed by John Chavis coming out of high school, and he was literally posterized by Kendrick Rogers in last year's match-up. He picked off Kellen Mond with the celebration already underway in the second half. Tiger Terrence Alexander called the Aggies "stuck up" in a recent interview. Ed O...well, we know how the head man down in Red Stick had to feel after coaching the overtimes drenched in Gatorade last year.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Aggies earned their win over the Tigers at Kyle Field last year.

Look, I'm of the opinion that everyone in Purple and Gold was a little delusional when it came to feeling that they were robbed last year at Kyle Field. Orgeron was flat out wrong in thinking that one second shouldn't have been on the clock after Rogers went out of bounds. Kellen Mond's knee was clearly down, which was just plain old bad luck. LSU couldn't keep the Ags out of the end zone on the final play of the fourth quarter, and it was actually A&M that controlled most of the contest in regulation. With that being said, any team on the losing end of that game would have felt the same way, and the post-game melee only further stoked the flames. As for what the LSU folks perceived to be an extended victory lap? Well, I don't think the Corn Dogs ever understood that things like the photo of Rogers' leaping TD grab in Fisher's office, the cups at Kyle Field and all things celebrating 74-72 had to do more with the fact that the game was (and will always be) considered one of the greatest in Texas A&M history. Whether misguided or warranted (and I can point to a little of both), LSU used it as motivation, and the Tigers didn't disappoint the 90,000+ in attendance.

I'd suggest the Aggies do the same a year from now. And every day in between. This was one of those games that should stick in the craw of every player and coach wearing Maroon & White. A memory that the players carry into every workout and every practice during the long offseason under Jerry Schmidt. The 50-7 final score should be a wake-up call for any of the guys not named Justin Madubuike thinking they're ready for the NFL and serve as a painful reminder of how far this team has to go in order to be true SEC and national title contenders. For as close as the Ags were to knocking off Georgia, they didn't make LSU break a sweat (which makes you wonder how next weekend's SEC title game is going to go...and I think we all know the answer to that one). The truth, of course, lies somewhere in between. The Aggies aren't as far away as they looked last night, but they're also not as close as they looked versus Georgia. We may find out otherwise next Saturday in Atlanta, but the ‘Dawgs sure don’t look like true contenders. They're a very good team, but they aren’t in the same league as LSU, Clemson, Ohio State or even Alabama before they lost Tua. They’re more like Oklahoma, Auburn or Oregon. Meanwhile, LSU is playing as well as any SEC team I've seen since the Ags joined the league in 2012. How good have Ed O's Bengals been? Three weeks ago, they just about ran Alabama (with Tua, mind you) out of Bryant-Denny by halftime.

So how did LSU do it? How did the Tigers go from being a very good team to an unstoppable force in the span of a single offseason? The Brady hire was obviously a game-changer, and Joe Burrow showed even in last year's loss to A&M that he had all the intangibles you want in a quarterback. Credit the Tiger coaching staff for putting him in the right system with the right coach, and the rest is (Heisman) history. LSU had the players on defense, and they've consistently recruited inside the top-5. More than all of that talent, however, was the fact that Ed O's bunch was clearly a very close-knit group that was hungry and believed they could get it done at the highest level. You could describe last year's Aggies the same way in November...especially on that memorable night versus LSU. The team that took the field in Maroon & White last night didn't have any of that same moxie. It's what Fisher has been fighting all season. You could even hear it last week on The Pulse when the popular show aired his locker room speech to the team following the close loss to Georgia. As we wrap up year two, Jimbo is still fighting to break through and convince his team that it belongs in the upper-echelon, which explains the high points like wins over LSU and Kentucky last year, rolling to a five-TD bowl win and last-possession losses to a top-five team each of the past two seasons, and the lows like falling way behind to Clemson and Auburn this fall and what we witnessed last night. Until that happens – and it’s clearly going to take another big win to get the Aggies over that hump – the Aggies will continue to jockey for bowl position in the SEC while the usual suspects remain in the playoff discussion.

Lia Musgrave, TexAgs

LSU QB Joe Burrow is just one of several NFL-caliber talents on the Tigers’ roster.

What LSU already had were speed and playmakers for days and NFL Draft picks at every level of the defense. It was why the Tigers finished last year in the top 10 and won ten games and a New Year's Six bowl. Heck, they were an inch away from beating the Ags and finishing 11-2 and landing in the top 5, so it wasn't like Orgeron's squad was nearly as far off as the 7-5 Aggies are. But like I said, in college football you're never as close or as far as it seems. Last week, it was Kirby Smart who probably saw a lot of his ‘Dawgs in the team Jimbo was building in Aggieland. Georgia dropped five games in year one under Kirby and played for it all in year two. This week, we're sitting here analyzing the two teams that squared off in Death Valley last night and trying to figure out how in the world the Aggies beat LSU a year ago. It can turn in a hurry, good or bad, which is why I believe the Ags' next game is of particular importance. 

A&M is 0-5 this year against legitimate playoff contenders. Not counting head-to-heads, those five teams have lost all of one game in 2019. Think about that. LSU beat Auburn and Bama. Georgia beat Auburn, who on Saturday knocked off Bama. Clemson is unbeaten. In all other games, those five teams are a combined 44-1. Unfortunately, five of those 44 came at the expense of the Aggies. Meanwhile, A&M doesn't have a win over anyone of note, and the Ags have only beaten one bowl-eligible team. The 2019 schedule was funny like that. Considering the way the Ags lost in Baton Rouge last night, seeing Fisher's group bounce back from such a devastating setback and win a bowl game would speak volumes for this group moving forward. At this point, it would probably serve the Ags well to face a team in late December or the first of January that is as good or slightly better than they are (on paper). The New Year's Day date in Tampa is probably much more of a longshot today, but I'd love to see how A&M would fare against a Penn State, Wisconsin or Minnesota. Even if we're talking Houston and the Texas Bowl, testing your bounce-back ability against a physical K-State squad or even a defensive-minded group like Iowa State wouldn't be as bad as it sounds. Point being, there's a lot to be gained in this final game (and the 15 practices of preparation).

Part of the reason why is because the Aggies absolutely have to turn the corner in year three under Fisher. There isn't an alternate option. For as tough as this year's schedule was – and facing three No. 1s was unprecedented in college football – the 2020 slate offers a golden opportunity to open the season with several wins before a trip to Auburn. Auburn’s offense exploded yesterday, but next year is absolutely a reloading scenario for Gus Malzahn and War Eagle. A&M doesn't face Bama and LSU until the final two games, so there's an entire season to build momentum and belief while letting any new starters and contributors develop. It's set up for a nice run, and we've spent much of this year hammering home the point that Fisher is about to have two elite, LSU/Alabama/Georgia/Auburn-type classes on campus. A nice run through next fall would ensure that a third is on the way in '21. 

You hate to hear it, but the Ags have always been a 'next year' program, and that's a systemic problem that Fisher was hired to fix.

You hate to hear it, but the Ags have always been a 'next year' program, and that's a systemic problem that Fisher was hired to fix. Next year begins now for the Aggies, and it started the moment the team walked off the field last night. The Ags are going to be good in 2020, but how does Fisher make them great? How does A&M make a jump similar to the one LSU made from one season to the next? No, I'm not saying it has to result in the perfect season, but how do the Ags make the leap into the SEC's top tier?

For starters, Kellen Mond has to turn the corner and become a big-game quarterback. I realize most of you reading don't believe it can happen, but Mond took significant strides this fall. He's as tough as anyone I've seen play at A&M in a long time, and (until last night) really cut down on turnovers and served as a dangerous dual-threat who does an excellent job of managing the game. However, watching Burrow in action last night hammered home the point that having a true game-changer at quarterback can sometimes be enough to vault a team into championship contention. Mond won't be able to prove it early, but he's got to play bigger in the Ags' biggest games because he's one of A&M's best players, and he's the guy defensive coordinators fear (I'm telling you, it's true, as I've talked to several opposing coaches this fall before and after games). If Aggie fans could have one wish this Christmas season that would have the greatest carryover into next season, it would for #11 to throw and run his way to earning MVP honors in the upcoming bowl game.

From there, the Aggies have to figure things out along the offensive line. Mond wasn't good last night, but the lack of protection was nothing short of embarrassing. A&M was whipped soundly in the trenches by every quality opponent on this year's schedule. Forget returning starters, every job needs to be thrown wide open up-front during the offseason. If not, the Ags will beat the teams they should, lose to the best teams on the schedule and finish 9-3 at best. I could say the same in the secondary, where the Aggies were significantly better than they were last season but are still a ways away when it comes to guys being able to line up and cover elite SEC playmakers. Speaking of playmakers, Fisher and Co. need to continue to inject game-breaking skill on offense and fast, physical playmakers on defense. Do it by getting guys like Ainias, Corbin, Achane, Demas and Cupp (along with Wydermyer) into the lineup on offense and adding some twitchy edge defenders on defense while getting as creative as you can in the secondary – classification be damned. It sounds like a lot, and it sure seemed like the distance has never been wider than last night, but that's simply not the case. The Ags won't be all the way to where they need to be in terms of roster talent until the season after next (year four under Fisher), but they can be far enough along to cruise through the first half of the schedule. Let confidence build, let the young guys begin to emerge and Fisher's bunch just might be capable of making a legitimate run in the second half.

 
"That was what had to have left Jimbo Fisher more disappointed than anything else. It was obvious that the second-year head coach was putting the blame squarely at his own feet following a 50-7 whitewashing – not only the first time in 25 games at A&M that his Aggies weren't remotely competitive and out of it by halftime, but also one of the most one-sided defeats he's endured as a head coach.  "


lulz. aggy and looch have no fucking clue. Jimbo dissappointed? over that season and that game? No fucking way. Estatic is more like it. That assraping gets Jimbo one step closer to escaping the shithole of college station. with a shitton of money.

Look for a lot more games from jimbo's aggys like that one the other night in baton rouge.

FREEDOM!

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8 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:
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Cover Story: 2020 season starts now as Aggies aim to turn the corner

By Billy Liucci

December 1, 2019

The Aggies knew what they were walking into on Saturday night. For a calendar year, Ed Orgeron and his players made no bones about the fact that they had circled their regular season finale on the schedule. Even during SEC Media Days, LSU was talking about the twelfth game. In fact, the rematch with the Ags seemed to take up as much space in the collective heads of the Bayou Bengals as did their road trip to Tuscaloosa. 

And then the 2019 season happened. The Tigers entered Saturday night's grudge match undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the CFP rankings. They had just fallen one spot behind Ohio State and the talking heads all but said it was because the LSU defense was a liability. Senior night. Joe Burrow – or should I say 'Burreaux' – took the field as a lock for the Heisman Trophy. Aggie fans saw first-hand how 'coronation games' tend to go when Johnny Manziel had his night against Missouri in 2012. On top of all that, this was a night game. In Death Valley.

So while it's an understatement to say that A&M caught what may very well be the best team in college football on its best night, the fact is the Aggies knew what was coming and seemed unprepared for the moment. The Ags weren't up to the challenge, never came close to matching LSU's energy, emotion or execution and never came close on the scoreboard as a result. That was what had to have left Jimbo Fisher more disappointed than anything else. It was obvious that the second-year head coach was putting the blame squarely at his own feet following a 50-7 whitewashing – not only the first time in 25 games at A&M that his Aggies weren't remotely competitive and out of it by halftime, but also one of the most one-sided defeats he's endured as a head coach. 

 

Lia Musgrave, TexAgs

Head coach Jimbo Fisher is aware of his team’s weaknesses.

The thing is (and it's something most of you have probably noticed by now), Fisher cares about his players too much to ever think about throwing them under the bus. With that being said, the head man is obviously aware of his team's personnel shortcomings. That's why the 2020 and '21 recruiting cycles are an absolutely vital component to A&M quickly reaching the point of competing at the same level LSU is this year. The Aggies lack speed at virtually every position on the field (something that was frighteningly obvious last night), the offensive line isn't SEC West caliber and there aren't enough big-play threats on offense or drive-killers on defense. Fisher knows his team better than anyone, and he had to know that the Ags didn't match up nearly as well with LSU as they did with Georgia the week before. He knew all of those things, but Jimbo couldn't predict that his team would lay the type of egg they did on national television in what was as much a rivalry game as anything that Texas A&M has played in since joining the SEC eight years ago. We'll get to that whole 'rivalry' thing in a minute, but it sure seemed as if the visitors played and coached much tighter than an opponent who had everything on the line. Nowhere was that more evident than on defense, as the Aggies looked confused and tentative while showing a new look designed specifically for Joe Brady’s explosive Tiger offense.

Saturday night's effort was the type of showing that has to leave the head coach asking the hard questions in an attempt to figure out why the Ags came out borderline robotic against an incredibly emotional opponent in a very big game. Facing a great team on the road should have been nothing new for this bunch. The Ags traveled to Alabama last year, faced the Mississippi State defense and the cowbells at night, played at Auburn, faced Clemson in September and just last week were at Georgia. All losses, but they were also games in which the Aggies were in it until the closing minutes (Auburn, MSU and UGA), or were at least trading punches until just before halftime with a No. 1 (Alabama and Clemson). Seven days after taking No. 4 down to the final possession Between the Hedges, the Ags weren't competitive in Death Valley, and Fisher and his staff must now figure out why they were unable to give the Tigers a run for their money. 

Now it goes without saying this was a different No. 1. Ed O's Tigers were out for blood, and the Aggies got the best at their best. They talked the talk all year and they came out and backed it up. LSU didn't run up the score, but they could have. Joe Burrow took last year's loss harder than most, and it was obvious he carried a sizeable chip on his shoulder throughout the offseason. He threw for 352 yards and 3 touchdowns and was virtually perfect though the air, connecting on 23 of 32 throws in roughly three quarters of work. A&M legacy Kary Vincent was inexplicably snubbed by John Chavis coming out of high school, and he was literally posterized by Kendrick Rogers in last year's match-up. He picked off Kellen Mond with the celebration already underway in the second half. Tiger Terrence Alexander called the Aggies "stuck up" in a recent interview. Ed O...well, we know how the head man down in Red Stick had to feel after coaching the overtimes drenched in Gatorade last year.

 

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Aggies earned their win over the Tigers at Kyle Field last year.

Look, I'm of the opinion that everyone in Purple and Gold was a little delusional when it came to feeling that they were robbed last year at Kyle Field. Orgeron was flat out wrong in thinking that one second shouldn't have been on the clock after Rogers went out of bounds. Kellen Mond's knee was clearly down, which was just plain old bad luck. LSU couldn't keep the Ags out of the end zone on the final play of the fourth quarter, and it was actually A&M that controlled most of the contest in regulation. With that being said, any team on the losing end of that game would have felt the same way, and the post-game melee only further stoked the flames. As for what the LSU folks perceived to be an extended victory lap? Well, I don't think the Corn Dogs ever understood that things like the photo of Rogers' leaping TD grab in Fisher's office, the cups at Kyle Field and all things celebrating 74-72 had to do more with the fact that the game was (and will always be) considered one of the greatest in Texas A&M history. Whether misguided or warranted (and I can point to a little of both), LSU used it as motivation, and the Tigers didn't disappoint the 90,000+ in attendance.

I'd suggest the Aggies do the same a year from now. And every day in between. This was one of those games that should stick in the craw of every player and coach wearing Maroon & White. A memory that the players carry into every workout and every practice during the long offseason under Jerry Schmidt. The 50-7 final score should be a wake-up call for any of the guys not named Justin Madubuike thinking they're ready for the NFL and serve as a painful reminder of how far this team has to go in order to be true SEC and national title contenders. For as close as the Ags were to knocking off Georgia, they didn't make LSU break a sweat (which makes you wonder how next weekend's SEC title game is going to go...and I think we all know the answer to that one). The truth, of course, lies somewhere in between. The Aggies aren't as far away as they looked last night, but they're also not as close as they looked versus Georgia. We may find out otherwise next Saturday in Atlanta, but the ‘Dawgs sure don’t look like true contenders. They're a very good team, but they aren’t in the same league as LSU, Clemson, Ohio State or even Alabama before they lost Tua. They’re more like Oklahoma, Auburn or Oregon. Meanwhile, LSU is playing as well as any SEC team I've seen since the Ags joined the league in 2012. How good have Ed O's Bengals been? Three weeks ago, they just about ran Alabama (with Tua, mind you) out of Bryant-Denny by halftime.

So how did LSU do it? How did the Tigers go from being a very good team to an unstoppable force in the span of a single offseason? The Brady hire was obviously a game-changer, and Joe Burrow showed even in last year's loss to A&M that he had all the intangibles you want in a quarterback. Credit the Tiger coaching staff for putting him in the right system with the right coach, and the rest is (Heisman) history. LSU had the players on defense, and they've consistently recruited inside the top-5. More than all of that talent, however, was the fact that Ed O's bunch was clearly a very close-knit group that was hungry and believed they could get it done at the highest level. You could describe last year's Aggies the same way in November...especially on that memorable night versus LSU. The team that took the field in Maroon & White last night didn't have any of that same moxie. It's what Fisher has been fighting all season. You could even hear it last week on The Pulse when the popular show aired his locker room speech to the team following the close loss to Georgia. As we wrap up year two, Jimbo is still fighting to break through and convince his team that it belongs in the upper-echelon, which explains the high points like wins over LSU and Kentucky last year, rolling to a five-TD bowl win and last-possession losses to a top-five team each of the past two seasons, and the lows like falling way behind to Clemson and Auburn this fall and what we witnessed last night. Until that happens – and it’s clearly going to take another big win to get the Aggies over that hump – the Aggies will continue to jockey for bowl position in the SEC while the usual suspects remain in the playoff discussion.

 

Lia Musgrave, TexAgs

LSU QB Joe Burrow is just one of several NFL-caliber talents on the Tigers’ roster.

What LSU already had were speed and playmakers for days and NFL Draft picks at every level of the defense. It was why the Tigers finished last year in the top 10 and won ten games and a New Year's Six bowl. Heck, they were an inch away from beating the Ags and finishing 11-2 and landing in the top 5, so it wasn't like Orgeron's squad was nearly as far off as the 7-5 Aggies are. But like I said, in college football you're never as close or as far as it seems. Last week, it was Kirby Smart who probably saw a lot of his ‘Dawgs in the team Jimbo was building in Aggieland. Georgia dropped five games in year one under Kirby and played for it all in year two. This week, we're sitting here analyzing the two teams that squared off in Death Valley last night and trying to figure out how in the world the Aggies beat LSU a year ago. It can turn in a hurry, good or bad, which is why I believe the Ags' next game is of particular importance. 

A&M is 0-5 this year against legitimate playoff contenders. Not counting head-to-heads, those five teams have lost all of one game in 2019. Think about that. LSU beat Auburn and Bama. Georgia beat Auburn, who on Saturday knocked off Bama. Clemson is unbeaten. In all other games, those five teams are a combined 44-1. Unfortunately, five of those 44 came at the expense of the Aggies. Meanwhile, A&M doesn't have a win over anyone of note, and the Ags have only beaten one bowl-eligible team. The 2019 schedule was funny like that. Considering the way the Ags lost in Baton Rouge last night, seeing Fisher's group bounce back from such a devastating setback and win a bowl game would speak volumes for this group moving forward. At this point, it would probably serve the Ags well to face a team in late December or the first of January that is as good or slightly better than they are (on paper). The New Year's Day date in Tampa is probably much more of a longshot today, but I'd love to see how A&M would fare against a Penn State, Wisconsin or Minnesota. Even if we're talking Houston and the Texas Bowl, testing your bounce-back ability against a physical K-State squad or even a defensive-minded group like Iowa State wouldn't be as bad as it sounds. Point being, there's a lot to be gained in this final game (and the 15 practices of preparation).

Part of the reason why is because the Aggies absolutely have to turn the corner in year three under Fisher. There isn't an alternate option. For as tough as this year's schedule was – and facing three No. 1s was unprecedented in college football – the 2020 slate offers a golden opportunity to open the season with several wins before a trip to Auburn. Auburn’s offense exploded yesterday, but next year is absolutely a reloading scenario for Gus Malzahn and War Eagle. A&M doesn't face Bama and LSU until the final two games, so there's an entire season to build momentum and belief while letting any new starters and contributors develop. It's set up for a nice run, and we've spent much of this year hammering home the point that Fisher is about to have two elite, LSU/Alabama/Georgia/Auburn-type classes on campus. A nice run through next fall would ensure that a third is on the way in '21. 

You hate to hear it, but the Ags have always been a 'next year' program, and that's a systemic problem that Fisher was hired to fix.

You hate to hear it, but the Ags have always been a 'next year' program, and that's a systemic problem that Fisher was hired to fix. Next year begins now for the Aggies, and it started the moment the team walked off the field last night. The Ags are going to be good in 2020, but how does Fisher make them great? How does A&M make a jump similar to the one LSU made from one season to the next? No, I'm not saying it has to result in the perfect season, but how do the Ags make the leap into the SEC's top tier?

For starters, Kellen Mond has to turn the corner and become a big-game quarterback. I realize most of you reading don't believe it can happen, but Mond took significant strides this fall. He's as tough as anyone I've seen play at A&M in a long time, and (until last night) really cut down on turnovers and served as a dangerous dual-threat who does an excellent job of managing the game. However, watching Burrow in action last night hammered home the point that having a true game-changer at quarterback can sometimes be enough to vault a team into championship contention. Mond won't be able to prove it early, but he's got to play bigger in the Ags' biggest games because he's one of A&M's best players, and he's the guy defensive coordinators fear (I'm telling you, it's true, as I've talked to several opposing coaches this fall before and after games). If Aggie fans could have one wish this Christmas season that would have the greatest carryover into next season, it would for #11 to throw and run his way to earning MVP honors in the upcoming bowl game.

From there, the Aggies have to figure things out along the offensive line. Mond wasn't good last night, but the lack of protection was nothing short of embarrassing. A&M was whipped soundly in the trenches by every quality opponent on this year's schedule. Forget returning starters, every job needs to be thrown wide open up-front during the offseason. If not, the Ags will beat the teams they should, lose to the best teams on the schedule and finish 9-3 at best. I could say the same in the secondary, where the Aggies were significantly better than they were last season but are still a ways away when it comes to guys being able to line up and cover elite SEC playmakers. Speaking of playmakers, Fisher and Co. need to continue to inject game-breaking skill on offense and fast, physical playmakers on defense. Do it by getting guys like Ainias, Corbin, Achane, Demas and Cupp (along with Wydermyer) into the lineup on offense and adding some twitchy edge defenders on defense while getting as creative as you can in the secondary – classification be damned. It sounds like a lot, and it sure seemed like the distance has never been wider than last night, but that's simply not the case. The Ags won't be all the way to where they need to be in terms of roster talent until the season after next (year four under Fisher), but they can be far enough along to cruise through the first half of the schedule. Let confidence build, let the young guys begin to emerge and Fisher's bunch just might be capable of making a legitimate run in the second half.

 

 

Quote

Well, I don't think the Corn Dogs ever understood that things like the photo of Rogers' leaping TD grab in Fisher's office, the cups at Kyle Field and all things celebrating 74-72 had to do more with the fact that the game was (and will always be) considered one of the greatest in Texas A&M history

One of the greatest victories in Texas A&M history was a 7 OT game in a season where they went 9-4, finally won a game against LSU (had been 0-7 since they joined the SEC), and won the Gator Bowl?

no wonder people think they are clowns.

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Fondren & Main

Fondren & Main 6716

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1 hour ago, Walden Ponderer said:

I love the assumption that other teams "reloading" means automatic aggy wins.

I will be stunned if aggy wins more than 8 games next year. I'll be mildly surprised if they win fewer than 8, but it's far more likely than them winning 10.

Their schedule is straight up trash next year.  I will be more surprised if they aren’t 10-0 rolling into Bama and LSU.

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Neonmoon

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1 hour ago, Walden Ponderer said:

I love the assumption that other teams "reloading" means automatic aggy wins.

I will be stunned if aggy wins more than 8 games next year. I'll be mildly surprised if they win fewer than 8, but it's far more likely than them winning 10.

You must not have seen their schedule next year. If they win less than 9, I will be shocked. They play absolute dogshit next year

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Longhornfrenzy

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Who will A&M sign? Breaking things down at every position

VIP ByBRIAN PERRONI 17 minutes ago

 

The Early Signing Period is coming up very quickly as it runs from Dec. 18-20. Texas A&M is looking to sign a full class this year and the Aggies will likely finish almost all of it during the early period.

There are currently 21 commitments in the class, but not all of them are likely to sign with A&M. That means there is still room for some top targets as well as a potential transfer or two.

That means the next couple weeks are likely to be busy ones as the Aggies look to land some targets and hold on to some others that opposing schools are still after.

Here is a breakdown of where everything things in the class of 2020 with a little over two weeks until the Early Signing Period.

QUARTERBACK

Texas A&M has a commitment from national top-100 prospect Haynes King of Longview at quarterback. He chose the Aggies over Tennessee this past summer and will be enrolling in January.

King is the lone quarterback A&M is taking in the class.

RUNNING BACK

A&M has two commitments at the running back position and could potentially add another.

The most recent pledge was from Fort Bend Marshall four-star all-purpose back Devon Achane. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound senior will also run track at A&M and is a player the Aggies absolutely love. He will do a little bit of everything for the offense, including playing running back and also lining up in the slot at times. The speedster is also an elite returner.

The other commitment came as a bit of a surprise over the summer in Deondre Jackson out of the Atlanta area. A onetime very early Auburn commit, the 5-foot-10.5, 205-pounder was offered by the Aggies late in the spring evaluation period and then officially visited not long after. He committed while on his visit and has remained solid since. He also returned for the game weekend against South Carolina on an unofficial. Jackson is a between-the-tackles type that can move the chains.

The highest-ranked target left on the board is five-star Zachary Evans from North Shore. Once planning to commit to Georgia early in the season, he pushed things back and is now down to A&M and LSU. He plans to announce this coming Wednesday and, though he officially visited Aggieland for the South Carolina game, he is likely to choose the Tigers. You can bet that A&M will continue to work on him both before and after his announcement, though.

The most likely other back to be in the class is four-star EJ Smith of Dallas Jesuit. Though he has also used official visits to Florida and Georgia, this one is an A&M vs. Stanford battle. The son of Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith has already used his official visit to Aggieland and was in Palo Alto this past weekend on an unofficial. Though he had a long flight delay, he and his family made it just before kickoff and the reports are that things went well. He has been accepted into Stanford and the Cardinal are working the academic angle. He does not have a set date to announce, but it will probably be in the near future. A&M was seen as the favorite prior to his Stanford trip, so it will be interesting to hear what he says going forward.

The Aggies are also still in it for national top-100 all-purpose back Daniyel Ngata out of Folsom, Calif. Once close to committing to the Aggies after his official visit in the spring, he decided to push things back in order to officially visit both Arizona State and Oklahoma State this fall. After taking those, he was on the verge of a pledge to Oklahoma State. However, he pushed things back and will now be announcing in Dec. 21. He will sign with his school of choice prior to that and ask them to hold off from releasing it. A&M has remained in contact and could up things even more depending on where things stand with Evans and Smith.

WIDE RECEIVER

Texas A&M has a five-star commitment in Demond Demas from Tomball. He has been the vocal leader of the class, both publicly and privately, and was at every home game this year. Though he did take an official to Oklahoma last month and has mentioned possibly taking others, with Florida being a potential trip destination, it is very unlikely he ends up anywhere other than A&M. He is expected to sign in Dec. 18 and then will be at A&M in May.

The Aggies landed four-star Muhsin Muhammad III from Charlotte, N.C. over the summer after he took two visits to College Station within a month. The son of the former NFL receiver of the same name, the 6-foot, 185-pounder will enroll at A&M in January.

The third receiver commit is from much closer in A&M Consolidated’s Devin Price. The 6-foot-2.5, 205-pounder is both a big target and solid after the catch. The son of A&M defensive ends coach Terry Price, he will enroll in January as well.

Texas A&M is done at the wide receiver position with those three in the boat.

TIGHT END

The Aggies have shown how much they plan to use the tight end under Jimbo Fisher and, after signing a pair of very good ones in the last class, were looking for at least one more in this class.

In the spring, Southlake Carroll’s Blake Smith found himself being offered by some of the top schools from all over the country. The 6-foot-4, 247-pounder set his first official visit to A&M and committed before he left campus.

Smith was mainly used as a blocker – in addition to being the backup quarterback – as a junior, but has shown to be a very good pass-catcher with his team 13-0 so far this season.

The Aggies went after some other nationally-ranked tight ends but did not land any and Smith is likely to be the only one in the class. Combined with Jalen Wydermyer and Baylor Cupp, he will gave A&M three very good underclassmen at the position next season.

OFFENSIVE LINE

A&M’s highest-rated commitment on the offensive line was also its most recent. After making numerous trips to Aggieland over the past two years, national top-100 prospect Chris Morris out of West Memphis, Ark., used his official in mid-October. He committed to A&M later that week over offers from almost the entire SEC. Morris is a bit shorter than the prototypical tackle but has a long frame. A&M is recruiting him as both a tackle and a guard and will play him where he is needed the most once he arrives on campus in May.

The other four-star offensive line commit is guard Akinola Ogunbiyi of Fort Bend Kempner. Once a very early pledge after taking an Uber from Sugar Land to College Station, he decommitted when Jim Turner left A&M for the NFL. After committing to Georgia in the summer, he made two under-the-radar trips to Aggieland and ended up switching back during the second one. He plans to sign this month and enroll in May.

When Ogunbiyi committed to A&M the first time, he did so at the same time as Fort Bend Hightower guard and good friend Smart Chibuzo. The 6-foot-5, 330-pounder took some unofficial visits after that and had talked about taking some other officials, but ended up deciding against it. He will sign in December and enroll in May.

Josh Bankhead of The Woodlands College Park made an unofficial visit to Aggieland the spring of his sophomore year. He was offered and committed on the spot and has been completely solid since. An outstanding run blocker who is very strong already, he will enroll at A&M early in January.

Jordan Jefferson out of Navasota was the very first player in the class to commit anywhere he made a pledge to the Aggies in February of his freshman season. However, he is unlikely to sign with A&M as academics are an issue.

The Aggies still have some other targets on the offensive line, but they won’t necessarily sign another one.

Carthage four-star tackle Ty'kieast Crawford is one of the best in the country and decommitted from Arkansas after an official visit to Aggieland this fall. He has also been to LSU multiple times. However, academics are an issue and, with the signing limits causing schools to be very careful, it is not likely he signs. If he does, though, it will almost assuredly be in February as schools wait to see if his GPA and/or scores improve in that time. A&M will continue to recruit him in case things start to look better.

Though he would not technically count as part of the class, offensive tackle Javonne Shepherd is likely to be a newcomer in the spring as well. A current true freshman at Texas, Shepherd was a four-star prospect in the 2019 class that was close to flipping to the Aggies at one point. He is now in the transfer portal and A&M is in very good shape to end up with him. Unless granted a waiver by the NCAA, he will have to sit out the 2020 season and then will be a sophomore in 2021.

DEFENSIVE END

Texas A&M landed four-star pass rusher Donell Harris out of Miami last month as he chose the Aggies over LSU and Florida. Once a member of the class of 2021, the national top-50 prospect reclassified over the summer. A&M had long been recruiting him and was in even better shape after he made that decision. Harris has not used any official visits yet but, even when committed, said he still planned to use some of them. He has tentatively set one up to Florida on Dec. 13 and, if he makes it, the Aggies will have to sweat out that trip. Still, though, the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder has made very strong relationships in Aggieland and it is going to be tough for the Gators to beat out A&M.

A&M has another top out-of-state pass rusher in four-star Fadil Diggs out of Camden, N.J. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound defender chose the Aggies over Penn State back in May. Diggs has put up big numbers on defense as a senior, but has also starred at wide receiver. Though he is being recruited to Aggieland as a defensive lineman, it is not out of the question that he could get a shot at tight end. Diggs plans to sign with A&M in December and arrive in May.

A longtime commitment in the class of 2019 was four-star Katy Taylor end Braedon Mowry. However, he did not sign with the Aggies as he was sorting out his academics. With those now being straightened out, Mowry plans to sign with A&M in December and enroll in January. He has been working out in Katy since last season to try and be ready to go despite having missed a season.

A&M was the first school to offer Bastrop Cedar Creek four-star end Alfred Collins after his sophomore season. The 6-foot-6, 275-pound defender officially visited A&M in October and is still in contact with the Aggies, but a trio of Big 12 schools – Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas – are out in front of A&M and Alabama at this point. He is a Texas legacy, but Baylor has made a lot of noise in his recruitment as of late.

Manor four-star strongside end Princely Umanmielen was an A&M before deciding to commit to nearby Texas over the summer. He recently opened things back up, though, and A&M has least been in contact. However, there likely will not be a spot. Baylor has the momentum with him at the moment but he also has an official visit set to Florida later this month.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

In addition to Diggs, A&M also went into South Jersey to pick up a commitment from defensive tackle Isaiah Raikes. The 6-foot-0.5, 324-pounder also chose the Aggies over Penn State. A very athletic, quick interior prospect, Raikes also played a lot of running back for his high school team. He will sign in December and enroll at A&M in January.

Like Mowry, four-star defensive tackle Josh Ellison was also a longtime commit in the 2019 class that did not sign with A&M last year. Unlike Mowry, the standout from A&M Consolidated decided to play junior college football as he waited to hear how his academic situation had sorted out from high school. He had a strong year at Blinn College and is again ranked as a four-star. Ellison should end up in Aggieland in January with three years of eligibility remaining.

The Aggies also have a pledge from Dallas Walker out of Tennessee, who committed in late June following an official visit. Though a bit raw, the 6-foot-4, 315-pounder is very athletic and showed it by being a solid tight end for his high school as well. Walker has unofficially visited Auburn twice in the last month and is a big target of the Tigers. He says he will likely officially visit there as well. The Aggies want to hold onto him but, should he decide to head elsewhere, his spot will definitely be filled with a valued target at a position of need.

Four-star McKinnley Jackson out of Lucedale, Miss., was a onetime very early LSU commit before opening things back up. The 6-foot-2, 327-pounder is now down to five schools – A&M, Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Ole Miss. He has already officially visited Alabama and will be at Auburn this coming weekend. He was at LSU on an unofficial this past weekend and has officials set up to A&M, LSU and Ole Miss for January. The Aggies are set to receive the final one before the February signing day. Jackson plans to announce his commitment that day, Feb. 5. It could come down to which of his finalists still have room in the class. A&M will know by then where it stands at each position and could have a good shot of landing him if the Aggies have room.

National top-100 prospect Omari Thomas out of Nashville has been to Aggieland multiple times, including an official visit this fall. Originally ranked as an offensive lineman, A&M was one of the first to offer him on defense. Now, every school is doing so. Thomas is set to announce next Mon., Dec. 9. Right now, in-state Tennessee is the most likely destination.

With all the coaching changes in Austin and the struggles on defense, A&M will at least check in with four-star Vernon Broughton from Houston Cy Ridge. He was down to the Aggies and Longhorns when he announced in the spring. However, he is set to enroll early in Austin and seems likely to still sign with Texas.

LINEBACKER

At this point, A&M only has one linebacker commit and he is actually being recruited more as a hybrid linebacker/safety.

Kenneth Phillips III out of Fort Bend Bush was offered after a strong camp showing over the summer and he did not wait long to commit. The 5-foot-11.5, 205-pounder did a little bit of everything for Bush but was an all-district selection at safety as a senior. However, he tore three ligaments in his knee in the next-to-last game and had surgery that will sideline him for some time.

Phillips still plans to end up at A&M and A&M still plans on that as well. However, since he is unlikely to be able to play next season, it is not out of the question that he will be asked to postpone his enrollment until next January. He could then count toward the 25-man limit in 2021 instead.

The biggest target left is four-star Antonio Doyle out of St. Louis. Once a heavy A&M lean despite having never visited, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound defender made a surprise commitment to in-state Mizzou while on an official visit in the spring. However, he opened things back up in September. Doyle has now been to Aggieland and things are pretty much down to A&M and Illinois. The Illini have the distance factor in their favor and also played well late in the season, the finale vs. Northwestern this past weekend not withstanding, but A&M has been in good shape for some time. Illinois cannot be counted out, but the Aggies are the favorites to land him. He has said he plans to commit after the season and his team plays in the state championship this coming Friday.

A&M made an interesting offer last month to four-star Oklahoma commit Edgerrin Cooper out of Louisiana. This past week, he decommitted from the Sooners and things are now up in the air. The 6-foot-1.5, 205-pound defender is expected to wait until February to sign as he re-evaluates his options. Should there be room, he will likely officially visit A&M in January. LSU is still in communication with the in-state prospect as well, but the Tigers are unlikely to have room. Unsigned defenders have proven to be popular in January each of the first two years of the Early Signing Period, so it’s a good bet that Cooper has a ton of schools after him.

North Shore’s Matthew Roberts, who transferred in from Kansas this past summer, picked up an A&M offer over the summer. He has the Aggies out front, but there is not likely room in the class. His younger brother Jaeden Roberts is a big target as a four-star offensive lineman in the class of 2021 and a grayshirt for Matthew is not out of the question.

CORNERBACK

A&M picked up the highest-ranked defender in the state when five-star Cibolo Steele cornerback Jaylon Jones committed to the Aggies back in early February. The 6-foot-1.5, 190-pounder has remained solid ever since and will sign in December. He could also potentially end up at safety, but the Aggies see him as a difference-maker at cornerback. Jones had four interceptions for Steele as a senior.

Over the summer, A&M had a number of cornerbacks that were leaning its way. With room for only one of those, the Aggies chose to go after four-star Joshuah Moten out of Maryland. He decommitted from Penn State just before making an official visit to Aggieland and committed to A&M not long after. He was recently back on an unofficial visit and plans to sign in December.

The biggest high school target left is Dontae Manning out of Kansas City. While committed to Oklahoma at the time, the four-star officially visited the same weekend as Moten. He has since decommitted to the Sooners and the Aggies looked to be in good shape. However, both Georgia and Oregon have gained a lot of momentum. He was at Oregon a couple weeks ago on an official and plans to head to Georgia Dec. 13 for one. Manning has an announcement planned for the Under Armour All-American Game on Jan. 2 and A&M will be working on him until then. There is a chance he signs with his school of choice before that, though, and has them hold it until he announces.

A&M wants immediate help at the cornerback spot and there are a pair of junior college targets.

Four-star Brian George from Highland C.C. officially visited back in October. It went well and the Aggies are one of his top two choices. The other, though, is Auburn. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound defender was at Auburn for an unofficial for the Iron Bowl over the weekend and is set to be back on an official this coming weekend. This one will likely come down to the Aggies and Tigers with him set to sign early and enroll in January.

The other main target is Ronald Williams out of Hutchinson C.C. Originally from Louisiana, the 6-foot-2, 188-pounder picked up a ton of offers this fall, including from A&M. He used an official visit to Aggieland as he was in town for the South Carolina game. Alabama is a big competitor for him and he was in Tuscaloosa for an official two weekends ago. He was at Mississippi State this past weekend and has one upcoming to Ole Miss. Williams will sign in December and enroll in January.

Four-star Scooby Carter out of Mansfield Legacy was once an A&M commit in the class of 2019. However, he switched to Alabama while on an official visit and enrolled this past January. Now, though, Carter is in the transfer portal and A&M is one of the schools he is very interested in. Depending on how things shake out with the numbers after the Early Signing Period, he could potentially end up in Aggieland after all. Like Shepherd, he too would have to sit a year barring an NCAA waiver and would be a sophomore in 2021.

SAFETY

A&M had a strong haul at safety in the class of 2019, so it was not a huge need in the 2020 class. Still, A&M targeted a few and landed one of its top overall prospects at the position.

In mid-September, four-star Antonio Johnson of East St. Louis, Ill., committed to the Aggies over Alabama and several other schools. A&M had made him a priority and the one-time Tennessee pledge had long been high on the Aggies as well. Johnson helped lead his team to a state championship over the weekend, playing both safety and wide receiver. He plans to sign with A&M in December and arrive in May.

Johnson is likely the only safety that will end up in the class, but the Aggies did host four-star Michigan commit Jordan Morant out of New Jersey on an official visit earlier in the fall. He is still at least somewhat in communication, but there is not likely room even if he did want to switch from the Wolverines. He was in Ann Arbor this past weekend.

Four-star Vito Tisdale out of Kentucky is another player the Aggies were once after pretty hard. However, he never ended up visiting. Tisdale will likely end up staying in state but, should he decide not to sign early and A&M ends up having room, he could at least be worth watching down the road

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fattyflattie

fattyflattie 4639

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4 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

 

I love the assumption that other teams "reloading" means automatic aggy wins.

 

I love how with absolute surety they will begin kicking the asses of everyone who’s already been stacking top 5 classes, as soon as they get another 1-2 solid classes.  Bama, LSU, Clemson, UT has been killing them in recruiting for several consecutive years, but they got that #3 ranking (because of sheer bodies) and by gawd, another year of that and the giant will be awaken. Saban should probably just go ahead and retire to spare himself the embarrassment. In their minds, they are the only team that gets better year to year, while everyone else (including those routinely recruiting better, or aren’t already saddled with aggys issues) will stay frozen in time, or regress.  It’s funny as shit until you realize these people are out in society working and procreating. 

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