In a nice offensive outing for Texas A&M football in Jimbo Fisher’s first game, standouts like Kellen Mond and Trayveon Williams posted huge stats.
There’s not much to takeaway from a win over an FCS team like the Northwestern State Demons. Yet, Texas A&M football got enough to about as much of a good start to the Jimbo Fisher era as any fan could realistically hope for. The Aggies needed a comfortable start to the regular season to get ramped up for the Clemson Tigers coming to College Station in Week 2.
In Fisher’s first game with the Aggies as head coach, we expected to see a new look offense under recently named starting quarterback Kellen Mond. While surprisingly beating out fellow sophomore quarterback Nick Starkel to win the starting job, Mond showed that he is still capable of taking hold of the Texas A&M offense.
Moreover, Mond does have the prototypical skill set that Fisher likes to have to run his offense. The dual-threat ability is the main aspect that Fisher likes to have in his starting quarterback. The ability to escape the pocket and make accurate throws on the run is also a key factor in Mond winning the starting job. Both aspects favor Mond over Starkel.
We got to see in the 59-7 victory over Northwestern State that Mond might be the answer Jimbo is looking for. He combined for three touchdowns between rushing and passing. Mond also kept quite a few plays alive impressively with his legs. Add in a solid 68 percent completion percentage and no interceptions and you get a good Week 1 outing for Mond.
Moreover, junior running back Trayveon Williams had about as good of a game as a rusher can register. Williams racked up a whopping 240 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Those 240 rushing yards also came on just 20 carries, so Williams averaged 12.0 yards per carry.
If the Aggies make a nice run through the SEC this year, both Mond and Williams could start to generate some type of Heisman hype for this season and on into 2019. While overreacting to a blowout against an FCS school would be a mistake, Mond and Williams should also be commended for these performances to start off the 2018 season.
When Clemson comes to College Station in Week 2 to face the Aggies at Kyle Field, the performances of Mond and Williams will be huge to the outcome of the game. Jimbo has knocked off Dabo Swinney and the Tigers before, but this will be a massive task. If Mond and Williams lead the Aggies to a victory, expect at least one of their names to start garnering nation attention.