Texas A&M football fought to the bitter end against the Clemson Tigers. It came down to a few controversial plays, but the Aggies proved they belong on Saturday.
Texas A&M grew up tonight. That’s for sure. The Aggies fell to the Clemson Tigers, 28-26, but that doesn’t make any of these players hang their heads. Entering the game as double-digit underdogs, the Aggies never once backed down from the competition. Texas A&M teams of previous years didn’t seem to have the “grit” to battle back in the way that this team did on Saturday.
Ultimately, Kellen Mond’s Heisman-esque performance was muted by a rough call at the goal line and the Aggies fell just short of the biggest home win in their brief SEC history. Clemson breathes a sigh or relief and moves on, but the Aggies will have reason to be optimistic about the near future as well.
This game was back-and-forth and back-and-forth. Both teams learned quite a bit about themselves and their players. Here’s are five things that stood out the most from the Aggies’ narrow defeat at the hands of the Clemson Tigers:
5. Texas A&M will be a top 25 team at the end of this week
The Aggies did not win this one. However, they are going to be a big winner in the polls this coming week. They fought tooth and nail and didn’t ever give up hope. Every single player played their butt off and did everything they could do.
Many teams who moved into the top 25 will find their way out at the end of the week due to struggles on the field. The Aggies won’t be one of them. They are not currently ranked but holy heck they will be. They went toe to toe with the number two team in the nation.
Did they lose? Yes. But much like when the Aggies fell in a close one to Alabama and remained in the College Football Playoff field in 2014, this team deserves a post-loss bump. The bottom half of the top 25 is filled with question marks.
Is there anyone that can look Aggies in the eyes with a straight face and say the team that took the field and came that close to knocking off Clemson isn’t one of the 25 best teams in the nation? Of course not.
4. If I am Clemson, I would go with Kelly Bryant at quarterback.
The Texas A&M defense pushed hard from the first snap and between the two quarterbacks for Clemson I would easily go with Kelly Bryant at quarterback for the rest of the season. The senior quarterback showed himself to be worthy of the starting quarterback job.
Trevor Lawerence is a good quarterback. Don’t get me wrong on that one. However, he is not experienced like Kelly Bryant is. He doesn’t make passes that Bryant does. He isn’t as mobile as Bryant. He needs the time to develop and sitting behind Bryant this season will give him just that. He will be another great quarterback for the Clemson Tiger; he’s just not read yet.
Keep your eyes on Trevor Lawerence as he will develop this season, or next one if they decide to redshirt him. However, Kelly Bryant is the guy for the Tigers in 2018. They have a chance to get back into the College Football Playoff, as long as they stick with Kelly Bryant under center.
3. The Clemson defense is #good.
All week we heard about how good the Clemson defensive front is. On Saturday night, the thought was confirmed. I buy into the hype for sure. If the Tigers make the trip back to the playoff, it will be largely due to this defense.
Every starter returned this year from the 2017 campaign. Every single one. That was the biggest break that Dabo Swinney could have asked for. They held the Aggies to, overall, 26 points throughout the game. They didn’t hold the Aggies down to cover the spread, but they did quite well.
Each and every one of those guys will play on Sundays. That is a promise to you. Four total sacks, a blocked field goal and countless other plays that led the Tigers to victory against the Aggies. That unit put everything they had into this matchup and as a result their team gets to leave College Station 2-0, winning an extremely competitive game.
Don’t let the closeness of this game make you forget about the Clemson defense. The front four will go in the first round of the draft in the spring as will many of the other players on the unit.
2. Kellen Mond is the guy for this Aggies team.
I have no issue saying this, the Aggies would have won this game had Nick Starkel not come in for one snap and fumbled the ball. Kellen Mond showed today that he is the man for this Aggie club. He has grown up and has developed a confidence we haven’t seen in an Aggie quarterback since Johnny Manziel. That is absolutely huge for this team going forward.
Mond finished with 430 yards passing, finding receivers left and right and making the right decisions. He threw the ball away when he needed to. He protected the ball and protected himself. The Aggies have a talented offense, that is for sure. It has been made clear by the performance that was just put on by this team.
It is important to also notice that the Aggies receiving corps have grown in the absence of Christian Kirk. I would even go so far as to say that Kirk declaring for the draft was the best thing this team could have asked for. Jhamon Ausbon, Kendrick Rogers and Camron Buckley showed their stuff against the Tigers and will be ready for SEC Football in the coming weeks.
Basically, sorry Nick Starkel but Kellen Mond is absolutely the captain now.
1. The Aggie defense can hang this season y’all
The Aggie defense was a big question mark heading into the season. With injured linebackers and defensive ends, so many guys were moving around and unsure of where they would end up in the start of the season. However, tonight against Clemson, the Aggie defense came to play and showed their stuff against one of the best ACC offenses in the nation.
Everyone got in on the act and everyone showed what it means to really play defense. Did they miss a few chances to make big plays? Yeah probably. However, they made enough to hang tough with a big team that routinely plays for a national title.
Look for Kingsley Keke to make big plays this season. That is a special kid who is going to have a senior year to remember. Tyrel Dodson came to play and so did Otaro Alaka. The names I could list are endless. Mike Elko and company have taken a unit who had no idea what was going on at times and made them into a group that can stand toe to toe with anyone in the country.
Watch out for this defense. With them, the Aggies could be a ten win team. That’s something that hasn’t been said of a Texas A&M team for quite some time. Maybe Jimbo Fisher is on to something after all.