Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Texas A&M Football: 3 keys to a successful season in 2020

By Nick Fiore

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 21: Head coach Jimbo Fisher of the Texas A&M Aggies argues with officials during the first quarter against the Auburn Tigers at Kyle Field on September 21, 2019 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 21: Head coach Jimbo Fisher of the Texas A&M Aggies argues with officials during the first quarter against the Auburn Tigers at Kyle Field on September 21, 2019 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
Texas A&M football
Kellen Mond, Texas A&M football (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images) /

3. Kellen Mond must take another step

After a very impressive sophomore season in 2018 where Kellen Mond completed 57 percent of his passes for 3,107 yards, 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions but his junior year was a bit disappointing. Maybe not too disappointing as he still put up great numbers, throwing for 2,897 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions, but he didn’t take the big step that Aggie fans were looking for.

Now in his senior season, if Texas A&M wants to compete for the SEC title, Mond will need to take that big step.

A lot of the issues with Mond, and the Aggies as a whole last season, were failing in the big games. Texas A&M won all the games it was supposed to win, but went 0-5 in its toughest matchups. Against Clemson, Auburn, Alabama, Georgia and LSU, Mond was 114-for-205 with 1,202 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions and wasn’t a factor in the ground game.

While those weren’t awful numbers and a lot of quarterbacks would be happy to be putting up those stats against some of those defenses, that’s normal playing in the SEC, you’re going to be playing against some of the top defenses in the country on an almost weekly basis.

If the Aggies want to have a real shot at playing in the conference championship game, Mond and the whole team really needs to play better against the elite programs they face. He has a ton of talent and is capable of becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC. He needs to take that big step forward that we’ve been waiting for since 2018 if the Aggies are to truly compete in 2020.