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Yesterday, I made a post regarding the Bama @ Oklahoma game, writing about mistake-free football, fundamentals and ultimately preventing key mistakes that end up losing you the game. Well, it is Part 2 after seeing the slugfest that was Miami @ Texas A&M... the statements are going to be the exact same, because those same statements applied here again.
1. Special teams only matters when you somebody ***** up. Do not **** up.
Well, ultimately, both teams had their fair share of special teams ****ups. I went back and rewatched every single kick and the wind basically trolled Davis all game long. Two misses were due to gusts of wind and the third one off the upright, Davis overcompensated for wind that ended up shutting off for that timeframe. I cannot fault him for any kicks, they were clean operations and I am glad that Edgerrin James went over and consulted him. Kicking a football may look easy, but elements make it so much harder - because the football is not in a spiral, but flipping, a wind gust can essentially make a perfectly fine kick into a bad miss just by pushing the tip over. One guy on Twitter posted a picture of the wind blowing in opposite directions at different levels of height. Made me stop my anger about the kicker entirely. But, ****ups remain ****ups that cost games and we had enough that it mattered.
Aggies on the other hand also did not have a good day on special teams. Concepcion muffed a punt losing them yardage in a game where stuff like this is a premium, they had poor punt coverage on the Toney return (matters) until their last gunner made a great effort play (matters even more). The blocked kick by Bain Jr. did not even happen on a rush front, Bain just jumped up and got his hands on a low kicked football. A ****up by the kicker, because from 22, you just get it over the line high enough and it will be good. And, the fake punt, which was a good play, but ultimately a punt would have been the better choice. I dont like having a punter throw the football, especially not in a game like that and even less with such difficult conditions.
2. We are in the age of the run game. Again.
I absolutely hate saying this, and I hate saying this every time I say it, but Marios bro ball ultimately won us the game. Dawson had a plan, after rewatching it, I can see what he attempted to do - he tried to misdirect and confuse the Aggies and then make them cover wide spaces expecting them to sacrifice that for defending the middle of the field. Texas had success on horizontal run plays where the Aggies ran poorly to the ball - vs us, they played it to a tee. But the amount of defensive coaches on my timeline on Twitter writing in caps to scream at Dawson because he did not run the ball up the middle makes me laugh so hard in hindsight. They saw the fronts and how the second level shifted, and we can be glad that Dawson eventually just figured it out. "An A-gap run won us the game, brother" is his statement after the game, but it was not said in jest, he was ******* relieved because he knew he messed up.
Aggies had no run game. Reed was the sole run threat, and that was eliminated by sensational play up front. Instead, they threw the ball close to 40 times, turned it over twice, with one of these throws being the one that lost them the game.
3. Everyone can contribute. Previous stats do not matter.
Toney was almost the man who lost the game for us by fumbling the football. Look at his statline, you would think he would be the man who would get us a W and it almost fell apart. In return, a man who many felt could potentially leave this team, especially after the emergence of Pringle and him being injured on top of it, was the train that won us the football game. It was just awesome to see a man built like Fletcher finally run like a man of his stature should run and not stumble over his feet. He will be needed vs Ohio State, thats for sure.
4. Losing games is so much easier than winning them. Texas A&M lost the game.
We gifted them the game in the first half and they did not execute. Then they gifted us the game and we did not execute. Ultimately, it became the same errorfestival that was Bama @ Oklahoma and it was us who ultimately made that one less error. Both teams had multiple opportunities to get into scoring range and score points, we scored the TD and they threw the pick. This reminded me of the Patriots-Rams Super Bowl years ago, when both teams with good to elite offenses were suddenly completely inept at scoring. Game control and the scoreboard can be two opposite things sometimes and it felt like we were the ones in the driving seat in the second half.
Good guys win. Lets settle something from 20+ years ago...
1. Special teams only matters when you somebody ***** up. Do not **** up.
Well, ultimately, both teams had their fair share of special teams ****ups. I went back and rewatched every single kick and the wind basically trolled Davis all game long. Two misses were due to gusts of wind and the third one off the upright, Davis overcompensated for wind that ended up shutting off for that timeframe. I cannot fault him for any kicks, they were clean operations and I am glad that Edgerrin James went over and consulted him. Kicking a football may look easy, but elements make it so much harder - because the football is not in a spiral, but flipping, a wind gust can essentially make a perfectly fine kick into a bad miss just by pushing the tip over. One guy on Twitter posted a picture of the wind blowing in opposite directions at different levels of height. Made me stop my anger about the kicker entirely. But, ****ups remain ****ups that cost games and we had enough that it mattered.
Aggies on the other hand also did not have a good day on special teams. Concepcion muffed a punt losing them yardage in a game where stuff like this is a premium, they had poor punt coverage on the Toney return (matters) until their last gunner made a great effort play (matters even more). The blocked kick by Bain Jr. did not even happen on a rush front, Bain just jumped up and got his hands on a low kicked football. A ****up by the kicker, because from 22, you just get it over the line high enough and it will be good. And, the fake punt, which was a good play, but ultimately a punt would have been the better choice. I dont like having a punter throw the football, especially not in a game like that and even less with such difficult conditions.
2. We are in the age of the run game. Again.
I absolutely hate saying this, and I hate saying this every time I say it, but Marios bro ball ultimately won us the game. Dawson had a plan, after rewatching it, I can see what he attempted to do - he tried to misdirect and confuse the Aggies and then make them cover wide spaces expecting them to sacrifice that for defending the middle of the field. Texas had success on horizontal run plays where the Aggies ran poorly to the ball - vs us, they played it to a tee. But the amount of defensive coaches on my timeline on Twitter writing in caps to scream at Dawson because he did not run the ball up the middle makes me laugh so hard in hindsight. They saw the fronts and how the second level shifted, and we can be glad that Dawson eventually just figured it out. "An A-gap run won us the game, brother" is his statement after the game, but it was not said in jest, he was ******* relieved because he knew he messed up.
Aggies had no run game. Reed was the sole run threat, and that was eliminated by sensational play up front. Instead, they threw the ball close to 40 times, turned it over twice, with one of these throws being the one that lost them the game.
3. Everyone can contribute. Previous stats do not matter.
Toney was almost the man who lost the game for us by fumbling the football. Look at his statline, you would think he would be the man who would get us a W and it almost fell apart. In return, a man who many felt could potentially leave this team, especially after the emergence of Pringle and him being injured on top of it, was the train that won us the football game. It was just awesome to see a man built like Fletcher finally run like a man of his stature should run and not stumble over his feet. He will be needed vs Ohio State, thats for sure.
4. Losing games is so much easier than winning them. Texas A&M lost the game.
We gifted them the game in the first half and they did not execute. Then they gifted us the game and we did not execute. Ultimately, it became the same errorfestival that was Bama @ Oklahoma and it was us who ultimately made that one less error. Both teams had multiple opportunities to get into scoring range and score points, we scored the TD and they threw the pick. This reminded me of the Patriots-Rams Super Bowl years ago, when both teams with good to elite offenses were suddenly completely inept at scoring. Game control and the scoreboard can be two opposite things sometimes and it felt like we were the ones in the driving seat in the second half.
Good guys win. Lets settle something from 20+ years ago...
