1. Making a change at quarterback doesn't always change a team's trajectory. It may be the most important position on the field but it's still just one of 11 spots that have to function together to produce positive results...and oftentimes a miscue somewhere else can blow things up even when the quarterback does his job.
However, playing
Max Johnson as the starter gives the Aggies a better chance of winning games regardless of whether or not that actually happens or not. He's got more going for him and he should help settle an offense that's generally younger than him (about half of the starting lineup plus most of the rotations at the skill positions has two years of college or less). He's made plays in big games to win them and he's gone through his own adversity (playing on a .500 program, watching his head coach leave, and being benched).
Thus, even without a superior ability to make throws, you've got someone who can set a tone and also keep everyone's head right with ball when things may not be going well.
2. Most teams don't make quarterback switches after two games (or really after the first game of the year...the Sam Houston contest was more like a NFL pre season game with NFL regular season ticket prices). The sense of urgency that would cause someone to do that goes beyond performance issues.
This is a big recruiting weekend for the Aggies in a sold out stadium with lots of donors on hand as well. They're about to head into a stretch of four games away from Kyle Field with a young cast of players on the field on both sides of the ball for significant stretches of the game. If the veterans are going to set a tone away from the field that the younger players can emulate (part of the culture that
Jimbo Fisher speaks of), then they have to play better so that those less experienced but talented teammates will want to do so.
For all of those reasons, it's important that A&M win tonight, there's got to be a sense of urgency that seemed to be missing in the first two games, and nothing provides a sense of urgency like a changeover for the position handling the ball on every offensive play.
3. Speaking of a sense of urgency, Texas A&M is now 4-5 in its last nine games versus FBS schools. The opponent has scored first in all five of those losses.
Coincidence? I think not.
The Aggies get off to slow starts far too often which means that they have to expend energy climbing out of a hole from virtually their first possession of the contest. It takes the crowd out of games at Kyle Field and gets the crowd on road trips even more into what's going on.
4. In terms of the people around the quarterback....A&M's offensive line has got to be better tonight and they're facing an athletic Miami front.
How much better?
Pro Football Focus' highest graded player up front so far this season is center Matthew Wykoff who has all of two games of starting experience.
They've combined for seven penalties so far in 2022.
PFF's grading system rated four of the five players who started last week as replaceable or backups.
5. Finally...I like A&M in this game because there's so much at stake and
Jimbo Fisher has prepared his team and then managed games well enough so that the Aggies always seem to pull those types of contests out. They've given themselves a better opportunity to win with the change at quarterback and getting some of the players back who have missed early season games will also help.
From a tactical standpoint, the loss of Canes' slot
Xavier Restrepo is a limiting factor from a big play perspective to Miami's offense. Quarterback
Tyler Van Dyke is learning a new system and he's going to be less likely to get the ball down the field because of it, especially without a trusted wideout like Restrepo. That means that the game will be played moreso within a few yards of the line of scrimmage which plays into the hands of A&M's personnel and scheme.
If the Aggies can limit Miami's chunk plays, not turn the ball over on offense, and be relatively productive in the passing game, then the Kyle Field crowd stays in the game and feeds off of the play of the defense. It's akin to the formula that A&M teams have followed in the past for big game wins at home and although it's just one game a W keeps a lot of things in play for the Aggies as they head into the SEC portion of their schedule.
