College Football

The Texas A&M Aggies played the second half on Saturday night like a team possessed. Clemson is lucky to have walked off the field with a two point win. The better team did not win in the A&M/Clemson gridiron battle. Roman gladiators would have been proud of the Herculean effort on behalf of A&M. Would’ve. Could’ve. Should’ve. This describes Texas A&M’s effort against nationally ranked Clemson. The 28-26 loss, although disappointing to the Kyle Field faithful, sent a message not just to ‘Bama and the rest of the SEC, but college football as well.

Would’ve

A&M would have won were it not for a number of miscues early and a few more late. Daniel LaCamera was unusually unreliable. LaCamera and his holder Braden Mann had never seen the Aggies’ senior kicker miss two field goals in a game. At least, not until now. LaCamera pulled a chip shot from 26 yards out on A&M’s first offensive possession. Dexter Lawrence blocked his 50 yard attempt with 5:11 till halftime leaving six points by the wayside. Late in the fourth, a fumble would cost them seven more making a total of at least 12 lost points.

“Our kids played very competitively and physically,” said Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher at Monday’s media interaction. “We just have to execute better and be more efficient. I’m not happy. Not happy at all because there were missed opportunities in the game. As coaches, you have to coach better or you let it happen.”

Could’ve

The Aggies could have won if they had hung onto the ball in the second half. Midway through the third, A&M had a first and 10 at the Clemson 21. Quarterback Nick Starkel, in his only play from scrimmage, fumbled on a sack. Four plays later, Clemson had a 21-6 lead. Trailing 28-20 late in the fourth, TAMU and signal caller Kellen Mond faced third and eight at the Clemson 25. Mond converted finding Quartney Davis at the goal line. Davis fumbled and the ball was ruled to have gone through the endzone for touchback. 14 points down the drain. Difference maker.

Should’ve

Texas A&M gained 11 more first downs than Clemson. The Aggies gained almost 100 more yards of total offense than the Tigers. A&M ran 13 more offensive plays and held the ball for almost eight minutes longer than the Tigers. Mond dissected the Tigers secondary to the tune of 430 yards and three touchdowns. Three hundred yards came in the second half. The offense outscored Clemson 13-0 in the fourth quarter. The offensive line more than handled the front seven of Clemson.

“I thought our OL did an outstanding job,” concluded Fisher. “Did they get beat a few times? Yes. But they stood eyeball-to-eyeball and were right there at the end.”

The defense did its part throughout the game. The Aggies forced Clemson into five three and outs. The Tigers could only muster 4 of 13 on third down conversion and 0-1 on fourth down.

Overall

The Aggies, despite their mistakes, should feel good about this performance. One play here or there and the outcome is a win. Clemson took away Trayveon Williams and dared the Aggies to beat them and they almost did. Even without Williams’ usual production, the team put up 500 plus yards of offense. The defense allowed just 175 yards in offense with only 40 on the ground in the second half. There is plenty of room for optimism and expectations as the team heads to Alabama in two weeks.

Photo credit to Ricardo S. Nava via Flickr