Mario Cristobal addresses Texas A&M's offensive struggles ahead of primetime matchup with Miami

Mario Cristobal’s No. 13 Miami Hurricanes will play in one of Week 3’s biggest games when they head to College Station to face No. 24 Texas A&M. While it’s interesting from the Hurricane’s standpoint, it may be even more so for the Aggies. Jimbo Fisher’s squad is coming off an upset loss to Appalachian State last weekend. While they are in desperate need of a bounce back, Cristobal doesn’t want anyone in their program underselling how good A&M still is.

Cristobal talked about A&M’s offensive struggles to open the season during his press conference on Wednesday. He gave plenty of credit to the Mountaineers for their defense but also thinks A&M just never found their rhythm in the game. It doesn’t fully reflect how talented the Aggies are on offense, specifically when things do click for them.

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“I think they’re extremely talented. They have played really good football and they didn’t have their best day. Sometimes in offensive football, you’re off. And also credit the other side. Appalachian State played a great game. Those two things collided and so they didn’t have their typical day,” said Cristobal. “It didn’t click but we’ve seen them click both last year and the first game this year. We’re expecting their very best and we’re excited about the opportunity.”

The Aggies did start out with 31 points on the board against Sam Houston State. They were inefficient at times but A&M still finished the job. That was not the case against App. State where they put up just 14 points. There’s plenty of talent, but that side of the football hasn’t found its groove yet. That’s especially true of sophomore QB Haynes King who has thrown just three touchdowns to two interceptions so far.

However, Cristobal knows that game doesn’t tell the whole story. A&M still has enough offensively across the board to give the Hurricanes problems if they’re not careful.

“I think that (loss) truly masks the reality that they are a really explosive and talented offense,” said Cristobal. “You have world-class speed all over the place. Imagine preparing for a team that averages, up front, in the 6’5, 315 to 320 range. These are the best of the best that have been recruited and developed there. And they’re complemented by 10.1, 10.5, 10.6 100-meter guys at the different skill positions.”

Before last weekend, this was arguably the game to watch during Week 3. Two teams within the Top-15 were set to square off in Aggieland. Now, it’s getting attention for all the wrong reasons due to A&M’s shortcomings. Mario Cristobal and his team can’t worry about that, though, as this would still be a resume win for their team this season. They’ll just need to keep in mind that everything may not be as it seems with the Aggie’s offense based on the box score of their first two games.