Jimbo Fisher discusses impact of senior DL Micheal Clemons on Texas A&M

Jimbo Fisher reflected on the impact of one of his top defensive contributors over the last few seasons, defensive end Micheal Clemons, earlier this week.

This season is Clemons’ sixth in College Station and his last. He is taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted to athletes by COVID-19 rules but he’ll be off to the NFL in the spring. He helped himself in a major way on Saturday versus LSU, racking up 3.5 sacks in the Aggie loss.

“Micheal plays his heart out, he always does,” Fisher said after the game. “He puts his heart and soul into everything he does and he’s had a tremendous year.

“Him wanting to come back (for another year) and show leadership, there’s not a guy who practiced harder on every play. He loves playing ball and he’s become a heck of a football player.”

Last season, before suffering an injury after five games, Clemons had 14 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. He was a defensive team captain in four games. This season, the senior has 23 solo tackles, seven sacks, a forced fumble and recovery, and two passes defensed.

Clemons joined the Aggies as a member of the 2017 signing class. He graduated from Sachse High School in Texas and ranked in the top ten of players coming out of the Lone Star state.

Fisher pleased with Calzada

Jimbo Fisher wasn’t able to ensure Ed Orgeron would leave LSU following a loss. Still, he isn’t blaming quarterback Zach Calzada for Texas A&M being unable to leave Baton Rouge victorious.

In his post-game press conference, Fisher assessed the play of Calzada against LSU.

“Thought he battled, thought he competed. Made plays. Scrambled. Made some really big-time throws. I thought he played his tail off,” stated Fisher. “Some plays he’d have back, he missed some reads — yeah. Like the quarterbacks, most of them do in games.

“But thought he battled hard. Made some great plays in the game. Put us in the position to win the game .. had an opportunity to win the game.”

Moreover, Calzada‘s numbers from the game lend credence to Fisher’s positive assessment of the quarterback. On Saturday, Calzada completed 20 of 35 passes — accumulating 242 yards and three touchdowns.