Jimbo Fisher assesses Max Johnson's first drive vs. Arkansas

With Conner Weigman likely out for the season for Texas A&M, it’ll be Max Johnson’s show at quarterback. His first drive against Arkansas went smoothly, and Jimbo Fisher pointed that out during his in-game interview.

Johnson led the Aggies down the field on an eight-yard, 75-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Evan Stewart to put Texas A&M ahead 7-3. He totaled 73 passing yards, including the 32-yarder to Stewart to find the end zone.

Fisher was impressed with how Johnson looked on the first series and pointed out his ability to find multiple different receivers en route to the touchdown.

“Really good,” Fisher told SEC Network’s Alyssa Lang. “Managed the game, got the ball distributed to three or four different guys. Made good reads. He had a little run in there, he got a good play or two. He had good balance, and I thought he controlled the game really well.”

Johnson came in last week against Auburn to replace Weigman, who likely suffered a season-ending foot injury, Fisher said on this week’s SEC coaches teleconference. He helped the Aggies get a much-needed SEC victory over the Tigers, throwing for 123 yards and two touchdowns on 7-for-11 passing.

Jimbo Fisher: Texas A&M has to execute on 3rd and long vs. Arkansas

Arkansas also scored on its first drive of the game on a 52-yard field goal. To get there, though, the Razorbacks converted a 3rd and 10 and a 3rd and 13. They then converted another 3rd and 10 on the ensuing possession to set up another field goal.

Fisher said Texas A&M did a good job getting Arkansas into tough situations on third down. However, the Aggies need to execute better if they want to stay in the game.

“The problem is it’s 3rd and long,” Fisher said. “We’ve done a great job on first down, playing the run. … We’ve got to get off the field on third down. We’re doing a great job on first and second down, getting them where you want them on long yardage. We’ve got to execute on 3rd and long.”

Texas A&M entered Saturday’s game with the best third-down defense in the SEC, only allowing opponents to convert 20.4% of their attempts. Arkansas started the game 4-for-5 on third down after converting 47.7% of their third downs heading into the game. The Aggies got two more stops as they tried to clamp down.