Rapid Reaction: Texas A&M stunned by Appalachian State

Texas A&M suffered a stunning upset to Appalachian State on Saturday afternoon. In the loss, the Aggies recorded just 186 total offensive yards while giving up 305 yards to the Mountaineers. Texas A&M ran just 38 offensive plays and just six of those plays came in Appalachian State territory. There were very few bright spots in the Aggies’ loss and coming out of the stunning loss, here’s some quick takes.

Offensive line struggles continue

Another week, another underwhelming performance from Texas A&M’s offensive line. Unlike last week, it’s tough to find a bright spot along the line. Haynes King was consistently under pressure, the running game struggled to get going, and when they Aggies did gain some chunk plays on the ground, it was because of the individual effort of Devon Achane, who was far and away the Aggies’ most valuable player on Saturday, and really he should be most every Saturdays this fall (we’ll get to him later). The main issue remains on the left side of the line, guard Aki Ogunbiyi and center Matthew Wykoff specifically didn’t have the best day. Left tackle Trey Zuhn didn’t either. Perhaps the line sees an improvement against bigger defensive linemen, where it’s easier for this massive line to gain leverage, but right now, there’s not a quick solution in sight.

Haynes King hasn’t earned anyone’s confidence yet

On paper, King was relatively efficient and didn’t throw an interception, but his performance didn’t give Texas A&M fans any reason to be confident about this team’s future with him at the helm. He just wasn’t decisive in any facet of the game. Struggled in deciding whether to hand it off or keep it on option plays, struggled reading the field and making quick reads outside of RPOs, and just didn’t make fast enough decisions to leave collapsing pockets. On top of that, he was inaccurate, missed multiple open throws, including a slant to Ainias Smith late which would have been the go-ahead touchdown. After last week’s performance, against a defense that gave up 63 points just last week, King and the offense had a chance to earn some confidence. Neither he, nor the offense, did that.

Give Devon Achane some space, and he’ll make plays for you

Texas A&M’s only bright spot on Saturday was Devon Achane. The speedster rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown on ten carries, and a 95 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, scoring both of the Aggies’ touchdowns. Texas A&M struggled to get him the ball in space, but when they did, he made plays. After his first touchdown run, the Aggies didn’t utilize him nearly enough in the run game until the second half. Staff has to be better about getting him the ball in space, especially with the offensive line struggles, and allowing him to make plays.

Defense has to get off the field, and force turnovers

The defense was on the field a lot on Saturday. Appalachian State had the ball for 41:29 of the game, and part of it was because of Texas A&M’s offense’s inability to make things happen, but there’s blame to go around on the defense as well. DJ Durkin’s unit held relatively well in the run game, but struggled to get off the field on third and fourth downs. Appalachian State converted nine of 20 third downs and three of five fourth downs. In addition, the Aggies failed to force any turnovers. They nearly had a forced fumble returned for a touchdown, that was later called back as an incomplete pass. Later, safety Jardin Gilbert forced a fumble that Antonio Johnson could have cleanly grabbed, but the Mountaineers secured the ball back. Due to a penalty, the play did not end up counting. In a game that Texas A&M was favored to win by 16.5, the Aggies should have looked better on third downs, and most definitely should have been able to create some turnovers.