A&M: FISHER UNHAPPY WITH EASY WIN BEFORE SEC PLAY.
Aggies’ offense flexes muscles in shutout, but Fisher isn’t pumped before first SEC game
COLLEGE STATION – In a one-sided skirmish with New Mexico on Saturday, Texas A&M running back Isaiah Spiller said the Aggies also began a side fracas with old-fashioned frailty.
“We just got a little relaxed,” Spiller said following the No. 7 Aggies’ 34-0 victory over the Lobos at Kyle Field. “That’s human nature, and we’ve got to fight that every day when we’re out there.”
A&M (3-0) collected its first shutout of the Jimbo Fisher era, but Fisher was still fighting mad afterward. The Aggies’ defense, the fourth-year coach said, played fine. The offense that he directs was another story.
“They played harder than we did, they were physical and they banged us around,” Fisher said of New Mexico’s defenders. “We need to learn to grow up and play a lot more physical.”
In a hurry. The Aggies, who have designs on winning their first national title since 1939 and a favorable schedule to try and do so, open SEC play at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against No. 20 Arkansas (3-0) at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium.
Fisher was asked if the Aggies and their suspect offensive line in particular are ready for conference competition.
“We’ll find out – we better be,” he said. “Because that team that we’re playing (next) is very physical, and the rest of them down the line in this league are as well – that’s big boy ball. … We’ve got to make sure we’re a physical, tough football team if we’re going to make it in this league.”
A&M starting right guard Layden Robinson missed the game with a leg injury, and All-American Kenyon Green, the offensive line’s lone returning starter from last season, shifted to right guard from tackle. Blake Trainor filled in for Green at right tackle on a long day at the proverbial office for A&M’s most questionable unit.
“We missed Layden, don’t get me wrong, but those (other) guys are plenty good enough, or they wouldn’t be here,” Fisher said. “(The Lobos) didn’t do anything we haven’t seen before, and that’s what irritates me the most.”
A&M’s day started promising enough behind new starting quarterback Zach Calzada, who on the Aggies’ first possession hooked up with Devon Achane for a 26-yard touchdown pass. On the first play of A&M’s following offensive possession, Calzada connected with former five-star prospect Demond Demas over the middle for a 70-yard touchdown pass.
Calzada’s rocket arm and Demas’ exceptional speed both were at full-throttle display on the impressive play.
“(Demas) has got all the ability in the world, and he’s been practicing really good,” Fisher said. “I’m very pleased with his progress right now, and if we’re going to be who we can be (this season), we need him to be a part of it, that’s for sure.”
A little more than five minutes into the contest, the Aggies led 14-0 and already had scored more points than they did the previous weekend in a 10-7 comeback victory against Colorado in Denver.
A&M’s issues, especially on the line, began surfacing soon after Saturday, and Calzada was consistently harassed while the running game failed to consistently get rolling behind poor blocking. Calzada finished 19-of-33 for 275 yards and
three touchdown passes to go with a late interception.
“You’ve got to move people,” Fisher said of his offensive line’s failure to do so. “You can get in somebody’s way and block people, but I want people moved. I just watched (New Mexico) do it to our guys. You’ve got to want your (linemen) to be nasty … it’s not for the faint of heart.
“You’ve got to put your nose in there and like it.”
A&M’s final touchdown came late in the third quarter, when receiver Moose Muhammad III hauled in a highlight-reel, one-handed catch in the end zone on a 7-yard pass from Calzada to lift the Aggies to the final score.
The teams played a scoreless fourth quarter, and the Aggies, as usual led by relentless defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal, recorded their first shutout since defeating Prairie View A&M 67-0 five years ago under-then coach Kevin Sumlin.
“We gave up two touchdowns in the first five minutes of the game before (our players) realized they’re just like us,” New Mexico coach Danny Gonzales said of the Lobos of the Mountain West Conference matching up with the Aggies of the SEC.
An ornery Fisher contended that three games in, the Aggies are just “average,” and that must change this week if they’re to stand a chance in the SEC. After playing Arkansas, they host Mississippi State and topranked Alabama at Kyle Field in early October.
“Potential is the worst thing you can have,” Fisher said. “That means you haven’t done it. If somebody says you’ve got potential to have a good team, that drives me nuts. That means I’m not coaching right, and they’re not playing right.”