Aggies show flashes in loss to Alabama
Underclassman play bodes well for A&M’s future
COLLEGE STATION — When Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond spun out of trouble and added a couple of twists along the way in escaping an Alabama pass rush en route to a highlight-reel touchdown pass Saturday night, the freshman looked an awful lot like a fellow San Antonian who held the same gig four years ago.
“Please don’t go down that road,” Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said with a slight chuckle when asked if Mond reminded him of 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. “You’re not going to get me with that one. It’s ‘Kellen Mond.’ ”
Despite some acrobatics at quarterback and the occasional flashy play, Mond has a long way to go before he’s in Manziel’s league. The same could be said of the current Aggies compared with Manziel’s first team — the flashes are there, but A&M (4-2, 2-1) likely won’t finish 11-2 like that surprising 2012 squad did.
“I don’t compare this team to any team I’ve ever had,” Sumlin said following the Aggies’ 27-19 loss to the top-ranked Crimson Tide on Saturday night at Kyle Field. “Players in that locker room are not real happy right now.”
‘No moral victory’
Sumlin was fielding questions about what many considered a moral victory for A&M, considering the Aggies were nearly four-touchdown underdogs against rolling Alabama (6-0, 3-0), which had defeated its two prior SEC opponents by a combined score of 125-3.
“There’s no moral victory,” Sumlin said. “When you play that hard and play that long, no one is happy.”
A&M had a final shot at trying to tie the game, but Alabama recovered an onside kick with 17 seconds to play and the Crimson Tide moved on in pursuit of a fifth national title in nine seasons under coach Nick Saban.
“We were ahead 24-3 and we didn’t finish the game,” a perturbed Saban said of a third quarter Crimson Tide lead over A&M. “(But) this is a different A&M team. They learned something when they lost against UCLA.”
Florida up next
The Aggies, who next play at Florida (3-2, 3-1) on Saturday night, opened the season by blowing a 34-point, late third-quarter lead in the Rose Bowl and falling to the Bruins 45-44. The second-largest collapse in history in major college football prompted nationwide ridicule and hard questions about Sumlin’s future, but the young Aggies have responded with a resiliency that makes the sixth-year coach proud.
“Everybody wants to be great, everybody wants to win games,” Sumlin said. “Everybody wants to be a champion, but are you willing to do the things that are necessary? You try and get better week by week, and these guys understand that. … If you get better every week, there’s not a game we can’t win.”
The Alabama game signaled the start of the meat of A&M’s schedule, followed by playing in Florida’s “The Swamp” for the first time since 1962, and then home games against Mississippi State and Auburn.
“Each week, our young guys are getting better and better,” said A&M junior receiver and team leader Christian Kirk, who stretched out for an extraordinary touchdown catch after Mond’s Manziel-like theatrics late in the third quarter. “They’re not afraid to go out there and make plays — that’s the best thing about it. And as the season goes on, we’re going to keep growing stronger.”
The Aggies are trying to improve upon three consecutive 8-5 finishes, although reaching eight victories this season might be an accomplishment in its own right considering A&M’s travel roster against Arkansas on Sept. 23 in Arlington consisted of 55 underclassmen (freshmen or sophomores) among the 83 on the trip.
Dodson’s big night
One of those underclassmen — sophomore linebacker Tyrel Dodson — turned in his best game as a collegian against the Crimson Tide, with a career-high 16 tackles, including 2½ tackles for loss.
“He’s giving everything he’s got,” Sumlin said. “With a game like that, when he’s challenged as a linebacker against quality running backs, it shows what he’s capable of. He’s got energy and is a great communicator. He has a great upside.”
The Aggies’ 18 true freshmen who have played halfway through the regular season already ties for most in a year in program history.
“You have to give A&M a lot of credit,” Saban said. “We knew they would play hard for 60 minutes and compete. They did that.”