Aggies look to right ship vs. familiar face
COLLEGE STATION — Any league is better with Mike Leach in it. Check that: Any league is more entertaining with Mike Leach in it.
Whether Leach, the offensive wizard best known for his Texas Tech tenure from 2000-09, makes Mississippi State better is to be determined. The jury is out two seasons in, but there are signs his signature attack is taking hold in Starkville, Miss. For one his quarterback, Will Rogers, is completing 75 percent of his passes a third of the way through the regular season.
That number is reminiscent of the “old days” at Tech, when quarterbacks like Kliff Kingsbury, BJ Symons and Sonny Cumbie lit up scoreboards across the Big 12 in Leach’s short-pass-happy system.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH Is Zach Calzada the answer at quarterback?
1 Certainly not two games into the sophomore’s career as a starter, in place of the injured Haynes King. Calzada, despite being in his third season under Jimbo Fisher’s tutelage, has looked in over his head early in the season. He’s holding on to the ball too long, failing to survey all of his options and not running when the opportunity lends itself. In short, he’s thinking too much after the snap.
Maybe the experience of earning his first start in SEC play in last week’s 20-10 loss to Arkansas will help, but the strong-armed Calzada has a long way to go in a short time if he’s to adequately move this offense. Leading to …
Is the offensive line finally gaining some balance?
2 Arkansas consistently rushed three defenders and dropped the other eight, daring Calzada to beat them in the intermediary game. He didn’t, and the raw line failed to provide enough time, although Calzada didn’t help himself.
In the second half, however, the line appeared to gain its footing a bit more, and it should be bolstered Saturday by the return of right guard Layden Robinson. Of course, he was expected back last week but sat out the Arkansas game with a nagging leg injury.
The Aggies could use Robinson inside, but he’s not enough to completely plug what’s been a deficiency for the Aggies early in the season. Meanwhile, All-American Kenyon Green continues to turn in a disappointing junior year, but in some ways that’s understandable, considering he’s played two positions (tackle and guard) in Robinson’s absence.
Will the defense start faster?
3 Fourth-year defensive coordinator Mike Elko is adept at halftime adjustments, but, with this offense, he needs to start adjusting from the opening kick.
The Aggies trailed Arkansas 17-0 a little more than a quarter into the contest, and the Razorbacks wound up winning 20-10. Elko had plenty of success last season in the Aggies’ 28-14 victory at Mississippi State — the Bulldogs went backward 2 yards in the rushing game — but Leach’s offense is beginning to round into form in his second season.
Simply, A&M cannot afford another slow start on Saturday because of the Aggies’ inability to score points on offense with one touchdown each against their two previous Power Five opponents.
Will the weather impact the offenses?
4 Rain has inundated
Kyle Field and its natural grass surface for the past day, and the National Weather Service calls for a 30 percent chance of more rain Saturday night during the game, which kicks off at 6 p.m.
The Aggies have one of the top running backs in the nation in Isaiah Spiller, while Mississippi State — almost typed Tech there — relies heavily on the passing game under Leach. Rain during the game likely would aid the Aggies, who need to ramp up their running game anyway behind the suspect line and a wide-eyed quarterback still angling for a confidence boost.
Have the Aggies already entered “must win” territory?
5 Yes, in the sense most prognosticators had them undefeated when hosting top-ranked Alabama in one week in what was supposed to be Kyle Field’s version of the game of the century.
Should the Aggies enter the Alabama game having lost consecutive contests to Arkansas and Mississippi State, however, serious questions will surface of whether Fisher has the program headed in the correct direction, especially after he received a raise and extension in the preseason.
It’s already not where many figured it’s supposed to in Fisher’s fourth season — undefeated leading to the Crimson Tide contest. Bottom line is A&M needs a victory against Leach and Mississippi State in a big way, to make the Arkansas game appear as more of an aberration as Fisher continues trying to build this thing his way.