Defense backpedals as offense finds stride
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M scored at least 30 points against a Power Five opponent one time all last season. The Aggies under new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino are averaging 43 points in their first two games this season against New Mexico and Miami, so perhaps they’ve bested their recent offensive woes under coach Jimbo
Fisher.
Just in time for the defense to pull a disappearing act under second-year coordinator D.J. Durkin.
“He knows football — he knows football very well,” Fisher said in defense of Durkin. “He knows as much football as anybody. He does a really good job. We’ve just got to execute, get the calls, put them in the right (positions) and get the right matchups for our guys.”
The Aggies (1-1) were outmatched defensively time and again last weekend in their 48-33 loss at Miami, which moved into the Associated Press top 25 for the first time this season at No. 22. The Aggies, who host LouisianaMonroe (2-0) at 3 p.m. Saturday, slid out of the top 25 for the first time this season.
“This loss is going to make us stronger,” A&M safety Demani Richardson said. “I know we’ll bounce back. We’re going to learn from this and we’re going to do our thing — we’re coming, we’re not done yet.”
The Aggies still have a chance to compete in the SEC West thanks primarily to a (so far) high-scoring offense behind quarterback Conner Weigman and receiver Evan Stewart, both sophomores. In recent years the Aggies’ oft-plodding offense with Fisher running the show has kept the team from competing for titles — now the defense appears in big trouble at its current pace.
The Aggies failed to pressure Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, who threw a career-high five touchdown passes, and Hurricanes receivers collected a whopping 241 yards after their catches, with 374 receiving yards total against a backpedaling, out-of-position defense.
“We didn’t tackle in space, guys in the secondary … we had done a great job all camp (of tackling), and we’ve got to do a better job of that,” Fisher said.
Fisher explained tackling technique, which was horrendous against the Hurricanes, is a point of emphasis in August camp.
“You’ve got drills where they’re closing and I mean it’s, ‘thud’ and you hit on the rise, you make them wrap up and wrap their arms and lift guys,” Fisher said. “You may not dump them and drive them, but you still hit and what I call ‘thud’ and wrap up, and we’ll do open-field tackling drills.”
Richardson added of the Aggies’ poor tackling against the Hurricanes: “They made plays and we didn’t. We have to be better.”
No matter the tackling drills on the practice fields, it’s clear the Aggies miss former defensive coordinator Mike Elko, now working his magic as Duke’s second-year head coach. The No. 21 Blue Devils are 2-0, including a 28-7 upset of then-No. 9 Clemson in their season opener.
Elko’s typically solid defenses at A&M over Fisher’s first four seasons often helped mask a so-so offense, for instance in 2020 when the Aggies finished 9-1 and No. 4 in the nation but had the 37th-ranked scoring offense.
Durkin, 45, arrived at A&M after serving as defensive coordinator at Mississippi, Michigan and Florida and as Maryland’s head coach. The Aggies have a reputation for having recruited strongly under Fisher, Elko and now Durkin on defense, but that’s seemingly become a part of the issue of late — all those five-stars are heavy on one unit.
A&M is loaded with five-star defensive linemen — the Aggies signed eight from 2019-23 and still have six on the roster. By comparison over the previous decade under two prior coaching staffs the Aggies signed eight five-star prospects over all positions.
The problem is the cluster of current five-star defensive linemen, while still mostly underclassmen, doesn’t appear to include a Myles Garrett-type pass rusher — a long, lean, swift defender who keeps opposing quarterbacks’ heads on a swivel out of fear.
The Aggies also in the past year lost a couple of highly rated defensive backs, Denver Harris and Smoke Bouie, to transfers from their top-rated class of 2022, along with playmaking safety Antonio Johnson and three-year starting cornerback Jaylon Jones to the NFL.
Harris, now at LSU, was one of four then-A&M players caught smoking marijuana in the visitors’ locker room following the Aggies’ loss at South Carolina last October, so Fisher didn’t have much of a choice in keeping him around in trying to send a message to the team (receiver Chris Marshall, offensive lineman PJ Williams and defensive linemen Anthony Lucas also are gone from A&M).
After a solid opener against New Mexico, transfer corner Josh DeBerry struggled repeatedly against the more talented Hurricanes, and fellow transfer Tony Grimes hasn’t factored into the equation early in a tell-tale season for Fisher and the Aggies, who were 5-7 last year.
There also do not appear to be any quick fixes for Durkin and the Aggies’ defense, although Fisher contends otherwise in defending his defense.
“It can be fixed and it can be done well and that’s experience and that’s coaching and those (young) guys’ recognition,” Fisher said of pressuring the quarterback and causing general upheaval for an offense. “… We’ve got some guys who can rush the passer, and we’ve got some interior guys who can rush the passer.”