Spring ball in the air
» A&M eyes No. 1; Johnson gives UT backfield options.
COLLEGE STATION — With one exclamation, Texas A&M defensive lineman Demarvin Leal rocketed expectations for the Aggies’ defense right into space.
“Beyond the sky,” Leal, a former Judson High School standout, said when asked the ceiling for the Aggies’ veteran defense. “If I’m going to be honest. It’s unbelievable.”
Unbelievable enough to matchup with Alabama, reigning national champion, on Oct. 9 at Kyle Field? Following an almost 10-second pause, Leal offered an answer.
“All I can say is, I can’t wait until the Bama game,” he said.
Leal smiled and took a long sip of bottled water, in finest Jimbo Fisher fashion. The Aggies are beginning to mimic their assured coach in more ways than one. Amazing what a top-five finish will do for a program’s psyche during spring drills.
“We’re changing the culture here, and they see that,” A&M receiver Ainias Smith said of recruits noting the Aggies’ rise in the rankings under Fisher. “Jimbo and this team, we have definitely taken this place to a whole (new) level, and we’re trying to take it to even bigger and greater steps. We’re on the way.”
One thing is certain a little more than a week into A&M’S first spring drills in two years: Lack of bravado is not an issue for the Aggies.
“We just have a standard in this program now that we want to be the No. 1 team in the nation,” defensive tackle Jayden Peevy said. “We’re going to practice like that and we’re going to play like that. Every day we’re coming out with the mindset to be the No. 1 team.”
A big reason for the Aggies’ bluster stems from nine returning starters on defense, including three key seniors last season who took advantage of the NCAA not counting a year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic: Peevy, cornerback Myles Jones and linebacker Aaron Hansford.
“We treated the first day of (spring practice) like it was year four, instead of the first day of camp,” Peevy said. “It’s a winning mentality on this team now; that’s the main thing that has stood out to me.”
Peevy said defensive coordinator Mike Elko, like Fisher in his fourth season with the Aggies, is thrilled with all the experience oozing from the Coolidge practice fields.
“He’s treating everything like it’s year four,” Peevy said of Elko’s installations and continuations from the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2.
The Aggies defeated North Carolina 41-27 in Miami, stamping the exclamation mark on an eight-game win streak and a 9-1 finish. A&M wound up ranked
No. 4 in the final Associated Press poll, the Aggies’ highest finish since winning the national title in 1939.
“If you can’t see it, it’s not going to happen,” Fisher said when asked if he had envisioned that kind of success in 2020, especially during a pandemic and the SEC playing an all-league regular season. “The potential was there, and you live in vision or you live in circumstance. We try to live in vision, and if you can’t see things in the future and put yourself there and know what it takes to get there and understand the kind of talent that you have, you’re never going to get there.”
The Aggies are back to the offseason easel, with an entrenched defense and more questions
than answers on offense. They must replace four starters from a solid offensive line – with All-american Kenyon Green shifting from guard to left tackle — and tab a quarterback between Haynes King and Zach Calzada to replace four-year starter Kellen Mond.
Green said he’s urged the newcomers around him to enjoy the overall experience.
“You don’t want to come out dreading the game,” he said. “That’s the most important thing— have fun with it.”
Meantime most of the Aggies are expected to receive a COVID-19 vaccination Friday, and last year’s cancellation of spring drills because of the pandemic now seems a distant memory.
The annual spring game, open
to fans, is scheduled for April 24 at Kyle Field, and the Aggies open a season with high expectations on Sept. 4 against Kent State. A&M then plays Colorado in Denver a week later, returns home against New Mexico and faces Arkansas in Arlington before hosting Alabama.
If all goes according to oddsmakers’ early prospects, the Crimson Tide and Aggies will both be undefeated on that much-anticipated October day at Kyle Field.
“I feel like (we’re) making steps toward being a big-time program,” Peevy said, “and we’re going to see this season if we can beat Alabama.”