Texas A&M Focused On Finishing Season Right In November

The Aggies will look to win out in the month of November.

COLLEGE STATION -- Texas A&M is looking to play its style of football to close out the 2022 season. In doing so, perhaps the Aggies find a way to become bowl eligible. 

“You always want to go to a bowl game, that’s one of your goals,” A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher said Monday at his press conference.

Despite dropping four consecutive conference games in a 31-28 loss to No. 11 Ole Miss on Saturday night, the Aggies (3-5, 1-4 SEC) aren't out of running to play extra football come December. All the program has to do is win three of its next four games to finish at least .500. 

One of the matchups — a home game against Massachusetts in Week 12 — should be a game where the Aggies are heavily favored. The Minutemen have lost 35 of their last 38 games and currently are 1-7 under first-year coach Don Brown. 

The remaining four? It's a toss-up. Florida will present its own challenges come Saturday at 11 a.m. In four weeks, red-hot LSU could be coming to Kyle Field with the opportunity of winning the SEC West. And despite firing second-year coach Bryan Harsin, it's hard to sleep on Auburn when it plays host to the Aggies come Nov. 12.

A&M is hopeful the showcase by freshman quarterback Conner Weigman last week will carry over for better offensive performances in the future, though Fisher is making sure his team keeps the spotlight on the present.  

"You have to keep your focus and concentration," said Fisher. "That's what it gets down to. Focus and concentration." 

An area A&M plans on correcting this week in practice is tackling. The Rebels' rushing duo of Quinshon Judkins and Zach Evans combined for over 300 rushing yards and a touchdown. Jaxson Dart, who threw for 140 yards and three scores, provided a second level of offense to his game thanks to his legs, rushing for 95 yards on 17 carries. 

Open-field tackling against the run has been an Achilles heel for the Aggies through eight games. Currently, A&M ranks 121st nationally in run defense, allowing opponents to average 4.8 yards per attempt and over 200 yards per outing. 

"You have to thud," said Fisher. "You have to make sure you're stepping on toes, hitting on the rise and make sure you're clean while you practice. But you also have to be careful because you're so banged up this late in the year." 

Fisher said the attention hasn't pivoted toward long-term goals. Instead, all eyes are fixated on Florida, which fell flat in the fourth quarter against Georgia en route to a 42-20 loss in Jacksonville at TIAA Bank Field. 

While the Gators (3-5, 1-4 SEC) internally have their own concerns in terms of passing offense, the run game remains potent behind the legs of quarterback Anthony Richardson. In eight games, Richardson has totaled 414 rushing yards and six touchdowns off 64 carries. 

"He's a tremendous athlete," Fisher said of Richardson. "He can throw it. He can run it. He does all things they ask him to do." 

Morale is low in College Station. That'll happen on a four-game skid that feels like an eternity. Still, the players haven't given up hope of making a bowl game and ending the season on the right note. 

Last year, the Aggies were forced to pull out of the Gator Bowl against Wake Forest following a spike of COVID-19 cases found within the program to go along with injuries and opt-outs. Fisher knows the same outcome could happen again when it comes to the latter due to the NFL draft and transfer portal, but the bowl games matter internally to the program. 

For Fisher, an extra game means extra reps for the future. And in a sense, that's what the Aggies are playing toward entering November. 

"Anytime you play, you get better,” Fisher said. “You always want to be at a bowl, that’s one of your goals, to be at a bowl. It’s one of our goals and we need to do that.”

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