As the season opener for the Texas A&M football team looms closer, there are still unanswered questions surrounding the offense.
On Monday, Aug. 29, A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher, junior offensive lineman Layden Robinson, junior defensive back Antonio Johnson, senior defensive back Demani Richardson and senior wide receiver Ainias Smith met with the media to discuss expectations going into Week 1.
Here’s what we learned:
Haynes King is the starting quarterback
The Longview native was officially chosen on Monday to represent the Aggies in its season opener against Sam Houston. According to TexAgs’ Billy Luicci on Sunday, the decision was made but not officially confirmed until today. Robinson remained tight-lipped during his portion of the press conference and said Fisher hadn’t said who was starting.
“I’m just going to leave that up to coach Fisher when y’all have that conversation with him,” Robinson said. “All 3 guys have been great, and this competition has been great. They bring the best out of each other every day.”
Shortly after, Fisher had a simple answer when asked if King would be starting: “Yes.”
As for what drew him to choose the redshirt sophomore, there were no outstanding components in the decision.
“There’s no deciding factor,” Fisher said. “There’s a multitude of things over periods of time, and I’ve said it before. We feel very confident with the other two quarterbacks. We felt Haynes [King] had a great camp and puts us in a great position going in right now.”
The Aggies are hungry and ready to play
After what will have been 280 days without playing against an opponent, the team and the 12th Man alike are ready to take the field. According to Johnson, the atmosphere surrounding the team is charged up for the season to begin.
“I feel like everybody has the same energy right now across the country,” Johnson said. “We’ve been working so hard all offseason to get to this point, and now we’re able to showcase what the season is going to be like.”
Defense is going to show up and show up big
Johnson said A&M’s defense has long been feared by offenses all around the country. This season, there are big expectations for them including more forced fumbles, turnovers, interceptions and the like.
“I feel like that’s been an area, as a defense, that we’ve been focused on,” Johnson said. “The defense is set up for a lot more plays in general around the ball.”
Fellow defensive back Richardson had nothing but a positive outlook on his side of the ball going into this season.
“The unit that has impressed me the most is the d[efensive]-line,” Richardson said. “They’re very fast, quick and strong and they have a lot of depth. The depth and talent level is good all around.”