Following the Texas A&M football team’s 31-0 blowout win against Sam Houston State, the Aggies seem to be off to a great start.
With the squad facing Appalachian State, who put up over 60 points in its loss to North Carolina, there were questions surrounding the preparedness of the defense. On Monday, Sept. 5, A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher, sophomore defensive back Jardin Gilbert, junior defensive lineman Isaiah Raikes and sophomore wide receiver Yulkeith Brown met with the media.
Here’s what we learned:
The freshmen don’t play their age
Several freshmen earned playing time last Saturday against Sam Houston. Wide receivers Evan Stewart and Chris Marshall were just a few of those who made their names known to Aggies far and wide.
“Our young wideouts did a nice job in the game and our older wideouts,” Fisher said. “I thought Chris Marshall came in and did a really nice job.”
Marshall finished off the game with four receptions for 41 yards while Stewart hauled in five catches for 57 yards.
Appalachian State should not be underestimated
Last Saturday, the Mountaineers scored 61 points against North Carolina with 40 of those coming in just the fourth quarter. Led by the coaching staff and senior quarterback Chase Brice, the team will be a worthy foe for the Aggies.
“Coach Clark and Appalachian State are coming in here and they have one heck of a football team and always have,” Fisher said. “This is a great football team that I think could be in any major conference in the country and be extremely competitive. These guys have played for a long time and played great people every year. They had a great game last week and had a shootout. We’re going to have to play a great game in all three phases.”
Defensively, the Aggies will certainly have work to do if they want to keep Appalachian State from putting up close to the number of yards or points they did last weekend.
“Watching them, they look like they play well together,” Raikes said. “They fought the whole game, so I know they have experience and they know how to finish games. We definitely want to hold [Appalachian State] to as minimum points as possible. It’s exciting to me; I love competition. I look forward to that, and I’m sure our whole defense looks forward to that.”
King needs improvements, but he has been a solid QB
In his first game since his injury last season against Colorado, King had a successful showing. There were some issues with consistency and reading the defense, but being able to throw for 364 yards with three touchdowns was an impressive return for the sophomore.
“He threw the ball well and came back right after,” Fisher said. “One drive was a field goal and the next drive was a touchdown. I like to see that, I don’t want to see the turnovers. We can’t have them, and you don’t ever want a turnover. At the same time, it didn’t affect him mentally and he still stayed aggressive on the ball and made good decisions.”
King maintained a great connection with his receivers. Five out of the nine receivers who played were able to haul in catches, including Brown who scored a touchdown.
“Haynes King is a great quarterback and has a great arm,” Brown said. “A few plays last Saturday, he really showed his arm. I feel like the balls he got and the way he can throw is very good.”