Penalties were at the forefront of Texas A&M’s game against the University of Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, leading to several recalled touchdowns and other missed opportunities.
The first quarter alone saw three penalties for the Aggies for a loss of 35-yards, as the Warhawks racked up two penalties for a loss of 20-yards.
ULM’s first penalty inched A&M closer to the end zone with a first down. However, the touchdown by Aggie quarterback Kellen Mond just three plays later was called back after A&M tight end Jace Sternberger was caught holding. Sternberger would go on to earn one more penalty for A&M this quarter.
Head coach Jimbo Fisher said the penalties the offense put on the board were major mistakes in the game and something that needs to improve before heading out on the road to play No.1 Alabama.
“The three people we’re getting ready to play [Alabama, Arkansas and Kentucky], we can’t have those penalties and that’s very disappointing,” Fisher said. “Right off the bat we had two or three penalties in the game. [We got] five for 55-yards, I thought I remembered more than that, but they were critical penalties. Any penalty is too many and we can’t have that. They’ve got to get that fixed.”
The second quarter didn’t include the same number of penalties, as each team would earn only one. But A&M did see a touchdown by Sternberger struck from the scoreboard with another holding call, this time on Aggie offensive lineman Carson Green.
The Aggies saw their fifth flag on the field and their third recalled touchdown with just seconds left in the third quarter. Mond’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Sternberger was overshadowed by a holding penalty on A&M’s sophomore offensive lineman, Dan Moore.
“We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds,” junior running back Trayveon Williams said. “Tonight wasn’t a perfect night. From the outside looking in, it might have looked good and glamorous, but tonight we kind of shot ourselves in the foot a lot. We had a lot of penalties, a lot of holding penalties, just the little things. And today we got four touchdowns called back so, it’s just something that we need to work on…”
While A&M managed to turn the first two recalls into two touchdowns later in the same series, they weren’t as lucky with the third recall. Mond’s pass into the end zone during the following play was ruled an incomplete pass after a thorough review by referees, causing the Aggies to take a field goal with one quarter to go.
A&M’s ability to come back from their mistakes seemed to be a common theme throughout the game — most notably in the third quarter, when a defensive touchdown gave the Aggies a 24-3 lead.
After giving up a 44-yard pass to the Warhawks, putting them in red zone territory, A&M defense forced a ULM field goal late in the half. The field goal attempt was blocked by senior defensive lineman Daylon Mack and jumped into the arms of junior linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who ran it back for a 78-yard touchdown.
“We practice that every day in practice and it’s never come to me like that in practice,” Dodson said. “I was kind of surprised it came straight to me, but I was ready for it. Me being the scoop and score player, I was right there and scored a touchdown.”