Ahead of the upcoming road game against No. 2 Alabama on Saturday, Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher and players recapped the season opener against Vanderbilt and discussed the upcoming matchup.
Here’s what we learned:
Mond is Fisher’s quarterback
In the season opener against Vanderbilt, senior quarterback Kellen Mond had a rough start to the season. The signal caller threw 189 yards and had 13 net rushing yards. However, he was sacked once and was also responsible for three out of A&M’s five fumbles.
New to the roster this year for quarterback is four star recruit freshman Haynes King from Longview High School. King was an Under Armour All-American and ended his high school career with a record of 37-2 as a starter.
When asked if there was any chance of seeing a new quarterback play, Fisher expressed confidence in Mond.
“I went back through the game, there were about four or five throws I wish he could have made,” Fisher said. “Kellen has played a lot of football and has a lot of experience and we will keep playing and doing what we’re doing.”
Confidence going into the next game
In the Crimson Tide’s season opener against Missouri, Alabama beat the Tigers 38-19. Some A&M players said they are confident heading into the matchup after the Aggies’ 17-12 win over Vanderbilt.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said his team will be focused on preparing for A&M sophomore running back Isaiah Spiller.
“Texas A&M is a very good team. Jimbo has done a really good job there,” Saban said. “Got a really good running back, Spiller is a good running back. This is going to be a much more challenging game for us.”
In the Aggies’ season opener, Spiller led the way in rushing yards with 117.
After learning Alabama football coach Nick Saban had mentioned him by name, the running back said Saban should be worried about the entire team.
“He should be looking for all of us, because we are all problems,” Spiller said. “So I feel like that is a pretty good thing for him to be worried, but I feel like he should really be worried about the whole team because we’re coming.”
Fisher was a bit more apprehensive in his assessment of Alabama.
“We have to get ready, we have a very good team coming up as y’all know,” Fisher said. “Alabama, as y’all know, great team. Been a great team for a long time, very talented in all three phases of the game.”
Senior defensive tackle Jayden Peevy said the defensive line is also ready to face the Crimson Tide.
“We will be prepared for them,” Peevy said. “I feel like we got our feet wet with this last game and we are ready for this next opponent.”
Offensive frustrations
The A&M offense had a slow start to the season in the game against Vanderbilt, only managing 17 points and 372 yards of total offense.
However, a highlight for the A&M offense was found in Spiller.
Not only did Spiller lead the way in rushing yards, but he also had the longest run of the game when he rushed 57 yards.
Spiller said the offense has a lot to improve before the weekend’s matchup.
“It was very frustrating,” Spiller said. “I feel like we just need to hone in on the details this week because that’s the only reason why we didn’t open up the score. I feel like we had a lot of mistakes that we really need to clean up.”
Fisher said the focus needs to be on every aspect of the team when preparing for the Crimson Tide.
“Your battle is upfront and in the trenches,” Fisher said. “Because Alabama’s offensive and defensive lines are both very physical and very big and very experienced, so I think that in those regards we’re going to have our hands full.”