Ole Miss 23, Texas A&M 3: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_19687" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo by Will Leverett Photo by Will Leverett[/caption] No. 15 Texas A&M couldn't get jump-started vs. No. 24 Ole Miss on Saturday night, falling 23-3 to the Rebels in Oxford. What did we learn? DCTF's Greg Tepper breaks it down.The Aggies’ offense is officially a problem, and it’s not just the quarterback. You may want to avert your eyes to the following statistics, Aggie friends: in the last two games against Alabama and Ole Miss, Texas A&M is averaging a 3.5 yards per play on offense. To put that in perspective, UCF ranks dead-last in the nation in total offense, and they average 3.8 yards per play. The Aggies’ offensive woes continued tonight, and while all eyes are on the quarterback spot (we’ll get to that in a moment), let’s acknowledge that the offensive line is not holding up its end of the bargain. During the halcyon days of Johnny Manziel, the Aggies’ outrageously talented offensive line never got the credit it deserved; now, riding a two-game losing streak after two dreadful offensive performances, maybe the offensive line isn’t getting the blame it’s earned. Texas A&M’s defense is the most-improved unit in the nation. Boy howdy, is John Chavis the real deal. A year after producing one of the nation’s most woeful defensive units, Texas A&M’s defense looks like an entirely different unit. The Aggies forced four turnovers and kept Ole Miss’ explosive offense largely in check all game, essentially allowing one big play (the 58-yard touchdown pass from Chad Kelly to Laquon Treadwell) all game. In many respects, Texas A&M had no business being anywhere close in this game with how their offense played, but the Aggies’ defense more than did its part. It’s one of those games where the unquestioned best unit on the field was the losing team’s defense. College Station has a quarterback controversy. OK, so Kyle Allen was bad. In fact, Kyle Allen was alarmingly bad. After starting the game 10-for-12, Allen then rang off an appalling 2-for-22 stretch where the ball often didn’t end up in the same ZIP code as the intended receiver. The 12^th Man cried out in one voice (on Twitter) for the backup quarterback, and in the fourth quarter, they got their wish, as out trotted…Jake Hubenak? The third-string junior college transfer? Where’s Kyler Murray, the superstar freshman who’s already burned his potential redshirt? Kevin Sumlin was tight-lipped about it after the game, saying it was “based on practice”, but I have a hard time believing that Hubenak — the former Georgetown star — all of a sudden beat out Murray for the backup quarterback spot. To me (and this is pure speculation, I have no inside information, just reading the tea leaves), there are two options: either Kyler Murray is hurt, or Kyler Murray was in trouble. In any case, let’s please be intellectually honest and acknowledge that while Kyler Murray is exciting, he’s far from a magic bullet that can suddenly fix the ailing A&M offense. The offensive woes stretch far beyond the quarterback spot, but we now have a quarterback controversy on our hands. Kyle Allen has turned in two consecutive poor performances…is he still the guy for the Aggies? Or will Kevin Sumlin and company turn to Murray, or Hubenak? All eyes will be on Kyle Field on Saturday morning when South Carolina comes to town, in what suddenly feels like a critical game in a teetering Aggies campaign.