Texas A&M is handing out butt-whippings

Texas A&M has played at a high level in 2020, but we’ve been waiting patiently for a real dominant performance. Well, the matchup against South Carolina checked every box on the list. 

The Aggies obliterated USC 48-3. More importantly, Texas A&M put together one of its top performances on the road, a place where the Aggies haven’t always played their best. Kellen Mond threw for four touchdowns, Isaiah Spiller rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns and the defensive line recorded six sacks. 

Outgaining a team 530-150 is impressive no matter the opponent, but we finally got a good view of what Texas A&M can be. The answer? The Aggies are good enough to contend for the College Football Playoff. 

Bijan Robinson deserves more carries

Texas has been hesitant to select a workhorse running back but Keaontay Ingram’s injury finally convinced the ‘Horns to slot freshman phenom Bijan Robinson into the starting lineup. 

The Arizona product flashed big-time ability with 113 yards on only 12 carries, including a 54-yard breakaway on the game’s first play to set up a rare touchdown drive. However, by the game’s end, Robinson received just a third of the team’s carries, tied with Sam Ehlinger with 12 carries. 

Tom Herman previously said that he was waiting for a running back to wrest the job away before leaning on one over the others. It’s fair to ask, what more does he want? Robinson has 227 yards on 6.1 yards per carry over his last three games. It’s time to protect your quarterback and let Robinson be the star he was recruited to be. 

TCU’s D-Line is onto something

Two weeks ago, TCU had just five sacks through the first four games and ranked among the worst pass rushes in college football. Last week against Baylor was encouraging, but a dominant performance against Texas Tech helped cement the Horned Frogs as a strong unit. 

Over the past two weeks, TCU’s defensive line has combined for 20 tackles for loss and 10 sacks in big wins over Baylor and Texas Tech. It’s no coincidence, those two teams combined for just 41 yards and averaged 294.5 yards per game. 

Gary Patterson defenses never struggle long, but this team has been far different with the defensive line thriving. Seeing it twice helps reinforce that this isn’t just a fluke, it’s a trend. 

Baylor’s much better with a run game

For a few drives, Baylor showed what its potential could be on offense. For the first two drives of the game, Iowa State played defensively to stop dynamic running back Sqwirl Williams and cleared the way for Charlie Brewer to complete his first four passes for 94 yards and two scores. 

However, when Williams went down and Baylor had to cycle through backups, the offense quickly fell apart. In the second half, the Bears averaged 2.1 yards per carry and scored 10 points, seven of which came on a blown coverage on a zero coverage by Iowa State. 

Brewer simply has not played well enough at quarterback this season to win while being one-dimensional. If the Bears can’t balance the offense, there aren’t many wins left – if any. Hopefully getting John Lovett back heading forward would help, but Baylor hasn’t done a good enough job getting him space either. 

COVID remains the defining part of 2020

COVID-19 has played a major role in the college football season, but Saturday was a fresh reminder. All three Texan Conference-USA games were postponed because of the virus.

UNT’s game against Louisiana Tech has been rescheduled for December, but it’s unlikely that UTEP’s matchup with FIU will have a second chance. Rice also has a full schedule, so we might not see them play UTSA. 

This has been a difficult season because of COVID-19, only made worse by the rising numbers in El Paso over the past several weeks. Nothing is guaranteed from this point out. Enjoy every minute of football that we get this season.