With Will Johnson. I'm Andrew Monaco, and we have our partner, Dave Elmendorf, with us.
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Dave, Will was talking about players making big plays. I'm focusing on the trenches, or as Jimbo said on Monday during media availability, it's going be a rock 'em sock 'em game. Going into this game against Auburn, what are you going to be looking at? What are going to be some of the things that will catch your eye?
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DE: Well, first of all, execution. And we've talked about that all year, and I don't think the Aggies have had an outstanding game of execution yet, certainly not against a quality opponent. They didn't execute as well against Clemson as we would hope they did, even though they played them very, very well. And it was a close game. So execution. But there are two matchups that I want to see. I want to see their defensive line against our offensive line. They are very good on the defensive line. I think our offensive line is very good. I want to see that, and I want to see the match-up between our receivers and their secondary because those guys can play some man-to-man. That gave us some trouble last year. I want to see how that matchup goes as well.
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AM: That plays into your point Will about someone making a big play. It could be a receiver. Could be a running back. Could be a special teamer. But you you're really big on someone's going to come up big against the Tigers.
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WJ: I think someone's gonna have to. And I think both teams were looking at it that way. When you're gonna play a close SEC game, which I think this will go down to the fourth quarter, you're gonna pick out when you leave Saturday, well there were two or three plays in that fourth quarter that were big. Now, sometimes a big play could be a mistake. You don't want that to be the decider. You don't want to go make a mistake. You want make a big catch, a big return. If it's special teams, maybe it's a turnover. Dave always looks at the turnover battle and maybe it's a turnover, so who's gonna make it? But I just feel like if this is going to be close, two really good SEC West teams, playing in this environment, in a big game…if it's gonna be close in the fourth quarter, you'll talk about the Aggies or the Tigers made this play and this play and this play and that took them to victory.
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DE: And I hope right now on this podcast, we're talking to some of the people that are gonna be in stands. I'm gonna tell you what. The crowd's gonna be important tomorrow. It's gonna be a big deal. Make it hard for them to hear, make it hard for them to communicate, and certainly support the Aggies. That makes a difference.
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WJ: The 12th Man always makes plays. We love that. But here's the other part of that. I'm talking about making plays in the fourth quarter, and this deals with the crowd. A&M's gotten off to a really good start, even against Clemson. A&M kind of took it to the Tigers in the first quarter. Do that tomorrow and this crowd is gonna be into it. You're going to get the 12th man in there right away, and maybe you can get a freshman quarterback thinking about, man, I got that stout defense flying in front of me. This crowd is in my ear, and all of a sudden he thinks it's little humid, I'm sweating and maybe then remembers, oh, and I'm a freshman. You know, maybe you can get something like that going. If the Aggies could get off to a good start, get the 12th Man into it, because A&M has played three very good first quarters this year.
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AM: This defense, second year under Mike Elko, I asked Jimbo Wednesday during his coaches show. Is this defense quicker? He said, I'm not sure there quicker. But they're not thinking as much, right? They know a little bit more. That could be a big factor tomorrow can't it?
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DE: And that's what we've been talking about. Now they know the system, so they aren't having to think as much. They can now read and react, and that little difference right there, just the difference between not having to think and being able to react, that split second could be the difference between knocking a pass down, intercepting the ball or having it be a completion. And so, yeah, I think certainly being in the system makes a big difference. I made the mistake in talking to Mike the other day at practice, talking to him about how this defense is growing up. And he said, who? And I thought, yeah, you're right. Well, Madubuike…he said who has a lot of experience? Because this is not a really experienced defense. We've got a lot of young players on this defense, but they are talented and they're playing well together. I think that's what that's what is so impressive is, you wouldn't think if you didn't have the roster in front of you, you would think they're more experienced, especially this defensive line after watching them for three games. So if you think wow, all right, so who has been in there? Well, Bobby Brown's got some play…but you think about guys like Kingsley Keke and Landis Durham. They're gone. So this defensive line is relatively young. Then you look at our young linebackers that don't have a lot of experience. Anthony Hines, missed last year. Buddy Johnson was playing a different position. He wasn't in the middle, and that secondary is still young. We've got kids out there and some very talented kids.
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AM: Will, last year coming in, we wondered, okay, what were the receivers going to be like? I think we know who they are and you talk about game breakers or playmakers? I'm not sure it's just one. I think Auburn has to really contend with all that. That entirety. It doesn't have to be just the tallest guy out there, Kendrick Rogers or Caleb Chapman. Ainias Smith last year probably forced Auburn to go to the drawing board. We gotta contend with this, this kid in the slot, but Q is going to be back. Um, Cam can certainly make that kind of play, and I just love the leadership and ownership. He's not professional, but it's a very professional style by Jhamon Ausbon who I think leads the way.
WJ: Yeah, I think he does, too, and they'll have to make plays and I've always looked at the home run ball and the deep ball downfield. And, like I told you earlier today when we were doing the radio show Studio 12 I've backed off on that a little bit because there's other ways to make plays than just a home run ball. You can take an out route 10 yards, slip a tackle, turn it into 40 and these guys have been pretty good at doing that. Also, watch these receivers. Can they make a play in the red zone because that's another topic I bring up all the time. Is a red zone both A&M and Auburn, their touchdown rate in the red zone, they'd both like it to be higher now. It's gonna be tough to score touchdowns in the red zone tomorrow cause you got those defensive fronts that are going to be hard to get through. So I don't know if you could just get inside the 20 or the 10 yard line and just pound away to get into the end zone. Maybe it's a jump ball. Maybe it's a fade route. Somebody's got these big body receivers, the Aggies. Maybe they got a box somebody out and high point a ball in the end zone to get the touchdown. so you can make a play like that help that touchdown rate in the red zone because I think you're gonna see some field goals tomorrow, even when teams mount a drive, these are tough defenses to actually score the touchdown on, so the place kickers will factor in. But whoever can punch one or two more in and finish drives with one or two more touchdowns goes a long way and getting this win.
AM: This offense had some success against Auburn last year. Now there were times where it's stalled and maybe just outside scoring range, but they had some success. This is a defense that had some success, and I asked, Jimbo, does that come into play? He goes, absolutely, because there's some familiarity. He said, where you're worried is when they're really good against you and you're like, Oh, I don't want to go But that's not the case. But there is some success that you can build on from last year, isn't there?
DE: Well, absolutely. The Aggies jumped off to a pretty good lead and they lost it in the last two minutes of the game. A couple of things were breakdown to get interception that gave them another possession. And you know how I feel about turnovers. I've made that very clear over the last several years, but they also got a punt return that gave them great field position. And you can't make mistakes like that late in the game. Even if you're leading by two touchdowns, you can't do that and expect to win, particularly when you're on the road. Fortunately, the Aggies have Auburn here in Kyle Field, and I think that's gonna make a difference.
WJ: I totally agree. This atmosphere is gonna be fantastic tomorrow. And man, the 12th man can really make a difference in this one. So if they're listening, do like Jimbo says, Don't just come out here and try to be loud, get to yell practice tonight and get some practice. They're going to make a difference tomorrow.
AM:Â We talked about it a little earlier today on Studio 12. They expect to make a difference, and when it does get, and especially if they see Auburn get rattled, oh, now it's another level right there, isn't it?
DE: Absolutely. And I think Mike Elko. We played a clip of him last week. They put it very, very well. This is a very special place. So you Aggie football fans that are in Kyle Field make that come true tomorrow.
AM: Really looking forward to this one. We get everything started at 1 30 with our CHI St Joseph Health pregame show, and then the three of us join you for the kick at 2:30. That's all on the Texas A&M football network. But as Will mentioned, yell practice and a little bit more tonight this Friday night is Hooey Yell Fest will be at eight o'clock. That'll be in the fan zone outside the north end zone. Country music star Cody Morrow is going to be playing so little concert then Midnight Yell. What a great atmosphere. SEC nation is here tomorrow so look, we're kicking off the sec and everything's ahead of this team, right? This is this is the first stop to get yourself a division and the aim for that SEC championship. It's still all here for this team. So we will join you tomorrow. 1:30 on the network, for Will Johnson for Dave Elmendorf, I'm Andrew Monaco. This has been Arctic Cooler Talk.