'We Played Our Game!' Trey Zuhn Talks Aggies Improvement From Weeks 2 and 3
Having a quarterback with a potential as high as Conner Weigman's makes the Texas A&M Aggies' passing game come easy.
Between Weigman and the myriad of receiving talent donning the Maroon & White every week, it would be concerning for the Aggies not to find success through the air. While that hasn't been the case — Weigman having completed over 70 percent of his passes so far this season — there has been an aspect of the Aggies' offense that's seemingly taken a backseat.
Coming off of a season with De'Von Achane as its premier running back and Isaiah Spiller before him, Texas A&M's rushing game has been exceptional over the last few seasons. This season, however, that hasn't exactly been the case.
The Aggies' options at running back are by no means untalented or incapable, but there has been a drop-down as far as in-game impact. The Aggies have only rushed for 389 total yards in three games, putting them in third-to-last in the SEC for that metric.
Between freshman Rueben Owens and sophomore-junior duo Le'Veon Moss and Amari Daniels, only Daniels has crossed the 100-yard mark, despite leading the scoring with two touchdowns. But while there may not be an excess of explosive plays on the rushing front, the Aggies' backs did score twice on the ground.
And if you ask the blockers in front of the backs, they'd tell you that's normal.
"I think we played our game [against UL Monroe]," Aggies offensive tackle Trey Zuhn said following Texas A&M's 47-3 victory over the Warhawks. "We held ourselves to the standard. Last week, we didn't play up to the standard for ourselves."
"Last week," referring to the Aggies' 33-48 defeat to Miami on the road, seemed to go well for Texas A&M's offense on the surface. Yes, they fell short ultimately, but they did notch 33 points — it just wasn't enough. But that was the entire point.
Coach Jimbo Fisher wanted his team to focus on getting better and learning from their mistakes.
"In practice this week, we focused on playing our game," Zuhn said, again emphasizing the collective aspect of the offense. "Being confident, playing confident, playing for each other. So that's what we focused on this game."
The Aggies did just that against the Warhawks. They not only found offensive success, but their defense also stepped up in a big way to ensure a dominant win over their visitors. Though even with the dominant win, there still is more to be done, at least according to Zuhn.
"Something we need to work on this week in practice is finishing drives," Zuhn said. "There were a couple of drives that we either got to the red zone and had to settle for a field goal, or we didn't get any points [at all]. We've just got to keep it all gas, no breaks."
All gas, no breaks only further reinforces Jimbo Fisher's two-step philosophy to finding offensive success: starting fast and keeping your foot on the pedal.
The Aggies did both Saturday, which was a stark contrast to Week 2. And as their opponents continue to get tougher, they'll need to continue to do so on all fronts. That means not only passing but rushing, too. Luckily for Texas A&M, it has weapons in the backfield in the same way it does in the slot.
It'll just need to tap into that potential to continue to win games, especially with a CFP appearance on the line.
"Now that we're going into conference play, the margin of error shrinks down," Zuhn said. "We really need to stay focused and be ready to play our game next week."
