Jimbo Fisher Details Impressions of Aggies Freshmen in Season-Opening Win
For the Texas A&M Aggies, Saturday's season-opening 31-0 win over the Sam Houston State Bearkats was abundant with teaching lessons, though some of these were certainly more predictable than others.
While an A&M win was expected by most, a near three-hour lightning delay was not on coach Jimbo Fisher's list, one that likely included providing ample playing time for his plethora of new and talented freshmen.
It took a lot of waiting, but the young guns finally got their chance to dominate playing time after what seemed like the longest halftime in college football history.
Notable names like freshman receivers Evan Stewart and Chris Marshall were getting some nice looks from quarterback Haynes King early, but the second-half blowout allowed for the rest of the newcomers to get reps that Fisher was admittedly impressed with.
"Well, you didn't realize there were freshmen out there," he said. "The guys played well. They caught the ball, they covered, they rushed, they blocked. They did the things that, you know, weren't jumping out at you that, 'Hey, he's a young guy and he's going to have a lot of mistakes.' There was a lot of production and a lot of nerves early."
On the defensive line, freshman Lebbeus Overton got in on the action with one of the team's three sacks while Walter Nolen registered a QB hurry and three total tackles.
Highly-touted pass-rusher Shemar Stewart led the team with two hurries and combined with junior Isaiah Raikes for half a sack.
"You can see the look in their eye," Fisher said. "But once they got to playing, man, they were naturally doing things. And so it was very productive I don't know how many of them played, but it was quite a few of them, I know that. Probably as many as I've ever played, I would say."
Fisher also had to handle the challenge of keeping the team focused during the lengthy delay. Having a handful of young freshmen makes this a difficult task on the surface, but the Aggies managed to pitch a shutout anyways.
"You've got to tell your guys, we kept them inside, kept them off the phones, locked in the game," Fisher said. "Because you can go drift off or go grab your phone or do something like that and all of sudden you forget you're in a football game. You get in that set of mind."
Spring practice, scrimmages, and summer training camp is one thing. But Fisher said Saturday provided a chance to see which of the freshmen were ready to show up and which would fold under the nerves of the season opener.
"Well, you can simulate game all you want. Like I say, till the lights on the scoreboard matter, that's when you can see what guys do. Some guys, it may bother them and other guys, it enhances. "
Headed into Week 2 Saturday, the Aggies will be faced with a far more formidable opponent. The Appalachian State Mountaineers will be making the trip to College Station on Saturday just fell 63-61 to the North Carolina Tarheels in their first game of the season. It would take a miracle for the Aggies to pitch a second-straight shutout.
While this would be an overstep of expectations, Fisher still has high hopes for his young group ahead of the second game of the season.
"The thing is, they've got to repeat it," he said. "That's the big thing."
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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