Mr. CFB: Auburn, Texas A&M Facing "Critical" Games On Saturday
Is there such a thing as a “critical” game on the third Saturday of September?
I’m not only saying “yes” but I am also giving you two examples.
But first let’s settle on some definitions. When I use the word “critical” I’m not saying that somebody’s going to get fired if they lose. What I am saying is that a win would help the quality of life for the coach in question.
Let’s take Saturday’s game where Auburn (2-0) hosts No. 22 Penn State (2-0) at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Everybody knows about the drama at Auburn, which has been less than impressive in beating up on Mercer (42-16) and San Jose State (24-16).
In those two games the passing attack has been less than stellar with four interceptions and one touchdown pass. That has to change if Auburn is to have any hope of beating the Nittany Lions, who won a 30-28 decision against the Tigers in State College last season.
The game falls right in the middle of five straight home games to open the season for Auburn. Win it and the Tigers are 3-0 with two more home games against Missouri and LSU. And based on what we saw when LSU lost to Florida State (24-23 on Sept. 4), you’d have to say that game is winnable for Auburn. Then Auburn would be 5-0 entering a brutal back half of the season when four ( of the final seven games would be on the road.
Lose it and Auburn is 2-1 with road games remaining against No. 1 Georgia, No. 20 Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and No.. 2 Alabama.
“We’ve got to be a whole lot better,” Harsin said in his Monday press briefing. “The opponent’s (Penn State) much better than what we’ve played.”
Penn State, coached by former Vanderbilt coach James Franklin, had a good 35-31 Big Ten win over Purdue to open the season.
Auburn is a three-point underdog at home.
Now let’s turn the page to Texas A&M, a preseason No. 6 team that is trying to recover from a stunning 17-14 loss to Appalachian State on Saturday at Kyle Field.
Appalachian State didn’t just win the game. The Mountaineers from Boone, N.C., dominated, holding the ball for over 41 minutes. They embarrassed Texas A&M in their luxury stadium. The Aggies had only 186 yards of total offense, which is No. 103 in the nation,
And now comes an improving Miami team (2-0) under first-year coach Mario Cristobal. The No. 13 Hurricanes have one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC in Tyler Van Dyke, who threw for 2,931 yards and 25 touchdowns last season and in two games (Bethune-Cookman and Southern Mississippi) this season has completed 73.9 percent of his passes.
And here’s why Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies have to win this game. Next week they face No.10 Arkansas (2-0), very much a team on the rise, in Arlington, Tex., Then they play three straight road games at Mississippi State, No.2 Alabama, and South Carolina.
The point is: this season could slip away very, very easily.
The has been negative energy coming out of College Station and beyond.
Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network spoke to the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday.
“I’m not here to make fun of Jimbo Fisher,” Finebaum told the crowd. “His record does that already.”
Ouch.
Remember that while the Aggies beat Alabama last season—the first time a former Nick Saban assistant had beaten him—Texas A&M finished the season at 4-4 in the SEC. The Aggies’ bowl game was cancelled due to COVID concerns.
After signing the nation’s highest-rated recruiting class for 2022, Fisher’s team was in everybody’s preseason Top 10. And if the Aggies lose to Miami they’ll be completely out of the Top 25 just three weeks into the season.
And it didn’t help the negative energy when the media pointed out that Appalachian State coach Shawn Clark earns about $900,000 a season while Fisher now makes about $9 million.
Lose to Miami and things could start to get a little ugly.
Now having said all that, because of that No. 1 ranked recruiting class and the fact that after last year's four-year extension his buyout would be in excess of $80 million,, Fisher is not in any kind of trouble of losing his job. But unless the Aggies can get it turned around on Saturday, the quality of life in the second half of this season won’t be very good in College Station..
“We have to practice better and play better at a higher level against a very good football team,” Fisher said during Monday’s press briefing.
Yep. That about sums it up.
Fisher said earlier this week if things don't get better on offense he would consider giving up calling the plays.
Bottom line: Fisher took responsibility for the loss and he should. The powers that be at Texas A&M, who gave him the original 10-year deal worth $75 million did not expect Fisher to be in this position going into the third game of his fifth year.
So am I overstating things when I call this a critical game for Texas A&M?
Nope. I don’t think so.