Texas A&M Football Midterm Grades: Mike Sherman Settles for a C

There is not much to say about Texas A&M football at this point in the season other than it has been night and day for the Aggies.

They started the season 3-0 after beating three consecutive non-conference foes who did not pose much of a threat.

They have since gone 0-3 against Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State.

They were blown out by Arkansas in Dallas, beaten by OSU by five in Kyle Field, and destroyed by Kansas State this weekend in Manhattan, Kansas.

The Kansas State game was the least excusable of the three. The Wildcats were clearly an inferior opponent heading into the game and the Aggies played way below their talent level in a 62-14 loss.

Texas Tech had just put 700 yards and 66 points on KSU, and the Aggies managed only 14 late points.

The yardage battle was not as one sided as the score, but turnovers and bad punt coverage allowed the Wildcats to have four first half drives start inside the Aggie 30-yard line—all four resulted in touchdowns.

Before the Aggies realized what was happening, the Wildcats built a 38-0 lead by halftime. If that wasn't enough, the Wildcats scored in the first 1:10 of the second half off a kickoff return followed by a Jerrod Johnson interception and a resulting nine yard touch down run.

The most surprising stat of the game for the Aggies was the -13 yards rushing, including -40 from QB Jerrod Johnson (sacks are recorded as negative rushing yards in college). The rushing attack had been keeping up with the passing game all year, but failed to move the ball the entire game.

Jerrod Johnson finished with over 300 yards and two touchdowns, but his Big 12 record of consecutive pass attempts without an interception ended as he had three on the day.

The Aggies were embarrassed on Saturday and Coach Mike Sherman is officially on the hot seat.

Now that I have shared a broad recap of the terrible outing that occurred this Saturday, let's take a look at how each unit has performed thus far.

Offensive Grade: B

The Offense should not see much of the blame for the way the entire season is going. As much as they were the problem on Saturday, before that they were taking care of the ball and moving it very well.

Jerrod Johnson has been one of the biggest surprises so far this season. Most people were aware of his dual threat ability, but his passing ability is the eye opener. He has 300 or more yards in four of the six games, and has gone for no lower than 273 so far on the season.

The no huddle offensive scheme run by the Aggies keeps defenses tired and off their heals, but it has yet to be as effective as some of the other notable offenses that run similar schemes like OU. 

They are putting up plenty of points, but it seems that when defenses really need a stop they are figuring out how to do just that.

The offense actually would have been a B+ or A- had it not been so terrible last week against Kansas State who brought the 83rd defense to the table.

The biggest difference in the first three games and the last three have been the inability or sometimes reluctance of Jerrod Johnson to run the ball.

In the first three games he had 57, 78, and 61 rushing yards and four touchdowns total. In the last three he had 3, 3, and -40 rushing yards and zero touchdowns.

If the Aggies are going to score, Jerrod Johnson needs to be an integral part of the running attack.

Defensive Grade: D

There is not much good to say about the Aggie defense so don't expect very much in this section because I don't like bashing my team.

That being said, there is so much wrong with this team. They can't stop the run and they can't play coverage. The only thing they can count on is Von Miller occasionally getting to the quarterback.

Since the first game of the season in which they held New Mexico to six points, they have allowed 38.8 points per game in the last five.

They just allowed 62 points to the 75th ranked offense in the nation, and are playing in one of the best offensive conferences in the country.

They have let the big play kill them time and time again. Case in point—when they played Arkansas they out gained them by 24 yards, had less turnovers, had 12 more first downs, and lost by 38 points.

The Razorbacks kept getting big plays that led to touchdowns, something the Aggies will need to figure out how to stop, and fast.

The Aggies were at the bottom of the nation in almost every defensive stat last season and are now 94th in total defense after this past Saturday. If they are to salvage any sort of season at this point, the defense better step up.

Special Teams Grade: C

Randy Bullock has been pretty solid in field goals, going 6-8 on the season with a long kick of 50 yards. He has been a bright spot on the Aggie roster as this team has not had a player with his leg and accuracy in a long time, if ever.

That being said, the rest of the Aggie special teams has been average to very bad. The punting game has suffered with the loss of Justin Brantly and rank 70th in the nation in net punting average.

The Aggies are not winning the battle of field position at all against good opponents and are suffering the consequences.

The counter side of that is returning punts, which they are in the middle of the pack at No. 53 in the country. They average just over nine yards per return and have scored zero touchdowns.

The Aggies have been very poor in kickoff coverage as well, ranking them 94th in the country allowing 23 yards per return. A staggering statistic is they have only three touch-backs in 38 kickoffs.

Their ranking in kickoff coverage could be a bit skewed because of the touchdown they allowed to Kansas State this weekend, but watching this team you still get the feeling that they struggle in coverage.

The Aggies do not have a lot of speed and no one has stepped up in the kickoff return game. They rank 75th in that category, averaging just under 21 yards per return.

The offense has put up plenty of yards so far this season, but that is simply because the team is not winning the battle of field position. This is what separates the champs from the chumps, and the Aggies are playing like chumps on both defense and special teams.

Coaching Grade: C

Head Coach Mike Sherman has made some questionable moves so far: from the hirings he has made to some questionable decisions.

The call to go for it on 4th-and-goal from the three yard line when they were winning 15-14 at home against OSU was probably the oddest decision I've seen so far this year. The obvious call in that situation is to take the points (I thought this before they went for it, so no, I would not have changed my mind if they scored a touchdown).

The biggest mistake he has made is not getting his young team prepared for the first Big 12 road game of the season. They came out flat and were demolished by a lessor opponent in Kansas State, and much of the blame has to fall on the coach.

When he hired Nolan Cromwell as his offensive coordinator it was questioned at many levels. For one thing, Cromwell had never been more than a wide receivers coach at the NFL level, not once having the play calling duties.

That being said, the offense has played very well under Cromwell's tutelage and deserve only a small portion of the blame for the past three losses.

Joe Kines was considered a great hire by Mike Sherman initially because he had experience coaching the great Alabama defense from 2003-2006. The only problem is that hasn't translated well and the Aggies are simply lacking talent on that side of the ball.

I wouldn't pull the plug on this coaching staff just yet, especially with this fact that kept me from giving the coaches lower than a C, and that fact is the recruiting.

As of right now, the Aggies have a top ten recruiting class verbally committed. The Aggies are slowly weeding out some of the Franchione players and bringing in the new talent. If you need any reassurance of that, just see the fact that the Aggies have played 17 true freshman this season—the most in any season in Texas A&M history.

Even with the poor grades I have given the Ags, I still have faith that they can win enough games to make it to a bowl game, but just barely.

They still have three winnable games left in Iowa State, Colorado, and Baylor. I don't see them beating OU or Texas Tech, and the Texas game is unlikely but unsure because a rivalry game is always up for grabs.

I would caution the Athletic Department in firing Mike Sherman if he has yet another losing season. He is laying the groundwork to bring the A&M back to Big 12 superiority.

The night is always darkest before the dawn.