Texas A&M Football: First-Half Report Card for the Aggies

The Texas A&M football team is halfway through their season with a record of 4-2. The Ags are 2-1 in conference play.

Like any football season, the 2011 season has featured some surprises and some disappointments.

Fans spend the offseason pouring over every rumor, practice report and coach's speech on the rubber-chicken circuit to try to get an idea of what to expect in the fall.

As always some players who elicited great reports during the spring and through two-a-days have failed to show up, other forgotten players have stepped into starring roles.

Some recruits have stepped in and made a name for themselves while others are wondering if they will ever get on the field.

The Ags are halfway through the season so let's take a look at where each unit on the team stands at this point.

Offense: A

The offense has been as good as expected coming into the season and in some areas has exceeded expectations.

If I told you that Jeff Fuller, Uzona Nwachukwu, Ryan Swope and Cedric Ogbuehi would all suffer serious injuries during the first six games what would your expectations be for the offense?

The Aggies have dealt with those injuries and kept chugging along.

Ryan Tannehill has continued to progress at quarterback and is assuring himself a spot in the first three rounds of the 2012 NFL draft. He has been accurate and has shown his mobility. 

Tannehill has completed 67 percent of his passes for 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has shown the ability to take what the defense gives him in a 188-yard effort against Tech or light a defense up like he did against Baylor with 415 yards.

Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael have been exactly what you would ask for from a two-back rotation. When the defense is focusing on one player the other has picked it up. They have combined to rush for 1,086 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Both Gray and Michael has been unselfish and understand that they need to share their carries for the good of the team.

The offensive line has been better than advertised. Cedric Ogbuehi replaced Shep Klinke at RG and the OL got better. When Ogbuehi was injured, Brian Thomas took over at RG and Jarvis Harrison moved to LG.

They have rolled over everyone they have faced. This is the best A&M OL in recent memory.

The wide receivers have done well considering the multitude of injuries at the position. Fuller, Nwachukwu and Swope have all had major injuries.

Fuller is still trying to get healthy and has not been a deep threat this year. He has been an effective possession receiver that has continued to draw the focus of defenses.

Nwachukwu has really stepped it up after a down sophomore year. He has made multiple big catches at critical times in games. Nwachukwu has 25 catches for 343 yards and one touchdown through six games.

Ryan Swope's big game against Baylor brought him recognition on a national level. Everyone in Aggieland has known for the past two years that Swope is a special receiver. He leads the team with 40 receptions for 619 yards and six touchdowns.

Other than failing to score a lot in the second halves of the OSU and Arkansas games, the offense has been as good as anyone could ask for. If they continue at this pace they will go down as one of the best offenses in the history of the school.

Defense: D

The defense gets somewhat of a bad rap because the Aggies run defense has been quite good. The issue is that multiple injuries in the secondary have contributed to the pass defense being the worst in the country up to this point.

The Aggies are only allowing 72.3 yards per game on 2.2 yards per carry on the ground.

The defensive line has stepped up despite the season-ending knee injury to Jonathan Mathis.

Tony Jerod-Eddie has four sacks on the season and looks to be ensuring his spot as a pick in the top three to four rounds of the 2012 NFL draft.

Spencer Nealy stepped into the starting lineup against Baylor and had the best game of his career with seven tackles and half a sack.

The problem is that the Aggies are giving up 361 yards per game passing.

Coryell Judie has struggled with a hamstring injury, which hurt the Aggies when he missed the OSU game and much of the Baylor game.

Steven Campbell missed the Arkansas and Tech games with a leg injury. That was a huge loss to the secondary because Campbell can cover so much ground. Arkansas took advantage of his absence by repeatedly throwing to a hole in the zone defense in the middle of the field that Campbell would normally be covering.

It did not help the Aggies any that they played four of the top passing offenses in the country in their first six games in Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Tech and Baylor.

The Aggies have figured out a way to give up yards but not as many points against Tech and Baylor. That may be as good as it is going to get for the pass defense this season.

Freshman safety Howard Matthews has stepped in as a starter and has done a nice job. He and Campbell should give the Aggies a very physical presence at safety next season when they move to the SEC.

The play of the outside linebackers has been solid. Sean Porter has been spectacular in leading the Big 12 with 7.5 sacks.

Damontre Moore has taken over for Caleb Russell at the Joker OLB spot and has 2.5 sacks on the year. If he can remain focused on playing good football then he will be one of the best linebackers in the conference.

The inside linebacker spots have been a mess. Jonathan Stewart seems to have settled down in one spot. He has 36 tackles on the year with two for loss. He has even shown some leadership on the field in the past two games.

The other ILB spot is still a question. Steven Jenkins started against Baylor and had a solid game. Expect him to be the starter for the rest of the season.

I do not think Coryell Judie will be healthy until the bowl game. The Ags need to get more consistent play out of Dustin Harris, who is the best pure cover corner on the roster.

Since Lionel Smith has struggled in a backup role at CB, the Ags need one of the freshmen or Toney Hurd Jr. to step it up.

The Aggies really need to get better at forcing turnovers. It is simply a matter of catching the balls that hit you in the hands. The Ags have had their opportunities but have not taken advantage.

The Aggies will not have a four-game run of passing teams like they just faced on the schedule again. They will have to go up against Oklahoma in three weeks which will be a tremendous test.

Hopefully the secondary will have improved by then.

Special Teams: A-

Randy Bullock has been as good as any kicker in the country through the first six games of the season.

He is 11-for-12 on field goals and has kicked 16-of-48 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

The return game has not been up to par. Judie's injury has really affected the kickoff return game. He is one of the best in the country yet has no acceleration right now.

Kenric McNeal has been disappointing on punt returns. He needs to be a dynamic returner for the Ags. If he cannot get the job done then Dustin Harris is a viable option as long as he keeps catching the ball.

The Aggies kick coverage team is what keeps this grade from being an A+. They have given up too many long returns, even taking into account some shoddy officiating that has missed some blatant blocks in the back.

The Ags need to get that fixed because with their secondary, they cannot afford to give up cheap yardage.

Coaching: C+

The Aggies are 4-2 right now, which is one game worse than I predicted back in August.

I expected the Aggies to lose to either Oklahoma State or Arkansas, but not both.

The most frustrating aspect for Aggie fans is that A&M should have won both those games.

Turnovers and an unwillingness to run the ball in the second half cost A&M the OSU game. Mike Sherman's conservative play-calling cost the Ags versus Arkansas.

I will give Sherman and the coaches credit for righting the ship after those two tough losses. However, they deserve a lot of blame for those two losses.

While the offensive play-calling still leaves a lot of be desired there has definitely been a change the last two games.

In the second half when the Ags are leading the game, the team is not going to the hurry-up offense as much. Against Tech it was obvious that the coaches wanted to win the game by running the ball and called plays like it.

I still think the coaches need to realize that with this OL, they can pretty much roll over anyone they face, so they do not need to run a lot of misdirection and trick plays.

The defense has gotten better but the secondary is still a major concern. Some of that cannot be fixed because the injuries are not going to heal during the season.

Tim Deruyter has done a decent job keeping the defense plugging away. It would be easy to lose the players after a two-game stretch like they faced against OSU and Arkansas. The defense continues to play hard and has continued to stuff the run.

The coaches have the team moving forward, which is all you can ask for. You have to be impressed with the way Mike Sherman's teams go on the road with a workmanlike attitude and go after their opponent.

He does a good job of preparing his team and getting them to play hard every game.

Overall: B

I expected the Aggies to be 5-1 at this point and they are 4-2. That is disappointing, as were their second-half performances against OSU and Arkansas.

On the other hand, Texas Tech and Baylor were both better than expected. Baylor has arguably the most dynamic football player in the country on their roster and he is playing outstanding football.

The Ags dropped two games they should not have lost. They also beat two teams that are very improved over last season.

Considering how motivated Tech and Baylor were to beat A&M because of the Ags' impending move to the SEC, those are big wins.

The Aggies are still in line for a BCS bowl if they win out.

They will need to get a win against Oklahoma in Norman to accomplish that. That is a tough task but the Aggies have the team to do exactly that.

The Ags' record is worse than I expected, although their play on offense is much better than I expected. The defense needs some work.

The Aggies still have a shot at realizing all of their goals other than winning a national title. They need to continue to play great football on offense and start forcing more turnovers on defense if they want to get there.