For one half last Saturday at Kyle Field it looked for all the world like Texas A&M’s season was lost before it ever truly had a chance to begin. Trailing Louisiana-Lafayette by a touchdown in front of their home crowd, the Aggies seemingly had reached rock bottom.

Staring an uncharacteristic 1-2 start square in the face, the Aggies had already reached a crossroads in the 2017 season, and then something happened. The Aggies walked the 12th Man off the ledge by providing some reasons for optimism.

Here are five reasons Aggies fans shouldn’t write off this season.

1. There’s life in this team

Down 21-14 at halftime to Louisiana-Lafayette, the Aggies reeled off 31 unanswered points and reestablished themselves as a respected team, at least in the eyes of the Ragin’ Cajuns. The Aggies produced second-half drives of eight, nine, 10 and 11 plays totaling 353 yards, while holding UL-L to three-and-outs in five of its seven second-half possessions. That’s the kind of dominance Aggies fans expect in games against lesser opponents.

2. QB Kellen Mond stepping into his role

Yes, it’s still very early, but for the most part Mond continues to grow as the Aggies’ starting quarterback, accelerating the maturation process over the final two quarters on Saturday. He completed 9 of 15 passes for 108 yards in the final two quarters and threw one of his three touchdown passes in the second half after running for the tying score. Mond threw for 301 yards on 24-of-31 passing to became the first true freshman in Texas A&M history to surpass the 300-yard mark. Redshirt freshman Johnny Manziel did it four times in 2012.

3. Defensive revival

Led by senior DB Armani Watts and LB Tyrel Dodson, the Aggies smothered UL-L in the second half, shutting them out and limiting the visitors to 22 rushing yards and 0-for-6 on third down conversions. Watts picked off two passes and recorded eight tackles, two for losses. Just a sophomore, Dodson is becoming a leader on defense, recording a fourth-quarter pick-six in addition to tallying seven tackles.

4. The future looks bright

Young talent abounds on this team. Saturday marked the first time in school history that four true freshmen scored touchdowns in the same game. Mond scored on a short run, and threw TD passes to true freshmen Jhamon Ausbon and Camron Buckley. In addition, true freshman RB Jacob Kibodi capped the scoring with a 67-yard touchdown run. So, while growing pains are inevitable, that experience will pay dividends in the long run.

5. Nearly every team in the SEC West is struggling

Outside of Alabama and maybe Mississippi State, with last week’s big win over LSU, no team in the division is playing well enough to make Texas A&M cower in fear. Auburn struggled, for four quarters, with Mercer. Ole Miss didn’t show up for the second half at Cal, and Arkansas lost by three touchdowns to TCU. Four of the six games are definitely winnable, as are cross-over games with South Carolina (home) and Florida (away). The season is far from over.