Texas A&M football: Orange Bowl victory cements Aggies' arrival in Fisher era
Texas A&M didn’t start the Orange Bowl like it had something to prove, but that changed by the fourth quarter.
The Aggies looked uninspired early, perhaps a result of feeling they should be playing elsewhere. Whatever the case, North Carolina had a touchdown lead despite missing a few of its best players.
With running back Isaiah Spiller sidelined late because of a leg injury, anxiety was beginning to rise in Aggieland. That is until his replacement, freshman Devon Achane, broke free for a 76-yard touchdown run to put them up. Achane’s touchdown proved to be the push A&M needed as they rode that momentum secure a 41-27 victory.
The Aggies seemed to wake up in the final quarter, as they outscored the Tar Heels 24-7. That includes 21 unanswered points after Josh Downs’ 75-yard touchdown catch put UNC up 27-20.
The offense responded immediately.
Ainias Smith used his speed and agility to juke a couple of players on a 54-yard reception the very next drive. That set up a 4-yard touchdown run from quarterback Kellen Mond to tie the game. A couple of drives later, the Achane score put A&M up for good.
The defense also stood its ground. After allowing the 75-yard touchdown, the Aggies forced a pair of punts as well as two turnovers on downs to end the game.
Achane added another touchdown late, further securing his status as the game’s most outstanding player. The last seconds ticked off the clock and Jimbo Fisher sprinted so fast to avoid a Gatorade shower that he jokingly said he pulled his hamstring. It was a scene that had to bring joy to Aggie fans.
To win the Orange Bowl in your 3rd season at any program is no small feat. It’s only a sign of what is to come with Fisher at the helm. This program is growing and should continue to establish itself as one of the top teams in the SEC each year.
Smith, Spiller, Jalen Wydermeyer and Achane all return for next season. Mond is a senior, as are 4 of the 5 offensive lineman. They could technically come back for another year, though exactly how that will work remains to be seen.
Either way, A&M has to feel as if it is in good hands.
The Aggies have had top-10 recruiting classes nationally for each of the years that Fisher has been here. Next year they welcome a ton of talent defensively, as well as a couple of 4-star offensive linemen. They also have the No. 5 overall quarterback from the 2020 class in Haynes King. He could be Mond’s successor.
But before we look ahead to next year too much, this season should be appreciated.
We watched Mond break several school records. We watched the emergences of Smith and Spiller. We saw a team that refused to bend to the pressure of constantly trying to prove itself.
We watched the Aggies win the Orange Bowl.
No matter how close they were to more, that’s still a season that will be remembered for a long time. Through the opt-outs, COVID complications and injuries, this team managed to keep itself in the hunt. The bowl win assured the Aggies will finish higher than even Johnny Manziel’s best team did in 2012.
We saw that for a final time on Saturday. With their backs against the wall, A&M delivered during the most important part of the game. The victory extended the win streak to 8 games, and there’s no reason to think they can’t build on that next season.
For now, they’ll get to enjoy this victory and reflect on what a special season this was. More are on the way.
Honestly though if UNC had all there starters they would’ve won that game
I’m not completely sure about that (although I’m obviously biased). We’ve won like this all year–wear the other team down and impose our will late in the game.
Maybe but they were without their top running back, wideout, and tackler just I don’t know
Aggies played the year without their top WR, lost their 2nd best WR in game 3, and lost one of the SEC’s best RBs in mid game. Every team has issues like that.
Thanks for proving my point that A&M would’ve lost haha
Lost in all of this was A&M missing 4 defensive starters but of course every gonna discredit A&M instead. A&M would’ve still won. They ran for 2.6 yards per carry because their OL couldn’t block A&M don’t think a couple running backs changes that
Yeah they do
Not really, their backups did an excellent job, it’s not like they missed a step. Give credit where it’s due. Mack has recruited some nice depth. UNC still scored and A&M did what it always does, wear a team down and dominate the 4th quarter. The UNC defensive and offensive lines didn’t opt out, so things would not have been much different.
Hahahahahahha I can tell you don’t know anything about football. A&M barely won and that’s without UNC best players. UNC would’ve easily won
Hey bull, aTm played a helical game and pulled away from a good, ranked UNC team. Stop trying to rain on their parade. In past years aTm had trouble closing out games like this and I believe they have crossed whatever line good teams do to win close games.
**helluva
I’m not I’m just giving facts
bull, opinions and what-ifs are not facts.
Hailz, you’ve shown time and again on this thread football is not exactly your forte. Perhaps you should stick to commenting on pokemon tournaments, something undoubtedly more up your alley. Leave the football talk to the grownups.
Hahah I love how none of you could go against my facts
If you would care to list any actual so called facts, we would be more than happy to invalidate them for you. As it stands all you’ve done is trolled nonsense and given everyone a hearty laugh at your expense.
The hypothetical’s worthless when it comes to football because it can go on forever. If the Aggies hadn’t had their best receivers either opt out at the beginning of the year or have season-ending injuries, the Aggies would have won by more. I do wish we’d have had a chance to play UNC at full strength, but that’s not how football works. You do what you have to do with the team you have and the one that’s across the field. In the end, no one cares that UNC was missing players.
No one cares but A&M would’ve lost soooo…..
Haha. I guess we’ll never know. I grew up in Mississippi, so I’m hoping you guys can actually win some games next year.
I’m sorry to hear that hahaha
That’s your opinion, but not one shared by many sooooo…
Literally every sports writer agrees with me sooooo try harder
The good thing is opinions are like belly buttons, everybody has one. Unfortunately bull, yours is not shared by anyone but fictional sports writers and fairies in you head. Bottom line is the Aggies won going away no matter what fantasy finish you want to cook up. Better than Texas who just fired another coach.
aTm and the rest of the SEC are picking off all the best players in Texas so the horns are going to struggle with their longhorn network for years to come.
Oh look another person that doesn’t know a thing about football. Hahaha y’all aren’t even in the SEC
What a da. They won. What about that don’t you understand?
LOL the sports section of TMZ and National Enquirer don’t count. The actual sports writers absolutely do not agree with you. How is that pokemon tournament going?
“Hahaha y’all aren’t even in the SEC”… You mean that team ranked #7 in the latest SEC power rankings, you know, 5 above your Mississippi State team at #11? Yeah, pretty sure they are in the SEC…
We beat Missouri ahahahhahaha. Also literally every sports writer before the game said UNC would win this game if they had all of their staters hahaha you people don’t know anything about football. Big 12 conference though what do you expect.
By all means show us all these sports writers that made this claim. The one and only host who made this comment was Joey Galloway who nobody takes seriously. If that’s who you are going to hang your argument on, you’re even more lost than I suspected. Every other actual analyst in that group disagreed with him, go ahead and ignore that part though.
Bla, bla, bla, would have, should have, could have. Hey, don’t blame Texas A&M for recruiting players who actually have some loyalty for Texas A&M while Carolina recruits players with absolutely no loyalty to their team. And you do not know that UNC would have won the game if they would have had their starters. And you’ll NEVER know. ;) Come at me, bro. My Tiger Kung-fu is better than yours. I do not think that you have the skills to avenge your master.
Bla, bla, bla, would have, should have, could have. Hey, don’t blame Texas A&M for recruiting players who actually have some loyalty for Texas A&M while Carolina recruits players with absolutely no loyalty to their team. And you do not know that UNC would have won the game if they would have had their starters. And you’ll NEVER know. ;) Come at me, bro. My Tiger Kung-fu is better than yours. I do not think that you have the skills to avenge your master.
Hahahaha what a dumb statement
If A&M had all of the players that they started with in the Spring before injuries and opt-outs, A&M might have been in the top 4. A&M heavily relied on underclassmen this season. The MVP of the entire Orange Bowl game was an Aggie freshman.
Because UNC didn’t have their leading tackler
How come Drinkwitz was able to beat North Carolina a year ago when he was at Appalachian State? I guess we will see next year if UNC will be better and win the ACC conference championship.
Weird I didn’t know 2020 was the same as 2019
I think A&M still would have won. That was a good game.
Congrats bro
The problem with some people is that they’re stuck in the “what if” syndrome. They need to rejoin reality. The Aggies won 9 games which is way better the most of the teams in the SEC and cf.
And would’ve lost with UNC full team
@HailzBullyYall so it would’ve been better for them to lose?
Your statement doesn’t make any sense
It was a season much better than I thought it would be going in to it. We had a ceiling on offense with no star wideout and a QB that struggled in the passing game from time to time and had below average long ball accuracy. So we turn the page next year to a new QB and a rebuild along the offensive line. I am actually excited to get started with Jimbo’s recruits. We will see if those higher ranked recruits pan out. All that said, 2020 was a great year for the Ags and I loved watching them!
This reminds me of the article that told us how TAMU had arrived and would dominate the SEC with their “money” under KS back in 2012 when they went 11-2 and won the Cotton bowl…
This
Maroon kool-aid tastes great!
The only thing is, that A&M team wasnt sustainable. They went as Manziel went. The A&M team runs down your throat and has a punishing DL. That old school style of play is sustainable. If A&M can get the right WR/QB combo they will be a top tier team every year
This ^^… I know most people hate this style of play and find it boring, but it works. I for one love the old ground and pound.
And if you have a great offensive line and RBs, like A&M does, you run it. I for one like A&M’s offense, even though I criticize Mond all the time.
Cfb your not the only one. Mond was deffinitly smart with the ball. However a lot of his passes were either under or overthrow.
The best part is they are a freshman and sophomore. We will take a hit on the O-line with likely 5 going to the NFL this year, but depth is looking great there as well. I love Mond, really intelligent and a great game manager, but I’m super excited to see what King can do next year.
You don’t even know what bowl TAMU played in..
Don’t know what bowl game they played in? I don’t know who that is directed to, but it doesn’t really fit anyone on this thread based on what has been said.
Nevermind, I see it’s from a different thread and yes, I deserved that one. After responding to numerous clowns upset about how Aggies acted “childish” when eating the oranges after the game maybe I subconsciously changed the name, who knows lol.
Don’t recall that article, but it certainly wasn’t an opinion shared by Aggie fans at the time. We’ve been in rebuild mentality since Sumlin first started. We are just now starting to feel we’re getting over that hump.
In a down SEC West year…..lol
Down for you maybe.
Yeah man a below par LSU and Auburn is considered down. Hahaha you have no clue what you’re talking about
He’s just salty because MS truly had a down year. The only teams below them in the SEC were TN, SC, and Vandy. I guess when your team is that bad it makes you feel better to believe others are also having down years. It’s okay Hailz, let the tears flow, we won’t judge.
Someone’s upset they know they would’ve lost to UNC hahaha
Let’s see, we won the Rose bowl by double digits and will end up in the top 4 nationally when the final rankings come out. Your team ended at the bottom of the SEC and barely beat Tulsa, TULSA, in a lowly Alama bowl to finish off their incredible 5-5 season. It’s clear you’ve resorted to talking to yourself at this point, would you like us to leave so you can be alone in your misery?
You didn’t win the Rose Bowl..
LOL that’s what happens when you type half asleep and answer two questions at the same time.
It’s a fair question and we don’t yet know the answer. A&M recruiting is still focused on Texas HS. For many years, it was unusual to have more than 1-2 players on the team from a HS outside the state of Texas. 88 of the 117 players on the 2020 team were from Texas. While A&M now holds a slight edge over the school in Austin in terms of instate recruiting, it is still only slight. There is a big gap in national recruiting between A&M and the likes of Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State. While I think A&M has a coaching staff capable of building a consistently solid team, unless A&M can become a conduit for the nation’s best HS players, they will have a hard time winning championships.
How’s A&Ms schedule next year? Maybe they only lose to Alabama and get into the playoffs?
Where is the 2021 schedule? I couldn’t find it anywhere!
The Aggies play Kent St., Prairie View, New Mexico and Colorado (in Boulder) in non-conference and South Carolina and Mizzou from the East.
Knew this when they came into the league. When Saban leaves A&M will take their place. They have more money and resources than any other school in the SEC. if they lock down Harris County they’ll have the top recruiting class every year.
I’ve never understood this logic.. TAMU has always had plenty of money and resources yet they were middle of the pack in their prior conferences…
That’s the difference between Big 12 and SEC. The “brand” will afford them better players that would normally go to Texas.
That’s why Texas will no longer own the state and will never be what they were. And in their wisdom and arrogance The Long Horn Network also isolated them and is helping seal the deal for the better players to go to A&M.
I just don’t see this.. They’re still TAMU… They have had these resources for a long time.. Changing conferences didn’t all the sudden give them some kind of advantage that they didn’t already have..
Getting the right HC is the key! Nick Saban was the key to Alabama success! Fisher is a much better HC than all the HC Texas A&M had since coming to the SEC. That is the key. Getting that right HC. Same for all school that needed just the right HC to get it done.
Bamatimr…you underestimate the SEC brand and don’t understand TX football. Trust me (I’m not trying to be a jerk). A&M has turned the tables on Texas. Texas is much more arrogant and self righteous than even Alabama fans. They are appalled that A&M could even be considered anywhere near “their caliber”. Texas has ALWAYS looked down their nose at them and I love what’s happened.
Just one more thing then I’ll stop…Texas is who cancelled their rivalry because they knew they would start getting their a$$ kicked!!
I have to agree with Bamatime. The Aggies are definitely on the upswing but there are not many teams that can lose starters and the next man up is a #1 draft pick as well like Bama can.
The Aggies will have to prove it over time.
Barrek… Why do you keep talking about the longhorns? The Longhorns have been down awhile now and TAMU still hasn’t won anything…
I’m talking about TAMU taking over the SEC as you say… I don’t see it..
A&M for the longest time would not spend money on quality coaching hires or facilities to keep up with the Jones. That has changed.
A&M has always had money and resources is correct, A&M never spent money on Football till they made the decision to be good at football.
So, Jumbo will be the new Saban? Hmm. Maybe, but I’m gonna have to tap the brake just a little on that one. This assumes that the NCAA can be kept at bay, right?
“Jumbo” is good enough to own the SEC for a long time.
Will he be the next Nick Saban? Highly unlikely, but he’s likely going to win a title for A&M before he retires. He’s a highly skilled coach, and he’s proving why the Aggies made the investment to hire him away from Florida State to begin with.
There’s only one “Unicorn” but Jimbo and A&M will have a darn good record before it’s all said and done.
The Aggies play Kent St., Prairie View, New Mexico and Colorado (in Boulder) in non-conference and South Carolina and Mizzou from the East.
That’s a fairly favorable schedule for the Aggies, although you’d have to think that Alabama and, what I think will be, a revitalized LSU team would be the two major hurdles in order for them to win the West. After this season though, we now know the Aggies are more than likely here to stay.
Look at all the Aggies missing: a starting line backer in Hansford. A starting DB in Myles Jones. A starting DT in Clemons. Their 2 top receivers in Ausbon and Buckley and their starting RB for half the game. Plus they were without the services of Bruce Matthews’ son. You know, the guy that was a 14 time NFL all-pro at center. So I don’t get the people here pushing false narratives. Would, coulda — the oldest bunch of baloney in the book.
And they barely won
They won by 14 points. I don’t consider that barely.
Hahaha from reading your comments you clearly don’t understand football. Also you must not know what garbage time is. It was tied with less than 4 minutes to go. You’re a moron haha
I don’t know how you can call the last 4 minutes garbage time if it’s tied. Sounds like you are a troll on this thread.
After 4 minutes you idiot. Did you even watch the game
You really hate A&M don’t you? Is it because Mississippi state can’t do what A&M can? Is it because miss state finally won a bowl game against a ranked opponent for the first time since 1941?
Why would I hate A&M? Do facts hurt your feelings?
Good win for tamu
If aTm has arrived that’s a good thing for the conference. Let’s hope all the recent coaching changes make all the teams better.
Hahahahahahahaha
For what jimbo makes its about time. It wasn’t long ago the aggies wanted him fired.
When did we want him fired? I don’t know if any Aggie fan that last year was an automatic pass and the year before we got second in the west. This year was big to see where we were heading and deff going in the right direction.
You’re always going to have those few idiots.
Prepare to bend over get gigged over and over again next year.
HailzBully, since you are so convinced that UNC would have won with all of their players suited up, please tell us what the final score would have been. And since you only deal in “facts,” tell us in what newspaper to read that final score. Just so I can confirm the accuracy of your “facts.”
Newspaper? Hahahah you have to be at least over 60 years old
A depleted NC team moved the ball at will versus A&M. I do believe that NC wins the game had they had the opt out, “quitter,” players play. The era of Fisher will arrive when he finds a championship level QB.
Shhhhh that goes against their narritave