The Aggies are the 2nd-best team in the SEC West. That was determined on Saturday when Alabama came into Kyle Field and came away with a hard-fought 26-20 victory, right?

Or … is this where the annual slide begins?

Texas A&M blew its chance to take the lead in the SEC West. Now the fun begins. A visit to Knoxville awaits this Saturday, where the Tennessee Vols look to stay relevant in the SEC East, and trips to Oxford to face Ole Miss and Baton Rouge to play LSU are still ahead.

The Aggies didn’t get it done at home on Saturday despite a valiant effort. Now they have to guard against slipping into obscurity, something they’ve fallen victim to in the past.

Player of the Week: Max Johnson

Forget about NIL pay. Texas A&M QB Max Johnson should have gotten combat pay after the beating he took on Saturday. Johnson performed like the veteran that he is, stood tall in the pocket against tremendous pressure – sacked 5 times and hurried another 7 – and delivered.

Johnson threw for 239 yards, his most as an Aggie and the most in his career since he threw for 306 yards in 2021 against the Aggies as the QB for LSU.

Freshman of the Week: Reuben Owens

Not a lot to choose from here. Owens carried 3 times for 4 yards. He fumbled once but continues to be a player who remains high on the Aggies’ list of potential future stars.

For the season, Owens ranks 3rd on the team in carries with 32 and also 3rd in rushing yards with 114.

Biggest surprise: Josh DeBerry

The senior DB turned in a big game. He piled up the statistics, recording 7 tackles, all solo. Among them were 2 tackles for loss. DeBerry also broke up a pair of passes.

DeBerry came into the game just 5th on the team in tackles with 18 for the season, but on Saturday he had a nose for the football and tied his career high for tackles in a game.

Biggest concern: Conditioning/depth

It seemed as though the Aggies faded down the stretch. They were outscored 14-3 in the 2nd half and just didn’t have it in the end to overcome the deficit. The offensive line was porous in the 2nd half after performing well through the first 2 periods.

Whether that’s a lack of conditioning or depth or both, it’s something that needs to be examined and addressed moving forward.

Developing trend: holding the ball too long

Max Johnson is the Aggies’ QB for the rest of the season. He’s a good player, possibly the best backup QB in the country. But he has a tendency to hold onto the football a little too long. It was a problem for which he drew great criticism to himself while at LSU.

The kid will stand tall in the pocket. He isn’t afraid to take a hit. He’s tough; tougher than he looks. But sometimes he hangs onto the football when he should throw it away. It causes sacks and puts the offense in bad situations. It’s a problem that reared its ugly head a couple of times on Saturday. It certainly didn’t highlight Johnson’s performance. He turned in a gutsy game and nearly pulled off the win.

Key stat: 67 rushing yards

The Aggies could not get the running game going and became one-dimensional on offense. On 35 rushing attempts, the Aggies were able to gain just 1.9 yards per carry. The longest rush from scrimmage was a 9-yard gain.

First impression about Week 7: Must-win on the road

The Aggies have had trouble winning on the road in the SEC. They haven’t won a true road game in the conference since Oct. 2, 2021, at Missouri.

The Aggies hit the road for a Saturday game in Knoxville to face a ranked Tennessee team. Texas A&M has not beaten a ranked SEC team in a true road game since 2014 when they took down No. 3 Auburn, 41-38. But they’ll need to break that streak if they don’t want to start trending the wrong way as the 2nd half of the season gets under way.