This will be the first season since 2019 that presumably will be played as though there's no such thing as COVID anymore. Texas A&M skipped the Ole Miss game in 2020, and bowed out of its bowl game last year. I expect to see packed stadiums, with no masks in sight. Maybe things will return to normal for the Aggies. Returning to normal wouldn't necessarily be a good thing, since normal for A&M usually means mediocre, unprepared, disappointing, or not quite good enough. Since joining the SEC West, the Aggies had an exciting season in 2012, and a satisfying season in 2020. Otherwise, it's been a bunch of seasons with at least four losses, usually including one loss against a team they could've beaten.
Given that frame of reference, I'm not overwhelmed by eager anticipation as the 2022 season begins for Texas A&M tomorrow at 11:00 AM on SEC Network, with a home opener against Sam Houston State. The rumors are that SHSU is one of the better teams at its (FCS) level, and finished last year with a record of 11-1, meaning this is not a game the Aggies should expect to win by just showing up on time. Ranked 6th and favored to win by 30 1/2 points, College Football News predicts a 38-13 win for the home team.
Jimbo Fisher supposedly had the best recruiting class in the country in 2022, so I'll be interested to see if any of the fresh faces get some playing time tomorrow, particularly at the QB or RB positions.
The only other SEC games on TV that might be somewhat interesting are Oregon at Georgia (2:30 PM on ABC), and Florida State at LSU (Sunday at 6:30 PM on ABC). The SEC teams are home favorites (Georgia by 17 1/2 and LSU by 3 1/2). CFN forecasts scores of Georgia 27 Oregon 17, and LSU 35 FSU 23.
Update # 1 at 12:52 PM Saturday: The first half has been fairly unimpressive. The defense has performed adequately, but other than two long (60-plus yard) touchdown passes, the A&M offense has managed one FG. The score is 17-0, and I've seen the Aggies play this way in a lot of nothing games scheduled as season openers at home. In the first half of the first game, A&M looks like a team that isn't capable of beating many SEC West opponents, and might have a hard time against Florida and South Carolina.
Update # 2 at 5:18 PM Saturday: During the prolonged rain delay, I got distracted with work on one of the other blogs, and forgot about this game. By the time I thought about it again, there were about four minutes left in the 4th quarter with A&M ahead 31-0. The final score was respectable, but this team needs improvement to win eight games or more.
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