Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs where I break down each of the Cajuns game. This week, we look at the Cajuns loss to Texas A&M.
1st Down: Davis’ Rough Second Half
Saturday afternoon was the worst start that Jordan Davis has had as a Cajun purely based off of the statistics. Three interceptions in the second half and only completing 47 percent of his passes shows that perhaps the Cajuns offense was overpowered after getting out to a 21-14 lead at the half.
You can put some of the blame on Davis suffering a knee injury during the game, but it looked like the Aggies defense showed up and made some serious adjustments coming out of the locker room.
2nd Down: Mond Gets It Together
For the first 30 minutes of the ballgame, it seemed like the game was a little too big for Kellen Mond. The true freshman was needed to come in after Jake Hubenak was ruled out and throughout the first half he looked every bit of a freshman as he had trouble holding onto the football and if not for a fellow Aggie nearby, could’ve been a big play for the Cajuns.
Whatever head coach Kevin Sumlin said at the half worked because the player that was out in the second half was able to get the Aggies back out in front and stay there for the rest of the game.
3rd Down: Ragas Continues to Amaze
What Trey Ragas has done through three games is quite impressive. He nearly had a 100-yard game against an SEC school and showed a lot of toughness on each of his 14 carries.
One in particular stuck out and that was when Ragas seemed to be stopped in his tracks by two Texas A&M defenders. However, Ragas pushed through that and got enough to give the Cajuns a first down late in the third quarter. You’ve got to give the kid some credit for pushing through that.
4th Down: Concerns About Defense Quelled?
It’s safe to say that this week’s loss had a silver lining and that was the fact that the Cajuns defense looked to be improving. Yes they gave up 380 yards of offense, but considering how much they gave up in the first two games, it’s markedly better.
The run defense exceeded expectations allowing only 179 net yards, helped by some first half snafus but it was a step in the right direction before their conference opener against UL Monroe. Another big thing was that there were only two big plays for the Aggies on offense, a 76-yard bomb from Mond to Damion Ratley and a 67-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter from Jacob Kibodi. That’s a lot less than what they allowed against Southeastern or Tulsa. In fact, outside of those two plays, no other play gained more than 30 yards.
Overall, the defense showed some improvements and it looks like the adjustments made were worth it.
-Clint Domingue