Lunch with Liucci: Billy Liucci joins TexAgs Live (Monday, September 29)

Segment 1 (00:00:00 - 11:12:04)

• A&M is a really good team that has a lot of potential to get better. They are getting better. I know they were better offensively against Notre Dame than against Auburn, but they were still able to move the ball. Penalties changed things, and you two missed kicks. That defensive effort is exactly what this team needed. You saw flashes of it against Notre Dame, then they allowed some big plays. This was needed just to win a football game and still realize that they have a lot to work on. You can’t go into any game not thinking it is going to be a four-quarter dog fight. You have to hang in there and battle. I like that they won a game due to their offense and another due to their defense. What team in college football right now, you say, doesn’t need to get better at things? Especially Oklahoma, which is right ahead of us.
   
• “Blueprint Brent” Venables... No one knew how to stop Jackson Arnold until Venables? No, that is stupid. Now, we didn’t do it last year, but they have a different running back and quarterback this year. Arnold takes sacks and struggles through progressions. What blueprint? Both Oklahoma and A&M’s defenses kicked Auburn’s ass.
   
• I found it interesting that everyone is talking up the Oklahoma defense, but A&M did as good or better a job against Auburn. “It’s because of the blueprint.” But Venables cracked the code? What are we talking about? With John Mateer hurt, they have things they have to handle.
   
• Georgia is lucky they didn’t drop two games. Missouri’s defense hasn’t been tested. There is not a team, including A&M, that isn’t a work in progress. Without question, this team is improving. They need to improve on these penalties. You can’t survive in games with that amount of penalties. Your kicker missed two field goals. He isn’t good behind 45 yards. If they didn’t call a ticky-tack penalty on that touchdown, it could’ve been a blowout. I heard Auburn was really good against the run. A&M said, “No. We don’t need Oklahoma’s blueprint. We will run for 207 instead of 57.”

Segment 2 (11:12:05 - 16:42:11)

• I would think Auburn has a solid defense. With that lack of offense, they won’t be able to sustain it. There were too many three-and-outs and field position battle losses. A&M didn’t want to hear about their “great” run defense, and we unleashed on them with our great offensive line and rushing attack. I want to give credit to A&M for moving the ball, but there are at least five SEC teams that have better defenses than Auburn. This unit is going to get work done.
   
• A&M missed two field goals. If you could at least split one, that would’ve helped. To me, looking at how the game went, you hit that field goal going into halftime. Then in the second half, A&M was driving before penalties set them back. We hit gains of five, 18 and 23. Then Le’Veon Moss runs for nine yards. Then there is a holding. So instead of 2nd and 1, it is 1st and 20. Then Chase Bisontis and that guy get into it, and it moves A&M back to the 49. Then they complete a 20-yard pass to KC Concepcion, and then they get an unsportsmanlike conduct call. So, just not shooting yourself in the foot, you could’ve scored, and that is what should’ve happened. That is a prime example of why they didn’t put this game away. This is a respectable SEC team. You could’ve put this game away like they did against Utah State.

Segment 3 (16:42:12 - 18:43:24)

• This is where I have a problem with early-season overreaction stuff. You are assuming, A&M traded touchdowns for field goals. At the end of the half, they weren’t. They were trying to get into field goal range. That one was different. They did on a couple of other drives there. One was an actual touchdown that was wiped away. If you trade touchdowns for field goals every week, it will cost you games. You will lose football games. It is not football rocket science.
   
• Also, we are only a week removed from a game where A&M attempted the long field goal at the half. They weren’t trades. You are one week removed from putting up 41 points against a top-10 team on the road. So yes, if you continue to trade touchdowns for field goals, you will lose football games. That is assuming that the defense isn’t making the other teams trade touchdowns for field goals. If you do it every week, you will eventually lose one. What if they go back to the way the offense played against Notre Dame every week? It is too early to tell.

Segment 4 (18:43:25 - 43:33:22)

• Wait until Marcel Reed and those receivers start connecting over the top. They’ve had some big gainers. You saw a deep connection between Reed and Concepcion. The one to Mario Craver was more catch and run. There was another deep connection was Miles O’Neill to Craver against Utah State. Those will be more consistent. You keep taking those shots. Reed and those guys will connect on them. They are going to keep blowing by guys consistently, and they aren’t the only two that can do it. Ashton Bethel-Roman and Terry Bussey can do it. So you are going to see more and more of that, and once Reed gets into a rhythm of hitting those deep balls, goodnight Irene.
   
• That throw to Craver on the touchdown that was called back was a beautiful one. He lasered it, touchdown, game over. That was a play to win. On the interception, you need a yard, and we were all thinking you can run Le’Veon Moss, but you whip that thing to Bussey, and you think it is there. You get this one block, and it could have been a house call. I do think that is playing to win. The bad side of that play is that it gets blown up, and you kick the field goal. Then A&M goes up 16-3, and the game is probably over.  The worst-case scenario happened there. That is akin to fumbling the hand off. That play is thought to be a handoff. It can get blown up and be incomplete, or you lose four or five yards, and then you kick the field goal. It wasn’t this preposterous play. If it was incomplete, they might’ve gone for it on 4th and 1. It was thought in their heads to be a running play. I would always prefer to line up Moss and run it. The defense dictated not doing that. Sometimes, impose your will.
   
• My thing was at the end of the game, that series, you get the ball back. You have a situation where they had three timeouts plus the two-minute warning. So you were going to run a play, timeout, run a play, timeout, run a play, timeout and then the two-minute warning. You needed a first down minimum to win and end the game. They ran it on third and long. I was wondering if that happened because they had the interception earlier on, the offense was spotty, we gave up a sack and a forced fumble that we were fortunate to recover.
   
• Our defense was what was winning us the game. Maybe if A&M was up by a field goal, they would’ve thrown it. To get the first down and keep your defense from having to come back out... I’d like to hear Mike Elko’s thoughts on making them punt it and go the whole way down the field. I think it was the head coach who thought that they were going to win this game on defense. It has been our best side of the ball and their worst. I think that is what was going through his head there.
   
• Holding Auburn to 3.1 yards per play was the fewest in an SEC game for A&M since 2015. That is absolutely nuts. Auburn has too many good plays. “Blueprint Brent” gave up 88 yards on three catches to Cam Coleman. Coleman had 18 yards against the Aggies. They did a great job of tackling, led by Taurean York. Those two cover guys were exceptional. The only big play they had over 15 yards the entire game, you could make the argument that it was intercepted. You could argue Will Lee III pulled that ball away from him before Eric Singleton Jr. hit the ground. To hold a team to one yard in the fourth quarter is incredible.
   
• My favorite part about this football game and the whole performance is that Auburn got the ball, down 16-10. You are up 13-10, and you get the ball with 10 minutes left. You get the ball to almost midfield, but get to 4th and 1, so you punt. Auburn gets the ball back and goes three-and-out. It was a tremendous defensive stop for minus four yards. You get the ball and kick a field goal. You are only up 16-10. Auburn gets the ball back a second time to win the game. There are two minutes, 41 seconds left. Three plays, zero yards. Now, you are at six plays totaling negative four yards with the game on the line. Then comes the drive we talked about, and Auburn gets the ball back again. Three drives with the game on the line, and they managed not to gain a single yard. Incredible defense in the clutch. It was as clutch as A&M’s offense going to win the game against Notre Dame. This is the exact thing on the other side.
   
• Sometimes we live in an age, people lie and say they “got us” on something. Point out the wrong and get frustrated. What these guys are doing is not surprising. Craver gaining over 200 yards is surprising any time. Not many A&M wide receivers have done it. It is a short list. These two receivers are truly elite since they got here. Reed is a very improved quarterback throughout the summer. I wasn’t saying it much in the spring, but throughout the summer, I was absolutely saying that.
   
• I said Dezz Ricks would be one of the most improved players on the team. I thought they could win or lose a close game to Notre Dame. They won it. I worried about Auburn. I thought it would be a tough game against Auburn. It was. It shouldn’t have been.
   
• I thought if they made it through September undefeated, I would change my record prediction to 10 wins and reaching the College Football Playoff. That was before I watched a month of Texas, South Carolina and LSU. I think Mississippi State gets tougher, and the Missouri game is tougher. I don’t want to overdo them. Their biggest games have been Kansas and South Carolina. Both were home games, and against a South Carolina team that was struggling. You look at Missouri and know that offense is going to be tough to stop. Mississippi State looks better, and they are coming here this week.
   
• Teams that don’t look as good as I expected: Texas, Florida, LSU and South Carolina. Notre Dame looks better than I thought they would. All of these “SEC experts” that are telling you and me and everyone else that Venables did the “blueprint,” they are the same ones that are telling you how good the Arkansas offense is and Taylen Green is. For Notre Dame to hold them to 13 points at home... If that is a great offense, then what is A&M? A team that went into South Bend and put up 41 points. Let’s keep things consistent when we are trying to praise one and not the other.
   
• We will see how Florida plays against Texas. Their defense is banged up. A&M’s schedule is a bit easier than I originally thought. This weekend's game is much tougher than we thought, though. I think A&M is going to win this weekend, but it is going to be tougher than I thought.
   
• The game against Missouri on the road feels like a toss-up type. With that, I think the schedule is way more manageable. If you want to be fair, go look at the top 10. Look at the Coaches Poll top 10, how many top 10 opponents currently do you think A&M plays? One. Notre Dame is no longer there. The only team in the top 10 on their entire schedule, including games they played, is Texas. You know how many Texas plays? Four. Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Georgia. I said, “Keep it a buck. Be consistent.” I have talked so much about Texas’ schedule, and I know a lot of things can change, but the way you look at it right now, the way all of these teams have played... If Notre Dame played Georgia on a neutral field, Notre Dame would beat Georgia. Same for Oklahoma on a neutral site against Notre Dame. As for the rankings right now, Texas is the only top-10 team on A&M’s schedule. Meanwhile, Texas has four of them.
   
• My point is that the Aggie schedule, you have an opportunity here. No one would say it is weak. You’d be an idiot. LSU is just outside of that. Notre Dame will be back in the top 10. With Missouri’s schedule, they will creep their way into the top 10-12. I think Alabama and Vanderbilt will be interesting matchups for Missouri if they split those. Nothing is easy in the SEC. Right now, there is a big opportunity for A&M. Go out and take advantage of it. Your first four SEC matchups are against unranked teams.
   
• If we are looking at a schedule, Auburn has a really good defense, and Mississippi State is a rejuvenated team that should’ve beaten Tennessee. They were one play away from being ranked, and they beat Arizona State. Arkansas and Bobby Petrino... It seems that he is building up to try to get that big win in his home return. There are challenges in each of these. How often can you start SEC play against four unranked teams? Then go to Baton Rouge against a team I’ve said is a little overrated. LSU is a top-20 team, but you are not playing a national title contender. Go and take it. Elko has to be looking at his team, going, “Man, what do we look like without these penalties and mistakes? What do we look like if we can clean this up and continue to improve defensively? And if the quarterback improves? If we get them to continue to play up, there is not a game on there where I say my football team can’t get the win against them.”
   
• On A&M’s second or third drive, it was Amari Daniels gaining 19 yards out to the 40. They called a bad holding on Mark Nabou Jr. Daniels was past him, and it didn’t look like a holding. You go back to a 2nd and 10. That game might be an absolute blowout. I thought watching that game, A&M came to play. There was no post-Notre Dame letdown. They had it on defense. They just got derailed, 100 percent, due to penalties.

Segment 5 (43:33:23 - 48:47:25)

• It is just amazing what people will say behind an account. First off, you are scared. Not at me, but scared in general to talk to people like that. It is incredible what the mind can convince you of. It is jealousy, for sure. I don’t think there was some edict or conspiracy to get Auburn this win. This game was called tighter. I mean, the guy who threw the flag on the player downfield, he tried to throw one on the long Rueben Owens II run. They might want to look into him about why he sucks so badly. It is not a conspiracy. Why are you so terrible at your job, and we are paying you to officiate these games that have all kinds of stakes and money hanging in the balance? That was on the field goal drive. You threw the illegal downfield flag very late. You throw a flag on a guy who was half a yard past your little imaginary box. It was strange, but I think just bad officiating.
   
• A&M had a couple of plays go their way, two long Auburn plays that would’ve put Auburn in field goal range. That long Arnold run got called back on a holding. Both blatant. Both were thrown very early. But remember, we don’t see those often around here. I just think the refs were flag-happy. Auburn got flagged 10 times. Now, a higher percentage of theirs was undeniable because they were pre-snap. There were 23 accepted penalties. I just think it was a bad officiating crew.

Segment 6 (48:47:26 - 56:29:21)

• Arkansas is openly complaining about its lack of commitment to the sport. It is almost like they’ve decided to go the Kentucky blueprint with basketball. I would be super nervous about that.
   
• I doubt they’d call Jimbo Fisher. I think he would go for that, but I doubt it. The problem is, if you go to Fisher, wouldn’t you just go to Petrino to keep the fan excitement there? I think it is a no-brainer for them to go with Dan Mullen, who is 4-0 at UNLV right now. Why wouldn’t that be the move? He wasn’t that bad at Florida. He had good teams at Florida. They are like any other SEC team now. You play them twice every four years. Even if they get good, somebody else will go down. I saw it differently when we had to play them every year. You might want Arkansas to be good because Texas has to play them every year.
   
• I think Jon Sumrall from Tulane would be good. Is that the best option? He is a hot name amongst young coaches. There are some good coaches out there. If you could hire Mullen, I know Barry Odom is a guy who was there that they loved defensively. If Mullen is attainable, and you’ve had the recent history they’ve had, why don’t you take the shot? I think Petrino would have to do quite a bit to become a serious candidate. He has seven games to show it.
   
• Ole Miss started their SEC slate early, which means they have an extra cupcake left. They’ve played LSU now. They pummeled Tulane. They are a quality opponent, and that game was 45-3 at one point. Ole Miss is fortunate they beat Arkansas. I remember a fumble in there. I know Ole Miss still has to play Georgia. That is a playoff team. So, they will beat the crap out of Florida and South Carolina at home. At Georgia, at Oklahoma, and at Mississippi State, if they go 1-2 in those three, they are in. If Ole Miss can go 10-2 and A&M can go 10-2... Maybe Missouri goes 10-2? We are talking about Texas, they only has one loss. They can lose three. We talk about Oklahoma. There could be four teams in the SEC that are 10-2 or better. Do they all get in?

Segment 7 (56:29:22 - 59:41:44)

• No, I don’t think Florida can turn their season around. I think Billy Napier is done. I think Freeze at Auburn is going to go 6-6 or 7-5 at the max. They could maybe beat Missouri. I think they will lose their next two. They lost to Vanderbilt last year. I think they beat Kentucky. I think they lose to Alabama.
   
• In the case of Alabama, they stunk it up in August and have gotten better every week. Just so you know, I think on the picks with Amanda Atwell this week, and I was 9-1. I did pick Alabama in that one. You could see it coming. They were getting better and better. Georgia is an interesting case study. They could’ve and should’ve lost to Tennessee, and where would their season be if it were like that? Now, if you are writing Georgia off, you’d be a fool.
   
• No, I don’t think Lane Kiffin is the coach at Ole Miss next year. I think he goes to Florida.