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Texas A&M football: Ugly as it was, it’s too early to give up on Conner Weigman
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Texas A&M introduced a new head coach and a couple of new coordinators in Saturday’s 23-13 loss to Notre Dame at Kyle Field in the 2024 season opener. The Aggies also introduced … make that re-introduced Conner Weigman. The highly-touted junior quarterback made his first game appearance since an injury ended his season in a battle last Sept. 23, against Auburn.
Although there is plenty of room for improvement from the rusty gunslinger, Weigman displayed arm strength but was erratic at times against a stout Notre Dame defense. It was especially off target in the most inopportune time.
Down 20-13 in the final minutes, Weigman wasn’t close on 3 straight pass attempts and Notre Dame took over deep in Aggies’ territory before kicking a field goal in the waning seconds. Weigman misfired on his final 5 attempts and finished with 100 passing yards on an unimpressive 12-for-30 night with 2 interceptions.
It was rough, no doubt, and it didn’t take Twitterverse long to react, either.
Remember when everyone tried to convince you Conner Weigman was going to be awesome? pic.twitter.com/jrFY5bpzIK
— Matt Moscona (@MattMoscona) September 1, 2024
Conner Weigman throws the worst ball in America.
— Thomas Casale (@TheTomCasale) September 1, 2024
Those were 2 of the nicer responses.
Week 1 is ripe for overreacting, but it’s fair to wonder whether rust, health or reality played a larger role in Weigman’s performance.
Weigman hadn’t played competitively in nearly an entire calendar year and it showed, certainly early on. He threw 2 first-half picks and completed just 7-of-17 passes for 68 yards through the first two quarters.
It could have been, perhaps that Weigman was feeling a little under the weather. He was seen vomiting on the field right after Le’Veon Moss scored the Aggies’ lone touchdown – a 1-yard run early in the 4th quarter.
Had Weigman and the offense played better — the Aggies only averaged 3.8 yards per rush — the outcome might have been different.
Credit Elko’s influence on the Aggies’ defense for keeping the game close. The former defensive coordinator at Notre Dame (2017) and Texas A&M (2018-21) before becoming head coach at Duke (2022-23) already has put his stamp on the defense. It shut down Notre Dame’s passing game and held the Irish out of the end zone until midway through the 3rd quarter.
Too bad Weigman and the Aggies had to face Notre Dame in their opener, rather than taking the cupcake way out like SEC counterparts Arkansas (UAPB), Missouri (Murray State), Oklahoma (Temple), Tennessee (Chattanooga), South Carolina (Old Dominion), Mississippi State (Eastern Kentucky), Ole Miss (Furman), and Auburn (Alabama A&M).
Maybe Weigman could have relaxed a little more and piled up some impressive albeit meaningless statistics against inferior opposition to start the season. It might have helped with his confidence moving forward.
What Saturday’s loss proved was that Texas A&M still has some improving to do before competing for titles, or even sliding into one of the expanded 12 Playoff berths. But on the positive side, the game was tied 13-13 with 2 minutes remaining before the Irish tallied the final 10 points in short time.
In any case, patience is required in the aftermath of a disappointing start.
The strong-armed Weigman will become the asset Aggieland is hoping for with more playing time. That usually translates into more consistency, which is really all that’s lacking from this potential difference-maker. The ability is there, now it’s just a matter of time before we can expect exceptionalism on a game-to-game basis.
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Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
