The Texas A&M Aggies were expected to be really good this season. In fact, they were ranked No. 6 in the preseason AP Poll only behind schools such as Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson and Notre Dame. That’s college football royalty in 2022, and the Aggies were right amongst them.

The Aggies rolled, 31-0 in a Week 1 win over Sam Houston but disaster struck in Week 2 when the always upset-hungry Appalachian State Mountaineers rolled into town and beat A&M, 17-14.

The Aggies have now fallen from No. 6 to No. 24 in the polls and with games against No. 13 Miami and No. 10 Arkansas on the horizon, things could very well go from bad to worse.

It would certainly be surprising if the Aggies started off the season on such a low note, but at least one person, ESPN and SEC Network analyst Matt Stinchcomb, saw it coming.

“The adage that winning cures everything is a universal truth, it’s just a fact. It also hides a lot as well. Let’s be real, coming into this season, why were we so rosy about A&M’s prospects this year? Really, when you look at what they had returning, the troubles that they’ve had thus far, they shouldn’t be that surprising,” Stinchcomb said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “Haynes King is not a seasoned player in this league. The guy’s barely had a chance to play any football whatsoever, much less the rest. Look at the offensive front. Now are there some skill players? No doubt. Have they recruited well? Sure. This isn’t high school football though. So the idea that these guys coming in are just going to fix some of these ills? No.”

To Stinchcomb’s point, sophomore quarterback Haynes King is playing in his first true action as a starter. He went 13-of-20 for just 97 yards and no touchdowns against Appalachian State with a QBR of 21.3.

And yes, Jimbo Fisher has done a bang-up job of recruiting for the Aggies, but that will only get you so far. The same thing can be said for Texas A&M’s win over No. 1 Alabama from last season. The momentum from that game can only take the Aggies o far, according to Stinchcomb.

“But the winning that covers up, well, you won in recruiting. OK, there’s not a win that would matter less in the ensuing season. But the other thing was, you beat Bama, and I am convinced that coming into this season, most of the perception of Texas A&M was that, ‘Well, they beat Alabama last year.’ Then go watch that A&M-Alabama game. And yes, they had more points than Alabama at the end of the game. Has A&M closed the gap to the extent that the expectations should be that those programs are on even footing? The answer is no,” he said.

Fisher and the Aggies can turn things around with big wins against Miami and Arkansas, but it’s going to be easier said than done.