Greetings, Lion fans, and we wish there were better news to report, but alas, there isn’t, so let’s get right to it….
OFFENSE: In a word, offensive. Despite 300 total yards, and averaging almost 3.5 yards per rush, the Lion offense sputtered yet again. What is so frustrating is that the same mistakes are being repeated, over and over again. Penalties, especially pre snap. Turnovers. Five fumbles, three lost in the first half alone. Inconsistent quarterback play. Ineffective play calling. An offensive line that gets regularly pushed around.
As far as quarterback play, the Lions are in a real pickle. Peter Parrish is injured and out for the year. Eric Rodriguez was ruled out before the season began. Josh Magana, while showing promise early, just has not developed as anticipated. Freshman Lake Bennett, who has shown the most potential, is now done for the season without losing his redshirt eligibility for 2023. Enter South Garland freshman Mirko Martos, who ended up going 9 of 16 for 102 yards and a touchdown. He showed decent ability to get the ball to the wide receivers on sideline routes and had some zip on the ball.
Injuries have decimated the running back corps, and they did show some effort, it just wasn’t enough to be effective. The offensive line was just bad. Both Magana and Martos found themselves constantly scrambling, and never having sufficient time to look at second and third receivers. Runners often find themselves looking at a wall of jerseys that are not their own.
DEFENSE: The Blue Gang, on one hand did produce two turnovers, and was able to generate some pressure on the Lamar quarterback. On the other …. they literally could not stop the run. Lamar shredded the Blue Gang for 262 yards rushing and 5.1 yards per carry. A 51-yard burst by a Lamar running back put them up 21-7 just before the half, and for all intents and purposes, the game was over. The Cardinals only threw the ball 14 times, with 96 yards in completions. The high risk, high reward style the Lions have used in an effort to help the offense instead cost them. All in all, not a very good effort, and not what has come to be expected of them.
SPEICAL TEAMS: Mitchell McGarry, the lone bright spot for the Lions at Lamar, and for the 2023 season, was outstanding yet again, averaging 44.9 yards on seven punts. Emmanuel Adagbon’s dismal 2023 season continued, as he missed another makeable field goal yet again. He was a perfect 3 of 3 on extra points. The kick coverage was subpar, as Lamar returned a kickoff for a touchdown that was called back due to a penalty. The Lion return game was horrendous. On one hand, there was a diving, and yes, you read that right, a diving attempt at a fair catch that was muffed and set Lamar up on a short field. To top that, a fair catch was called for, and caught on the LIONS TWO YARD LINE. What did it result in? Only two plays later, a fumbled pitchout on a sweep, and a Lamar recovery for a touchdown.
COACHING: In a word, befuddling. The same mistakes keep happening over and over again. Passes in the flat to players that just don’t have the ability to make the play work. Turnovers leave the defense with a short field. Defensive lapses off and on throughout the season. Special teams, what once were a strength of this team, have lapsed. This team, for the most part, has not looked ready to play this season.
FINALLY: There’s not a lot to say other than what it is: The Texas A&M-Commerce Lions look like and play like a 1-8 team. What is frustrating is, there is some talent in spots on this team. There have been some flashes of what might have been. The overall result is just bad. There are some definite problems with this team. They are many, and they run deep. Just what is going on? I don’t know, but things have to change, and change now. Whether that be players move up the depth chart, or down to the bench. Do changes need to happen with the coaching staff? I don’t know, but something is not right with the culture in Commerce, and that’s not good.
Clint Dolezel said before the beginning of the season. “Nobody cares, we just have to win.” He’s right. Yes, Lion Nation is a spoiled fan base. We have come to expect and demand winning. For the past decade, the Lions have been among the best in the nation at it. We understand that there are lean years, and the wins might not come as often as we would like.
What we’ve been seeing, though, is something uglier and deeper than injuries and thinness of talent. Whatever it takes, it’s long past time to get it fixed.
And fixed now.
The Lion Wire 
While the expressed concern “the culture in Commerce” pertains to the football team, it is not limited to only the football team. A university is an entity that incorporates a broad array of operations and activities that, combined, constitute a comprehensive institution of higher education. TAMUC lags in many measurable areas of key operations that have a debilitating and diminishing effect on how the University is perceived in relation to other institutions. That is particularly disconcerting given that TAMUC is older than Rice, SMU, UNT, UTA, UTD, St. Mary’s, Hardin-Simmons, Texas State and other institutions that all have ascended in prestige and reputation while TAMUC continues to languish in near obscurity. The mere reference to TAMUC as A&M Commerce is limiting in that it does not denote either an institution of higher education (almost every state has an A&M) or its location (Commerce is not a well known city beyond Hunt County). But those who are responsible for administering the University seem content to saunter along with little or no understanding of institutional prestige and the reputation that defines what a school is from the perspective of the broader general public. Every notable University had to start somewhere to be what it is today. The time for TAMUC to do so was some time ago.