COLLEGE STATION — The Jimbo Fisher era in College Station began on Thursday night as the Aggies defeated the Northwestern State Demons 59-7. The Aggies will now have nine days to prepare to host No. 2 Clemson.

Trayveon Williams flashes midseason form

After he capped off the Aggies’ first drive with a 73-yard touchdown run, it was evident that the Northwestern State defense had no answer for Trayveon Williams. The running back was the feature back last season. However, he appeared in just nine games because of injuries. In some of the games that he did play, Williams wasn’t 100-percent.

We saw what a completely healthy Williams can do on Thursday night. He finished the game with 240 rushing yards, the second-highest in school history, on 20 carries and three touchdowns and sat out the majority of the third and all of the fourth quarter. After losing beefy running back Keith Ford to the NFL last season, Williams looked physical and was easily able to evade the Demons — breaking tackle after tackle. His performance bodes well for the maroon and white as he’ll face a tall task next weekend against an extremely physical Clemson defensive front.

Kellen Mond Likely Solidified Starting Job

No one questioned quartback Kellen Mond's athletic ability after he started eight games as a true freshman. However, questions surrounded the quarterback’s accuracy and decision-making, as he completed just 51-percent of his passes and coughed up six interceptions. Mond hushed those questions — at least for the time being — after his performance on Thursday night. He completed 17 of his 25 passes and notched two touchdowns. The former four-star recruit also didn’t throw a single interception.

Though the Demons are an FCS team, Mond was slinging it into tight windows and dropping the ball where only the A&M receiver could touch it. The A&M receivers weren’t exactly doing Mond any favors either, as three of his incompletions came from inexcusable drops. One of Mond’s biggest struggles last season was his lack of confidence under pressure, which in most cases caused him to frantically scramble and try to move the chains with his feet. Thursday night, Mond looked much more mature under pressure in the pocket, putting the ball on a dime. Mond’s performance – in tandem with Starkel’s unimpressive performance – likely earned him the starting job for the near future.

Shaky Offensive Line

The Northwestern State defensive line was able to easily penetrate the young Aggie offensive line in pass coverage almost the whole night. The Demons used several different blitz packagesand the maroon and white big men looked confused and caught off-guard in many instances in pass coverage, allowing the Demons to put pressure on the Aggie quarterbacks.

The quarterbacks were sacked just twice in the contest. However, it easily could have been many more if the quarterbacks didn't maintain their demeanor in the pocket. The Aggie offensive line was able to open holes for their running backs, who amassed 503 yards. The maroon and white will have to solidify their blitz package recognition and work out the kinks in their pass protection before they face the best defensive line in college football next weekend, as Clemson comes to town.