Kirk Herbstreit has strong criticism for one college football team

Dec 2, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; ESPN personality Kirk Herbstreit walks down the field prior to the game between the Clemson Tigers and the Miami Hurricanes in the ACC championship game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit delivered a fairly stinging criticism of one college football team that he clearly sees as overrated.

On Saturday’s edition of ESPN’s “College GameDay,” Herbstreit had a rather blunt take on the Texas A&M Aggies following their upset loss to Appalachian State last Saturday. Herbstreit said the Aggies had fallen victim to “unwarranted preseason hype” and did not deserve to be ranked No. 6 in the first place.

“Unwarranted preseason hype! No. 6, high expectations for a team that did not deserve that,” Herbstreit said, via Sydney Hunte of Saturday Down South. “They beat Alabama last year, they have all these great recruits, and all of a sudden, everybody thinks they’re Alabama. It doesn’t work like that.”

Herbstreit is undoubtedly correct. Though the Aggies did beat Alabama in 2021, they had yet to show the consistency to make that look like more than a one-off. There are clear issues on offense as well, as evidenced by the team making a very early quarterback change after the defeat.

On the other hand, this is year five for Jimbo Fisher, and for some there is a feeling that his program should be a bit further along. His recruiting class was so good that it became a legitimate source of controversy prior to the season. Expecting that class to dominate immediately is certainly asking too much, but a bit of consistency would be welcomed at A&M at this point.