Texas A&M football coach Mike Sherman hasn't lost his sense of humor, and he doesn't think his offense has lost its ability to make big plays.
A&M's offense ended nonconference play ranked last in the Big 12 in scoring, rushing, passing and total yards, which prompted a reporter at his press conference Monday to call his offense statistically "kinda sluggish."
"That's putting it mildly," said Sherman, managing a smile. "I appreciate that."
He also appreciates his players' attitude and effort, if not always the results. A&M is averaging only 297.8 yards per game, which is 42.7 behind Colorado.
Inexperience and injuries have hindered A&M's transition to a pro-style attack from an option-based approach.
"It's a new scheme," Sherman said. "[The players] have no familiarity with us and how we do things. Everything is brand new for them, and there's a lack of experience in that group. We only had eight scholarship players here in the spring to work with, and then we brought in the freshmen. So it's a combination of both."
A&M used six first-time starters in the season opener and has had another six make their first start since.
The most inexperienced group is the offensive line, which had three first-time starters in center Kevin Matthews and guards Lee Grimes and Evan Eike. Right tackle Travis Schneider, the lone returning starter, injured a foot against Miami and missed last week's game. Grimes also has missed plays with injuries.
The backfield, which was supposed to be the team's strength in talent and experience, has been hit the hardest by injuries, especially at quarterback.
Senior Stephen McGee, who had started 29 straight games, injured his throwing shoulder in the first series against New Mexico. He missed the Miami game, then reinjured the shoulder against Army.
Sophomore Jerrod Johnson has taken more snaps than McGee. The talented Johnson had started contributing at wide receiver, a unit further weakened when converted third-string quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who had eight catches in the first two games, suffered a high ankle sprain.
The top three fullbacks -- Jorvorskie Lane, Nick LaMantia and Anthony Vela -- have missed time along with tailback Keondra Smith.
"Hopefully, we can have a complete week of continuity with our guys and get them practicing together," Sherman said. "I think that will make us a more efficient offense. The other thing too, no matter what you say, when you're changing quarterbacks as regularly as we have, you lack some consistency."
A&M has struggled to produce explosive plays -- described by several coaches as runs of at least 12 yards and passes of at least 16 yards.
The Aggies have had only 25 such plays on 241 snaps, which is a big reason the Aggies are averaging only 21.5 points per game.
A&M has managed only 13 offensive scores, including four on explosive plays. Nine other explosive plays led to scores, while four more "explosives" put A&M in position to miss field goals.
Tannehill and freshman wide receiver Jeff Fuller have been pleasant surprises with five explosive plays each.
Junior running back Mike Goodson leads with six, but he thinks that number should be higher, and so does his coach.
"In this last ball game, I think [Goodson] touched the ball 16 times, and that's much less than I'd like him to," Sherman said. "I don't know that we gave him a whole lot of opportunities. We talk a lot each week about opportunities we're giving him to do what he does best, and I don't know that we gave him enough. He's a guy that has a chance to break one open at any time."
Goodson had 847 yards rushing as a freshman, averaging 6.7 yards per carry. Last year, he dipped to 711 yards, averaging only 4.7 yards per carry.
This season he was limited in fall camp with a leg injury, and he missed part of the New Mexico game because of injury. He is averaging only 4.2 yards per rush. He was a factor in the passing game last season with 36 catches for 361 yards and four touchdowns. He's continued that trend this year with a team-leading 17 catches for 140 yards and two scores.
Goodson asked running backs coach Randy Jordan why the offense is not making more big plays.
"He said keep hitting it and it will come through," Goodson said.
A&M has had back-to-back explosive plays only once, which happened last week -- a 25-yard pass reception by Jamie McCoy followed by Fuller's 42-yard touchdown catch.
A&M might need more big plays Saturday in the opener against Oklahoma State, which is averaging 562.5 yards and 51.8 points per game.
The 21st-ranked Çowboys (4-0) have had 58 explosive plays.
OSU running back Kendall Hunter, who leads the Big 12 in rushing with 618 yards, has 17 explosive plays. Wide receiver Dez Bryant has 11 and running back Keith Toston nine.
"You have to be able to defend everything with them," Sherman said. "Also, their ability to score a lot of points may change how you play the game offensively. I think that's enough to keep me awake at night right there."
OSU had 18 explosive plays in last week's 55-24 victory over Troy.
Sherman's coaching experience is heavy on the offensive side. He was offensive line coach at A&M for two stints and an offensive assistant for the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks before taking over as head coach in Green Bay. He also helped the Houston Texans climb to 8-8 last season as their offensive coordinator.
Now he finds himself in charge of an offense that isn't producing at a level he's used to seeing, and he admits it's frustrating.
"Well, you know I'm not going to say it's play-calling," said Sherman, managing another smile. "There's things we can do better, there's no question about that. At times we just don't seem to be finishing things the way we need to finish. I think we're getting on the right guys up front, but as I told them [Sunday], that's not enough. We need to displace people, create some space to be able to move the football."