Inside Talks As: ‘Little Mistakes!’ Texas A&M DB Safety Talks Game 1 Loss

Safety Marcus Ratcliffe came over to College Station from San Diego State this past offseason.

The Texas A&M Aggies experienced a disappointing 23-13 defeat to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday.

The game appeared to take a toll on the Aggies in the second half, especially defensively, where they spent too much time on the field due to a lackluster offensive showing.

Contrary to this, Aggie safety Marcus Ratcliffe stated that fatigue wasn’t the primary concern; instead, it felt like the game dragged on for the team.

“Personally, I didn’t notice fatigue as a significant factor. I think Elko did a great job preparing us with the intensity in practice,” Ratcliffe mentioned at a press conference on Monday. “For me and some of my teammates, the game felt really slow; I believe it was more related to other issues rather than fatigue.”

The San Diego State transfer commended the Aggies’ pass defense during the Notre Dame game but emphasized the need to improve their run defense as they gear up for McNeese.

“Football is an 11-man game, and if one person makes a mistake, it can lead to a touchdown, so I think it mainly came down to small errors by individual players on each play.”

Ratcliffe also noted the significant difference in the game day atmosphere since his transfer, expressing high praise for the experience on Saturday.

“Yeah, this was my first time at Kyle Field. It was wild,” Ratcliffe said. “The largest crowd I played in front of before was about 20 or 30 thousand, so this was incredible. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

The Aggies will aim to quickly address their run defense as they host the McNeese State Cowboys this Saturday at 11:45 a.m.