I savor checking rival histories in attempts to predict upcoming winners in
college football match-ups, even though the Wall Street types constantly assure
their clients that past results are no guarantees of future outcomes. How these
two phenomenas are related, I will that leave strictly to your imagination.
Nevertheless, this same activity ensues every day on the major sports networks
and in print; the mirage that an individual has somehow acquired sufficient
expertise to be 100 percent successful in the predictability of a future
outcome.

 It’s called “expert analysis,” and yes, a plethora of inside information
greatly valued by sports broadcast teams and their crack staffs is generously
included. These are essentially nothing other than legitimized guesstimates
provided for ‘informational purposes’ as one pundit attempts to out-gun his or
her competition. Once all the facts are in, they proudly announce the winners to
all the ‘blue boys’ and girls out there holding their breaths, anxiously
awaiting these expert opinions to begin flowing in to see if they correspond
with their own. Of course, these folks aren’t your casual fans flipping on the
tube to have a beer and watch a ball game. No, this is GAME DAY action!

 As far as historical precedents go, Florida and Texas A&M hadn’t played
each other since the 1976 season in the Sun Bowl. Texas A&M and South
Carolina State had no history to gauge whatsoever. In fact, even the very rare
46-point spread found floating somewhere in cyberspace was deemed unusable in my
“braggin’ rights only” office pools I enjoy taking part in. Although they’re
picked only for fun, I won my first eight selections this past Saturday before
somehow dropping an over/under total that, at halftime, looked like a walk-off
winner and a clean sweep.  It’s always preferential when holding a big lead to
continue to make plays until the final gun, as difficult as it may be in this
decidedly topsy-turvy sports world.

 From a football perspective, it is quite the same. When you get someone down,
you’ve got to step on them. Fortunately for the 12th Man’s peace of mind, Texas A&M has kept the pedal to the gridiron these past two weekends. They rebounded (there’s that word  again) twice in both games following the still-curious offensive coaching
meltdown shown against Florida. Yes, the Aggies have exceeded the experts’
expectations impressively, once again raising the hopes of all of Aggieland word
wide.

What does it matter that we trail Ole Miss in the league standings? It’s only
temporary.

 Since recruiting focus turned to African-American players back in the spring
of 1972, A&M Football has had 29 winning seasons, nine losing seasons and
two others that were dead even. These incoming freshmen in ’72 were eligible to
play varsity football for the first time since 1947, and as a result, this is
usually where I begin keeping track of my personal analysis of A&M football.
This time period was the dawning of the ‘level playing field’ in all of college
football, which, in my opinion, makes the school’s earlier accomplishments even
more astounding.

 Even though A&M has always been a land-grant public institution, it had
many traditions and internal policies dating back to its origination that
relegated it to “private school” status competitively in athletics; things such
as mandatory membership in the Corps of Cadets and no girls on campus. At this
juncture in college football and American history, known as the early 70’s, this
sort of setup would have hindered anyone’s recruiting efforts.

 Yep, good luck recruiting outstanding players to this environment at the end
of the Vietnam War. The country was sick of war and the Corps of Cadets
unfortunately reminded many of the tremendous loss of America’s wonderful youth
due to another conflict involving two countries on the other side of the world.
Remaining status quo at A&M would never allow equal recruiting to occur, and
any competitive aspects would surely be lost for decades had open minds not been
present within the administration. It became a “join ’em, or lose ‘em” quandary
which was ultimately properly handled with all its wonderful core values and
traditions well intact.

 A quick glance at the number of private schools to win national championships
during this span only bears this out, with the last to be Lou Holtz’s Notre Dame
squad in 1989. And it wasn’t only the Aggies who were climbing on board to
recruit their first black football players in the early 70’s, but teams like
LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, and so on. Texas A&M football, with the
assistance of its first two black football players (Michael Bruton and Jerry
Honore, recruited by Gene Stallings in 1971) then reached out to sign all eight
of the highest-rated players in the state of Texas. Administratively, someone
apparently had a “vision” and was able to incorporate all the new prerequisites
for creating a competitive edge into the program.

 Success followed quickly, to the great delight of an avid alumni group and a
fast-growing student body. The escalating achievements of the mid-seventies
delivered the first of 35,000 additional new seats to a rather smallish
48,000-seat stadium. And during this interim, repleted with its all-time record
wins and overflowing crowds, A&M’s national championship chase was on.

 The Arkansas Razorbacks and the Aggies have played in Kyle Field only ten
times during these past 40 years, with the Aggies winning in ’72 and ’74 and
before splitting the last eight. The previously mentioned Lou Holtz was the
first Razorbacks coach to break the Aggies’ modest home streak in 1977. It came
in a 26-20 thriller in Emory Bellard’s final game against Arkansas as the
Aggies’ head coach. Arkansas went on to post an 11-1 record and whipped the
Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl as a huge underdog, with their only loss
coming to the No. 1 team in the country prior to the bowl season, Earl Campbell
and his Texas Longhorns.

 With this bit of history behind us, let’s talk about blowouts, since this is
the second successive week the Aggies have had. Last Saturday’s was  70-14,
matching the winning margin of South Carolina State’s previous week’s opponent,
the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona then took its haughty 56-point shutout victory,
533 total yards advantage and 43-8 dominance in first downs to Oregon for a big
conference showdown. The team was crushed by the Ducks, 49-0. I’m thinking this
was a rather sobering event after all the revelry of the previous week. Arizona
gained less than half the yards against Oregon and surrendered three times as
many as it had against South Carolina State. Stats flew out the window, along
with many perceptions concerning the Wildcats’ overall quality of craftsmanship.
The obvious question is, “How did the Wildcats benefit from the romp over the
Bulldogs?”

 To suggest the A&M game against South Carolina State was a textbook
replica of a 5-A school hosting a 2-A school in Texas prep football may not be
exaggerating the situation, with no disrespect intended for the players and
coaches comprising the Bulldogs’ program. They fought hard for every yard to the
very end and assuredly will be the team attaining maximum benefit from its D-1
experiences as their schedule plays out.

 Statistical analyses from an A&M standpoint are utterly useless in
determining their worth, yet Dustin Harris and his punt-returning acumen are
certainly worth noting after an SEC record 246 yards. This glider through heavy
traffic led the nation last season and is well on his way to another banner
year. Harris returned one punt 96 yards for a touchdown (aren’t players taught
to let it go into the end zone when it’s that close?) and finished the game just
22 yards shy of the all-time NCAA single-game record.

 Uzoma Nwachukwu made both of his catches count with TDs on receptions of 37
and 9 yards.

 The Aggies are currently ranked 11th nationally in scoring, 12th in points
allowed and 13th in yards allowed per game. Even with all the fireworks the Aggs
have been displaying of late, they only rank 37th nationally in total offense.
Perhaps the other 35 teams have played even daintier light-weights than the
Aggies have, or perhaps haven’t pulled their starters as quickly. Or haven’t
played Florida. Regardless, most stats this early in the season are for old men
sitting around drinking coffee in the early morning, somewhat similar to
national polls.

Everything else statistically should go into the ‘on hold’ file waiting for
further evidence, with one primary exception: Johnny Manziel is a slick,
trigger-happy madman who has yet to see his first interception or lost fumble.
This is truly a rare accomplishment considering the number of opportunities he
gets handling the football while orchestrating the
jet stream offense of the Southeastern Conference.

 His vision alone would probably set records in contests involving the Magic
Eye 3D images of the 90’s. He sees things others can’t in a fraction of the
time. His running and passing thus far have provided the Aggies 7.3 yards per
play. In the other 100 plays void of his direct involvement, they have averaged
4.85. Hey, all good for sure, but I think you know where I’m coming from. This
guy can do it all. I predict there will soon be an enormous trend among the
young kids in Texas to ask their coaches for the No. 2 jersey in years to
come.

Yes, for once in our lives, it’s very cool to be No. 2.

 Arkansas hasn’t visited this part of the Brazos Valley (Baylor owns the other
part) since 1991. Both schools resumed the “rivalry” in Arlington because Jerry
Jones felt inclined to host it. For both Jerry and the Hogs, it proved a very
successful venture and may have been instrumental in securing Arkansas’ vote to
allow the Aggies into the Southeastern Conference.

 “Sure thing! Come on aboard!”

 Prior to the first game played in Dallas Cowboys Stadium/Jerry’s House, the
airwaves were full of interviews recapturing the legendary stories of old times.
One I recall in particular was with former longtime Arkansas coach, Frank
Broyles. Coach Broyles’ topic of conversation was the Hogs’ big 1975 second-half
destruction of A&M in Little Rock that knocked the offensively inept Texas
Aggies out of the No. 2 spot in the nation with a 31-6 pounding.

 The game created a three-way tie for first place in the SWC. Because the team
that hadn’t been to the Cotton Bowl in the longest time was deemed the REAL
champion by league rules concerning tie-breakers, the Razorbacks went to put the
hurt on Georgia. A&M slumped off to Memphis to get pounded by a USC team
which had lost its previous 5 games and was about to lose head coach John McKay
to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. No. 1 Ohio State then fell to UCLA in the Rose Bowl
and the 10-2 Aggies have been nowhere close to ascending the throne ever
since.

 Now in 2012, Arkansas trudges back to Kyle Field rather humbled at 1-3,
relegated to a two-touchdown underdog by most professional collection agencies.
The guesstimators of our favorite pastimes are generally predicting a 38-25 ball
game. In essence, this would make the 12th Man
and its hand-picked coaches and scholarship-worthy players deliriously happy
first-time SEC winners, and at home no less.

 Side note: Do odds-makers use computer programs and human polls like the BCS
does, or do they use Play Station simulations like the rest of us?

 Anyway, at this point in A&M history, any winning margin should suffice
for anyone wearing Game Day Maroon and White. We Aggies are far from greedy
after continuously having various combinations to our vault so easily breached
by the opposition. The day will surely come when Butch and Sundance no longer
feel quite so comfortable as they boldly ride into College Station. And who else
would the Aggs rather have as their initial SEC “notch on the belt” other than
the Arkansas Razorbacks? Will this be some sweet revenge, or what? Hey, what
does winning cure? All ills.

 Still, who could have envisioned A&M would actually be favored
in each of its first two SEC games? This is astounding stuff, probably based in
huge part by the pre-season No. 8 team simply falling apart in a losing trifecta
(Smile, damn it! I’m John L. Smith!) and also an underestimation of the overall
prowess of the Florida Gators as a road team (see Tennessee). However they
figured it, we are the favorites. Now, if only we could coach and perform like
it.

 Can the Aggs make the odds-makers prophets? As a rule you don’t see many
two-touchdown favorites lose games at home, but it seems to happen to someone
every weekend. The coaches, players and officials (see Packers vs. Seahawks) on
the field determine the outcomes, assuredly with a little help from their
friends in the stands. Overconfidence is a demon coaches constantly work to head
off psychologically. Although this should be an unmerited concern considering
A&M’s recent unsteady history, the Aggies must remember that Arkansas is a
team that went 21-5 under Bobby Petrino the past two seasons, and the entire
coaching staff was retained following his abrupt departure after the wheels came
off.

 The Aggies’ world-renowned 12th Man support  group has maintained a steady .500 pace since the 2000 season, producing a 25-25  home record in its last 50 conference games. Known as one of the most vivacious home crowds in college sports with its tremendous atmosphere, the 12th Man’s intensity must be at a fever pitch and
reverberate on down to the opponents’ sidelines for it to once again become the
dominant force of yesteryear. This was once done with only 50,000 die-hards in
the stands, so surely we can do it with 85,000 strong. With the expansion plans
now in place, it’s time to become a real factor once more, not only in the SEC,
but nationally as well.

 Arkansas’ only hope this Saturday will be a short memory. The team has blown
two double-digit leads (sound off, one-two!) and suffered a perfunctory
thrashing from Alabama in its last three games. Actually, going totally
brain-dead may be a better prescription. Apparently its opening game win over
Jackson State didn’t help it in the “getting better” department either.
“Stat-fests” are lots of fun and normally drama-free for the fans, unless you’re
an Arkansas playing Louisiana Monroe or a Michigan playing Appalachian
State.

 Speaking of stat-fests, will Arkansas’ ultra-talented quarterback, Tyler
Wilson, get well this Saturday against the A&M defense? Hey, he only threw
for 510 yards  en route to a 42-38 victory in his previous effort against the 2011 Aggies. Team  record aside, his yards and TDs per attempt are ahead of last season but his
interception ratio is up, too. After suffering a game-turning concussion while
holding a 28-7 lead at Louisiana Monroe, Tyler sat out the Alabama game
altogether. Losing the next one to Rutgers with Wilson at the helm had to be a
major shocker to the Hogs’ faithful. Rutgers is  4-0 though; nothing to sneeze at really, except its previous schedule.

 So the Hogs are reeling, and now it’s comeback time for the Razorbacks.
Wilson’s best game is definitely ahead of him. Three straight wins over the boys
wearing the throwback vertical shoulder stripes will certainly pick the team’s
spirits up in practice this week, and winning in Kyle Field is no less than a
50-50 proposition – at least for the Hogs’ most recent modern-day ancestry.

 Senior running back Christine Michael ran 32 times for 230 yards and three
scores for A&M in last year’s game but has seen little action this season. 
One would surmise his 13 carries for 33 yards against Florida and ensuing
suspension for the SMU game haven’t exactly put him in the driver’s seat for the
remainder of this season. Strange things happen behind closed doors. Then in
mop-up duty, Michael gained only 3.7 yards per carry with one score against the
backups from South Carolina State, a far cry from his previous 3-year career
average of 5.4 yards on 441 carries. Michael has certainly fought through some
dreadful injuries to earn the right to stay in the mix in this new offense
behind a special group of linemen, but as always, production ultimately dictates
– provided the program is run with the integrity expected of it.

 The Aggies have a real shot at being 5-1 overall and 2-1 in conference when
LSU hits town Oct. 20. Should LSU continue to find its patented escape routes as
the season progresses, that day could be a momentous one for the SEC and both
institutions. This Saturday’s game marks the spot.

Howdy, football fans, welcome back to your weekly “12th Man QB” experience,
once again being shared by me, David “Moon” Walker, the first four-year starting
quarterback for the Texas Aggies. No, my first start as a freshman was not in 1944. That was a different dude.

 As I’ve previously spoken about in my book, which your mom is secretly hiding
away for you for Christmas, football is the most complex game on earth because
of the vast number of potential assignments placed upon the offensive personnel
on any given play. These assignments (“Oh, crap! I’ve got number TWO now?”) are
subject to change right up until the moment the ball is snapped, just before all
hell breaks loose up and down that line of scrimmage. Defenses don’t always get
on all fours in an orderly fashion as they once did, sitting pretty and
stationary like old-fashioned football dummies stuffed with cotton, waiting for
the offensive player to calmly take aim and fire. It just isn’t that simple
anymore.

 Because defensive linemen were once so big, fat and slow (thus making them
much harder to bulldoze back off the line of scrimmage) the rule makers felt it
would be too much of an advantage to let offensive linemen actually use their
hands and outstretched arms in attempts to block them. In fact, offensive
players were penalized if their clenched fists ever left their own chests while
in contact with a defensive player who, by the way, had much more freedom in the
use of his own hands to actually play the game effectively. Now, thankfully,
it’s a fairly equal match-up and much more fun to play in the offensive line
than it was, say, in the Lombardi era.

 Just as kickoff teams prevent the receiving team from getting an exact
headcount by scattering from the huddle like a covey of quail, much is the same
with defensive personnel prior to the snap of an offensive play. Now a guy
lining up at middle linebacker over the center on down quickly becomes a
defensive tackle face-to-face with a guard and on hut, he jettisons out
to play defensive end by the time the ball is snapped. It’s all done in attempts
to confuse the offense on its blocking rules and can be quite effective.

 You counter this activity by using motion, shifts, quick counts or long
counts, but both sides should be ready to go or someone is going to be
completely out of position defensively, or that new defensive end will be coming
through untouched for a kill shot on a running back, or worse, the quarterback.
It’s quick stuff that requires quick thinking.

 Whichever offensive coaching staff best thwarts the opponents’ skills and
schemes of attack with expertise that is not only successful but consistent
(particularly those not necessarily drawn up in a normal playbook or seen
previously on game film) will usually force the defensive front back into a more
basic look and then return to its original offensive game plan. Offenses that
are unprepared and suddenly find two defensive players shooting the same gap
(and aren’t provided the necessary repetitions or film study by their coaches to
recognize and adjust) are usually shut down from the start and have great
difficulty in recovering momentum or confidence.

 They go into “overload” mode from which some cannot escape mentally or
physically and are then defeated from basically any standpoint. Defenses will
test the knowledge and athletic ability of every offensive player during the
course of the first few offensive possessions, which is why we sometimes see
teams sputter from the onset as they mentally ascertain what the opponent is
doing differently from its game preparation perspective.  It could be something
as simple as a player lining up on the inside shoulder instead of the outside
shoulder to tactics as complex as several players switching assignments
defensively after the ball is snapped.

 You saw some of this taking place in the first quarter between the Texas
Aggies and the SMU Mustangs. As talented and experienced as the offensive front
is for the Aggies, it will still see small nuances in every pressure attack
which it may not have seen before or at least in a while, particularly in a
young season peppered with new terminology.

 Fortunately what we also saw here, unlike during the second half of the
opener against the Florida Gators, was a team that was making some necessary
offensive adjustments while the defense was impressively holding the Mustangs in
check. This “warm-up” period allowed the offense, with redshirt freshman
quarterback Johnny Manziel settling in firmly at the controls, to begin ripping
apart these eight-game winners from 2011 with a wonderful combination of quick
jabs, left hooks and fancy footwork that took SMU totally out of the game on
both sides of the ball from the second quarter on.

 Nationwide, there was only one other game where a favored team whipped the
other more mercilessly in the eyes of the prognosticators than the Aggies did
SMU, and that was Fresno State’s romp in the park over A&M’s former fellow
Big 12 counterpart, the aimlessly wandering Colorado Buffaloes. And speaking of
ugly, Alabama’s huge mashing of Arkansas
in Arkansas was a close third, right behind A&M in the runner-up
spot as far as visiting teams’ performances were concerned. When teams fold the
tents as easily as these three did, there are major reasons why it occurred. At
least in the SEC teams’ cases, it was superb execution obliterating their
ill-fated foes.

 Rebound games like SMU are especially important to have sprinkled into key
spots throughout your schedule for times like these; times when enthusiasm is a
little down, the fans are suspiciously beginning to peek at the ground moving
underneath their bandwagon and you desperately need a solid confidence-builder
to get back on track. SMU turned out to be the perfect snake oil concoction for
the 12th Man’s woes  and its team as well on this genuinely warm and fuzzy afternoon.

 Back in ’77, after getting humbled by the Michigan Wolverines in a nationally
televised debacle of a game that pitted No. 2 vs. No. 3 (nominated and still in
the running for the most embarrassing national stage performance in Southwest
Conference history), we Aggies drove our Greyhounds over to Baylor after having
pulled off four straight wins against the Bears and clobbered them yet again, at
least for a half. In the second half we held on for dear life, but we still eked
out a precious conference win, and it felt great, reminding us henceforth what
an outstanding offensive football team it was.

 Last Saturday was time to get well. The game represented not only A&M’s
second consecutive victory in as many seasons over the Mustangs, but also Coach
Sumlin’s fifth straight over them personally with the previous four coming while
he was leading the University of Houston program. Houston had won the last three
by an average of 40-14, even winning one of them 45-20 at SMU as a one-touchdown
underdog.

 When you’ve managed four straight triumphs over any opponent, there is a
certain amount of confidence that accrues on your staff and permeates throughout
the team. This feeling normally overcomes the opponent’s cumulative mindset of
self-doubt, unless of course, overconfidence rules the day,  which happens on many occasions when least expected. This is why our high school coaches were always saying, “I’ll  tell you when you’re good!” This meant their opinion was the only one that  mattered; not our girlfriend’s, mama’s, the media’s or even our own.


Sometimes, however,  you get a guy’s number and there’s just no questioning
the outcome, as Sumlin obviously has now on June Jones and  SMU, particularly with Sumlin’s improved athletes and recruiting base.  The  combination of a dominating coaching staff guiding a confident football team  based on a big 46-14 victory prior works on the head-game approaches within both  camps. In the overall scheme of things, only superior coaching, better athletes  or insidious inflictions of temporary insanity can turn these negative  situations around, which can then somehow maintain themselves for years.

 SMU’s defense had a nice game going by keeping Manziel and the A&M
offense somewhat off balance for almost a quarter and a half before becoming a
little too predictable. The five-man front had kept sufficient pressure on both
A&M passing and running games and allowed only the occasional completion to
redshirt freshman wide receiver Mike Evans, normally aligned opposite the
three-receiver side of the A&M shotgun spread formation. Because of the
rush, quarterback Manziel was forced to scramble on several occasions and the
normal running game was providing little support. With less than nine minutes to
go in the second quarter, Manziel looked up to find veteran slot receiver Ryan
Swope “uncovered” to his right side by anyone underneath. For most offenses,
this is a pre-snap “hot read” which turned into exactly that on this play.

On this second and eight situation, the SMU defense brought both linebackers,
its left defensive end, nose tackle and a defensive 5-technique (tackle) from
the right side. A&M was set up in a balanced one-back formation with two
receivers split to each side, catching the defense in a cover 2, a popular
coverage with two deep safeties and each cornerback aligned tightly on his
respective wide receivers. The backside defensive end dropped into coverage
while the play-side defensive tackle, with his side’s defensive end blitzing,
rose out of his four–point stance to try to retreat back into coverage,
hopefully into the passing lane between Manziel and the slot receiver,
Swope.

 This “coverage swap” approach employed by the SMU staff, commonly referred to
as a zone blitz, had worked earlier for the Mustangs resulting in some
behind-the-line tackles and confusion in the Aggies’ blocking assignments. This
time, however, the defensive tackle saw only the football zipping by his head as
Swope ran a quick post pattern and caught the perfect throw, then targeted a
spot that would split both safeties as he went into the end zone standing up.
Junior offensive tackle Jake Matthews did an outstanding job of recognizing the
swap and swiftly picked up the defensive end before being outflanked instead of
the tackle he’d originally been assigned.

 Offenses, such as A&M’s, love gifts and when they are offered on silver
platters via pre-snap misalignments such as this one, it gobbles them up without
even a “thank you.” The lesson to be learned here is that Ryan Swope cannot be
covered by defensive tackles or headed off at the pass by unassuming defensive
safeties who get caught flat-footed. Any defensive player must be cognizant of
one indisputable fact: if a player lines up on a D-1 football field, he can beat
you.

 Meanwhile we continue to find A&M’s front four a very active and athletic
group. SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert seemed to have them on his mind a
majority of the time. Even though the Aggs did not do much blitzing and
primarily only on short yardage situations, but when they did, Gilbert was
misfiring or repeatedly trying to force it to the wrong receivers. A&M’s use
of the D-Line over-shift coupled with strong-side blitzes was especially
effective.

 Leading 7-0 after an SMU three-and-out on first down from the SMU 48, Johnny
Manziel tucked the ball away in his left arm (as he always does) on a scramble
through the left side, scooting past a defensive lineman who’d been hurled to
the ground by offensive tackle Luke Joeckel. Manziel then sped by pursuing
linebackers, juked another defender and went untouched into the end zone. When I
played at A&M and was running the Wishbone, you never saw me carrying the
ball in my right arm either. Regardless of what the coaches said about having it
in the arm away from the defender, I believed it much more important to
always have the ball in
my strongest arm. Perhaps Johnny has this same belief, although he throws the
football right-handed.  Whatever the case, he was only getting warmed up.

 Next, he completed a 78-yard drive after an A&M interception by hitting
Uzoma  Nwachukwu with a 36-yarder after rolling out of the pocket to his right
and throwing down the middle of the field to his veteran receiver. This was a
perfectly executed “scramble drill” which requires a great amount of practice
time. The appearance of improvisation doesn’t make it a reality. The Aggies had
just scored two touchdowns within two and a half minutes and suddenly held a
20-0 lead at the half. Strike up the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band!

 These are the defining moments that kick-start a season’s
momentum, not just a game’s. The defense surrendered just over 300 yards in
total offense to June Jones and crew, and there was not a single touchdown. They
held Zach Line, the country’s No. 4 career-rushing leader, to 104 yards. A&M
now has 12 sacks after leading the nation with 51 last season. SMU failed to
convert on 13 of 14 third down attempts, which is an amazing defensive effort
even against a scout team.

 Johnny Manziel reminds me of another college quarterback who was a little
smaller of stature and wore two number 2’s on his jersey, a guy named Doug
Flutie. Manziel only got better in the third quarter, acrobatically whirling
around and pin-pointing a touchdown pass that no one else on the planet would
have even attempted, primarily because they’d probably have taken the sack or
said, “The hell with it,” and thrown it away. Johnny delivered. He set a Texas
A&M single-game freshman record by passing for 294 yards (breaking Kevin
Murray’s 29 year-old record of 280 set against Rice) and accounted for six
touchdowns — four through the air and two on the ground. That’s right, and he
also ran for 124 yards. Just like in the song, the boy said, “My name’s Johnny
and it might be a sin, but I’ll take your bet, you’re gonna regret, cuz I’m the
best there’s ever been.” Could be.

 Only time will tell, and there will be a lot of armchair quarterbacking going
on trying to get into his head. I say, “Let him be and don’t screw him up.” Ol’
Johnny might be the phenom A&M has been waiting for, and all the wondrous
things that phenoms bring with them could soon be within the Aggies’ grasp.
 And while Johnny was resting on  his team’s laurels during the fourth quarter
after kicking the door in, his replacement, sophomore Jameill Showers,  looked
poised, classy and razor-sharp as well, hitting six of seven for 76 yards. It
was a truly remarkable exhibition of efficiency displayed in every phase of the
game. The Aggies did what you’re supposed to do in a rebound game; put the last
one behind you, stay in the moment and improve your performance.

 Next up for the Aggies isn’t South Carolina, but South Carolina State, a team
that lost to Arizona last week, 56-0. Arizona had 43 first downs while South
Carolina State had 8. Arizona had 689 yards of offense, while South Carolina
State had 154. Arizona punted only once. And as they say, the rest was
history.

Hey, Gator Nation! Notice I didn’t say “howdy” as I step into your camp in
the Swamp unannounced and all, and I am for this week anyway, your mortal enemy.
As the LAST AGGIE QUARTERBACK to ever line up for Texas A&M (although very
long ago) and face your outstanding team on a real football field (a Bowl Game
no less), I thought I’d just mosey-on in and tell ya how much we’re looking
forward to this game. Don’t let our 37-14 win back in the 70’s, or the fact that
your coach accused us of running up the score, get me off on the wrong foot. We
were just having fun and on a seven-game winning streak finishing up a 10-win
season. You won’t believe this, but it was the battle of the Wishbones and y’all
had an outstanding split end named Wes Chandler out there. Now it’s starting to
click!

 In fact, I’ll be keeping you up-to-date all season on happenings here in the
great state of Texas, being that it’s the only state we have actually
gone out and annexed thus far. My gosh, how insulting was that trumped-up
billboard someone put up in Gainesville? Geez, we wouldn’t go after defenseless
cities! We’re better than that.

Although I live only a few blocks from Kyle Field (that’s the name of our
stadium, although we clearly say, “Welcome to the Home of the 12th Man”), I’ll
be holed up in front of a big screen like many of you who aren’t worried enough
about this game to make the trip. We’ll all be watching something the USA has
never seen before on national TV, with ESPN GameDay setting up here, and no
less, the Florida Gators stepping onto the Fightin’ Texas Aggies’ non-artificial
turf. It’s been noted that Florida hasn’t played up to par during its last 10
games. Edge, Aggies. (Oh, and no, you shouldn’t feel the need to thank us for
this game day appearance you’re sharing with us. We think you’re quite special,
and those of us who have visited Florida like it very much. But you’re
welcome).

 [Related: Aggies Trash Talking Taken to
the Curb, Billboard Removed]

 For what it’s worth, we hardly ever know which Aggie team is going to show up
on opening day (and certainly don’t know now), the Thursday before our Battle in
the Valley (that’s the Brazos Valley of course and a river runs through it).
Hey, with a new coach, staff, offensive scheme, QB, hopefully defense and our
70′s-style uni’s, who knows what might happen? All we know is we’ve got us a day
game with y’all to play in 103- to 105-degree Texas weather. How fun is that! I
may order up a cold front though, so don’t fret yet. I mean, we thought when we
were getting into this mess that the SEC was exclusively a night-time
league.

 Unfortunately, the Aggs haven’t played a top 25 opponent in an opener in who
knows how long, and now we’re supposed to play you guys in our season AND
Southeastern Conference opener? Who wrote this script?

 Hey, we know you didn’t do much in your opener last week, except maybe help
Bowling Green’s head coach ease off his hot seat a little, but at the same time,
not much was expected (except another couple of TDs for your madder’n hell
wagering constituents). Otherwise, I watched a solid college football game
between two teams who weren’t supposed to be all that equal. Meanwhile, we
missed out on maybe having our heads handed to us by Louisiana Tech. Those guys
are good, you know, for being conference champs in 2011.


Here’s the thing, though. For the life of me, I can’t figure out with all the
wonderful successes your offensive-minded head coaches have brought you, why in
the world would you turn to defense? Was it coach Muschamp’s dynamic personality
that got him the job, or did you just want to rub Texas’ nose in it? Either
answer is perfectly alright with us Aggies, don’t get me wrong. We did the same
thing to our dear old “coach Fran” who took the Midnight Express in from
Alabama. And Alabama still thanks us to this day. From outside-looking in,
because we are prone to do quite a number at A&M, it just seems a little
strange that you’re changing your course in such a manner.


The Aggies, on the other hand, have gone all offense since canning R.C.
Slocum, the coach with most wins by far in A&M history and who went 6-6 his
fateful final season. I mean, who can stomach that? After our three sets of
back-to-back, 10-win seasons in the late ’90s, we deserted our traditional flair
for defense and just enough offense on most days, to somehow steal away the
puny, whiney voice of ‘option guru’ Dennis Franchione. And we haven’t looked
back at our defense since. We went low rent and high tech simultaneously. (We do
thank Coach Fran for running the Option completely out of College Station for
good, however, and for this unintentional act alone we pay eternal homage.)

 But as a result of this new modern-day offensive mindset, the ‘Wrecking Crew’
defense soon resembled Dumb and Dumber as it forgot continuously where to line
up anytime an opponent showed a new wrinkle, like a one-back set or motion or
some other exotic formation commonly seen on junior high fields. Hopefully we’ve
had time to fix all that. Hopefully our new coach spent some time watching our
defense get repaired, too, during all these months of practice time. Who knows?
Practices were closed to the public, unless you had a signed permit from the
president (he’s the guy with the bow-tie who does Youtube cheers with our
students on occasion.)

 But all that is in the past, thank goodness. Both our teams finished the 2011
season with identical 7-6 records, although you Gators didn’t show near the
creativity in losing your six as we did in ours. No, we were favored in every
game except the one in Norman where we were crushed, but only for good measure
because we sure damn deserved it. We just didn’t do so well after some
unbelievably strong starts, and our coach even said after losing in OT to Mizzu
at our place for the second straight year that he wasn’t going to “over-analyze
it or under-analyze it.”

 Is your coach in on coach-speak too? It’s amazing what they can conjure at
the drop of a game. Coach Sherman has taken his offense back to the NFL and his
quarterback with him. Well, to be honest, Sherman was asked to leave and our AD
resigned because of it. We just love fresh faces here at A&M (preferably
every four years).

So, about this game. Did I tell you I was a lefty like Tim Tebow? Do y’all
still like lefties? I love pulling for lefties, except I’m not a fan of the
other one in the NFL, the guy in Philadelphia. I’m hoping the kid from Boise
State, who won 50 games as a collegian, makes it. I’m a big Tebow fan. Love the
guy and can’t get enough of him, and the Jets were my favorite team growing up
because I liked Namath.

 Anyway, I’m about the only lefty ever to play for A&M, and I played my
first game during the opener my freshman season at 17, making me the youngest QB
to ever play college football. Don’t you love learning useless trivia in places
you least expected it? Yeah, gotta say it was pretty cool. It was against
Wichita State a couple of seasons after one of its planes went down with most of
the football team. With Marshall’s plane down as well, this is primarily why
freshmen were allowed to play varsity football again, in my opinion. It’s all in
my book.

 Our starting quarterback now is a young man from Kerrville, Texas who the
Aggie Press Machine is raging about as the first “freshman” to start a season
opener for A&M since 1944. But here’s a couple of things they don’t tell
you. Johnny Manziel spent all of last year going to classes, practices, team
meetings, doing film study, going through spring drills, playing understudy to
the No. 8 NFL draft pick and has been through two sets of two-a-days. Freshman?
Hardly. He’s a guy who gets to play two senior seasons, the way I look at it. I
know because I also red-shirted; only it was my third year, and I got to play
two senior seasons as well. That’s how it works.

 What I’m saying is, you can throw out the redshirt tag. Johnny is a
second-year player with a wealth of knowledge that is readily accessible and
stored up ready-to-go on the college game. He is equipped with a whole lot of
valuable mental experience and great talent. If he turns this game into a
“practice” mentally and gets into the zone that he needs to be in, he has the
tools to be a real class act. So let’s just call him a sophomore with no actual
playing experience, sort of like what we called all players between the years of
1946 to 1972, the time period that freshmen were not allowed to play varsity
football after World War II. I know– how old-school! Remember when girls could
only play half-court in basketball? Very similar thinking.

 But just for grins, let’s allow the Aggs’ publicists call it the way they
spin it. After all, it’s their program they have to sell even though this game
doesn’t need selling. Just don’t be expecting a timid kid with no background or
clue showing up all wide-eyed and scared at the prospects of leading his team in
front of a sold-out crowd and national TV audience. Bradshaw, Bert Jones, Joe
Ferguson, Joe Namath, Spurrier, Stabler; they were all quite good after not
“playing” in their first year of college. It would seem your QB is ready to go
as well.

 So, that’s our take on this very special occasion here in Aggieland. I speak
for us all when I say we’re glad you’re coming to our place, and we do not have
to go to the Swamp. That day will come, hopefully from our standpoint riding a
big two-game winning streak which our team’s publicists can then brag about. Our
schedule includes three straight on the road as it is, and we haven’t done that
since 1977 when we had to do five in a row. Can you show me a team who played
three in a row on the road who ever won a national championship? Me either,
especially when two of them we’ll be visiting are rather recent national
champions: Auburn and ‘Bama.

 If you’re making the trip, you’ll find all of us Aggies most hospitable while
we’re still outside the stadium. We’re a very friendly place, probably as much
as any bunch of tailgaters you’ll ever see. Might even have a cold one for ya or
a nice slice of barbeque. Heck, join us for Midnight Yell in the stadium on
Friday night. Try to get there a little early but don’t expect to be sitting
down. That would make you “one of them!”

 I would offer one piece of advice: take in our band at halftime. It will
inspire the heck out of you.

 Well, it’s been a pleasure.