Have you seen the list of current BCS Top 10 teams that Kansas State, Oregon  and Notre Dame have beaten, combined? There isn’t one. Why not? It’s zilch,  nada, but probably just a scheduling snafu, right? Because of this, I see a  devious scenario brewing that will blow the lid off whatever lids sit on.

 Wouldn’t it be explosive if Texas knocked off No. 1 Kansas State, assuming Baylor doesn’t accomplish this feat themselves on Saturday? I reckon A&M and
either Texas or Baylor BOTH beating a No. 1 team in the same season would be  some kind of all-time record, don’t you? I’ll check out the 2002 season for
these results and get back to you, but I’m fairly confident it’ll be a record.

  Think about it: Baylor is the “Maxwell Smart” of college football — “Missed
it by that much.” Remember those great comebacks engineered by RG3 last season? Well, Baylor’s  senior QB, Nick Florence, leads the Nation AND Johnny Manziel in Total Offense  (only by 15 yards per game — Johnny’s gonna catch him, but that’s beside the
point).

 Then Texas has the  next clean shot at the Wildcats, which will matter only if Baylor fails in its  attempt.

 Just for fun, let’s pull for Texas. Go ‘Horns! And all that stuff.

 Hey, I’m not done yet. Easy, partner; follow me on this. It gets better.

 Southern California has been rather disappointing but could make GREAT
spoilers. How? Let’s say they beat UCLA this weekend to assure themselves a spot
in the PAC-12 Championship game and THEN beat Notre Dame at home the following
week.

THEN, if Oregon gets by Stanford on Saturday, the Ducks could still fall to
ranked rival Oregon State, or in the PAC-12 Championship game to a very hot USC
team coming off two big wins and on a roll. Oregon, my gosh, they’re due for an
off day, right? Remember West Virginia having things locked up a few years ago
before PITT strode in and knocked them off their high horse? How
about a little closer to home, like when Iowa State unseated Okie State just
this past season? That’s right. It happens.

 So what happens to the Smart Money then? Do they start eying the sidewalk
from 20 floors up? I mean, Kansas State is now out of the picture, Oregon is a
goner and Notre Dame goes “poof.”

 THEN, guess what. Florida State is still kicking themselves in the butt for
losing one game this year by one point to N.C. State. They’re really still
pretty angry, right? They knock off Florida in Seminole Country.

 Ouch, that hurt!

 Alabama beats Georgia in the SEC Championship game. Sure, we can all buy
that. The Crimson Tide will be favored by eight or so in that one. They RARELY
lose when favored. We’ll chalk this one up for the old rivals. Winner.

 Now, LSU will CRUSH Arkansas, just for fun. We know this. The Tigers have
them where they want them, and if Louisiana Monroe can beat the Hogs, you gotta
figure Louisiana State will slaughter them. No disrespect intended, of course,
Hogs. (Jimmy Johnson says go back to Petrino, by the way.)

 Sorry, Ole Miss. We certainly don’t want to overlook your chances this
weekend, intentionally.

 Now, the Aggies will do the due diligence thing on Sam Houston State and then
make up for two straight home losses to Mizzu in pretty mean-spirited fashion as
the 12th Man rids itself of all home jinxes in
the process. . .See ya, Tigers!!

 So…who plays Alabama in the National Championship game? Will it be LSU or
Texas A&M? Zach Mettenberger or Johnny “Front-Runner” Manziel, who by this
time will be a mature 20 year-old holding a big ol’ trophy?  Hmm.

 Figure it out, VOTERS!!

 Oh, man, I wouldn’t want to have YOUR job!

 Yep, I’d say it’s going to be a very interesting couple of weekends. This
season is really shaping up!

 Alabama’s BCS fate lies in the hands of Baylor or Texas, USC, Stanford,
perhaps Oregon State and possibly UCLA. And so does LSU’s and A&M’s, with
FSU also mixed in. Ain’t that a kick in the head!!?


And we all thought there wasn’t gonna be no rematch. Keep a’gunnin’, Coach Sumlin. The fat lady isn’t even warming up the vocals  yet.

College Football. You gotta love it.


“I read it here first.”

Amidst  another big come-from-behind win by someone other than the Texas Aggies, I was  reminded of 2011’s pre-season speaking tour starring A&M head coach, Mike  Sherman. To each of the hosting A&M Clubs in cities including San Antonio,  Houston, Austin, Fort Worth, etc., Coach Sherman spoke reverently regarding the LSU Tigers and the Cotton Bowl, the post-season classic to which his streaking  Aggies had been invited to participate in at the conclusion of the previous  season.  Sherman spoke about how  he and his staff realized this was a high profile game against a quality SEC  opponent. He then interjected that he had nothing to do with A&M’s  (unpopular) decision to turn down the SEC’s offer of membership the previous  spring, and would only concentrate his energies and attention on the teams that  showed up each week on the current A&M  schedule.

 Coach Sherman contended the Aggies’ mere participation in this “prestigious matchup”
in the Cotton Bowl could easily be the huge stepping stone the program needed to  continue its climb for national prominence and continued growth on the  recruiting trail. He elaborated further that a victory over this recent national  champion and former natural rival would do wonders for A&M’s rising
status.

 Sherman summed up the  Cotton Bowl game by telling the engaging crowds that the Aggies, after claiming  a quick 10-point lead over the Tigers, thought they were once again headed for  another big win. After all, they’d handily won their six previous games with  some great defense and their lone adjustment made on offense, the insertion of  Ryan Tannehill at starting quarterback.

 What gave me so much  confidence, personally, was the fact that these Aggies had recreated the exact  replica of our 1976 team’s formula. This team culminated its season by  destroying the University of Florida in the Sun Bowl. We completed that season  with a dominating seven-game winning streak and an overall 10-2 record, earning  us a Number 3 ranking in the Sporting News Final Poll.

 In a FOX Sports interview  prior to the Cotton Bowl, I alluded to the ’74 LSU game that set the course for  the future of Aggie football — the game which you’ll recall I referred to in my  last article. I also spoke of the huge turnaround in ’76 that was so reminiscent  of this particular 2010 season and the irony of playing an SEC school in our  bowl game just as we had.

 LSU always seems to be in the mix when pivotal occurrences take place in Aggie World. Here’s another instance.

Sherman’s next quip in  his speech will forever burn in my memory, and this is the heart of the story. It’s as though his words magically created an all-new Aggie tradition to be  bestowed upon the humble subjects of Aggieland, exactly at the point and time  when they would least expect it. His words and a hauntingly new tradition now  follow the 12th Man crowd like a black cloud wherever they may gather to watch  their team play. I call it “Double-Digit Fever.” Sherman’s words would easily  become college football’s most prime example of the all-too-familiar “self-fulfilling prophecy.”

  “And after we jumped out to our 10-point lead on LSU,” he smiled, “it just pissed them off.” 
 
Loud laughter erupted from the crowd at each venue. Things were loose with no  worries. Even the loss to LSU couldn’t undermine the great finish and all the  quality performers who would be returning for the Aggies’2011 season. One  blemish in Jerry’s House, with still so much to look forward to, would in no way  deter the boisterousness of these spirited, well-heeled Aggies who were so  anxious to hear how wonderful the upcoming season would be.

  Who wouldn’t be excited? That LSU team had lost but two games in 2010, one by a touchdown to the National Champion Auburn Tigers and the other by 8 to Arkansas in its last regular season game when hope for another National Crown had already been  extinguished.

  “It just pissed them  off.”

  Burn, baby, burn.

  Yes, this 2011 Cotton Bowl set the stage for the immediate future, and LSU initiated the script we would soon follow. With its 10-0 lead whirling face-down into a 14-10 deficit,  the Aggies made one last desperate stab at the scowling Bayou Bengals, taking  their final lead of the night, 17-14. Before the fans’ “kissing while scoring” tradition had even climaxed, the gavel slammed downward and the Aggies were sentenced with a tentative length still today proving rather  probationary.

  In the final five minutes  of the first half, the LSU Tigers permanently laid out the star-gazing Farmers, 28-17. The second half was but a formality with the final score posted forever as 41-24. LSU, only a one point favorite before kickoff, never flinched. Texas A&M most certainly did. Tannehill, the flawless one during the six-game  winning streak, uncharacteristically was snuffed out by three interceptions  erratically tossed into the hands and chests of the Golden Bandits.

  “It just pissed them off.”

Once the talking was done at the A&M Clubs and the games began in 2011, it seemed as though every team the Aggies played was falling behind and getting “pissed off.” Of the thirteen  games the Aggies played, they were favored in twelve, with the lone exception  coming on a trip to Oklahoma. The Aggies in Oklahoma proved the handicappers  absolutely correct, yet a 12-1 record (as predicted by these same handicappers)  would have certainly been considered an outstanding season in anyone’s book.  Perhaps it would have been sufficient to even get the Aggies into the BCS championship game.

 As you recall, it turned  out to be once-beaten Alabama that got the call to instant replay LSU when  Oklahoma State fell unexpectedly to Iowa State. If all went as predicted, please insert Texas A&M here.

  Unfortunately, the Aggies  weren’t up to the task in five of the twelve games they were favored in.  Astonishingly, all five losses came in the same manner as the aforementioned  Cotton Bowl/LSU game. The Aggies lost leads of 17 (Oklahoma State at the Home  of the 12th Man), 18 (Arkansas, inside Cowboys Stadium), 14 (Missouri at the
  Home of the 12th Man), 14 (at Kansas State) and 13 (Texas at the Home of the  12th Man), respectively. These five incredibly disappointing games accounted  for A&M’s 2011 losses, combined with the very predictable 41-25 loss at  Oklahoma.

 These results have  corresponding odds attached of astronomical proportions. They’re not something one is accustomed to seeing in the course of 13 games. Including the Cotton  Bowl vs. LSU, A&M lost six times in 14 games after holding double-digit  leads. In the previous three years combined, Sherman’s Aggies had blown  double-digit leads a total of six times, so to drop five in this manner in a  single season was remarkably disturbing.

 Rather haunting, aren’t they, these “self-fulfilling prophecies?”

 “It just pissed them off.”

 If you’re interested in a  little more coaching foreshadowing, one of the double-digit-leads-gone-sour  losses was in Mike Sherman’s opener as the head football coach. Yes, in ’08 the  Aggies fell to Arkansas State, an 18-point underdog, by an 18-14 score after  leading 14-3 in the second quarter. I know, it’s hard to fathom any A&M team  getting shut out for a whole second half at home in front of the 12th Man, but  these Aggies didn’t score for the final 40 minutes or so. This was called at the time “somewhat inexplicable.”

Texas A&M Aggies fans yell against the LSU Tigers during the third quarter at Kyle Field. (Thomas  Campbell)

Then in the very next  game, A&M blew a 21-7 second quarter lead and actually trailed 22-21 before  finally winning, 28-22. This is the only time since 2008 A&M has lost a  double-digit lead and still managed to come back for the win. This game wasn’t  even played in 12th Man Stadium, but in New Mexico. Double-digit leads were  lost for good in two other games in 2008, two more in 2009 and twice again in  2010, including the bowl game.

  Texas A&M lost 10  games in which they held any kind of lead during the 2008, 2009 and 2010  seasons, with half of those losses occurring inside the once-formidable  confines of the Home of the 12th Man. On the other hand, the Aggies have  overcome their own double-digit deficits on only four occasions since the 2008  season began, with the most recent taking place several weeks ago in Oxford, Mississippi.

  Unfortunately, the  Double-Digit Fever continues. This is the elephant in the room. The Aggies have  lost 8 times in their last 21 contests when they led by at least 10 points.  Five of the eight were at home. Texas A&M has squandered double-digit leads  in both of its losses this season and both were at home (LSU and  Florida).

  And now, the last  opponent to turn the double-digit trick after getting “pissed off” also happens  to be the first; LSU. LSU has proven once again to be this school’s  trend-setter, for better or worse. Yes, of the eight games we initially were  very confident we would win at the outset, but eventually somehow lost, the Tigers are the bookends.

Somehow this bugaboo needs to get hullaballoo’d right out of existence, or things here in the Brazos Valley will never change.
 
The highlights? First downs were won by the Aggies 26-18. Third down efficiency was  6/16 for the Aggies compared to LSU’s 2/16. Total yards were 410 for the Aggies  and 316 for LSU. Penalties were 6/65 for the Aggies and 13/102 for the Tigers.  That’s just for hullabaloo sake.

 The Bugaboo starts here. Aggies: 4.7 yards per pass attempt. Aggies: 3.5 yards per running attempt.  Aggies: 3 interceptions (sound familiar?). Aggies: 2 lost fumbles. Tigers: 2/2  on fourth down conversions.

  The rest of the story?  The Tigers used two turnovers late in the second quarter to turn the momentum  after falling behind 12-0. Redshirt Freshman phenom Johnny Manziel’s first  interception set up Michael Ford’s 20-yard touchdown run to make it 12-7 and,  after a Ben Malena fumble, Zach Mettenberger hit Kadron Boone versus Man  coverage for a 29-yard touchdown play to give LSU a 14-12 lead with only 11  seconds left in the half.

  Déjà vu had busted the  Aggies right square in the chops out of nowhere. Aggies traditionally don’t do  so well after surrendering double-digit leads. In fact, once one is attained,  that’s when things get worrisome for the Maroon and White. For many in the crowd  of 87,429, it would only be a matter of watching the clock tick down to nothing  and then heading out. We’ve all been here  before.

  “It just pissed them off.”

  It’s tradition apparently, even at home. And very unfortunate.

  With the victory the Tigers improved to 2-7-1 all-time in College Station, posting their first win at Kyle Field since 1987. LSU also improved to 31-2 under coach Les Miles when  it has a 100-yard rusher (freshman Jeremy Hill: 18 carries for 127 yards and  one score.) A missed extra-point and two missed field goals could have been the  difference, but there’s no guarantee the Aggies would have scored their final  touchdown since LSU went to a soft prevent defense in a two-score game. Otherwise, they may not have done so.

  Now we do what we must  do; clear our heads, regroup and get ready for three road games in a row. I  mentioned in one of my earlier posts that A&M hasn’t played three in a row on the road since 1979. That season the Ags opened in Houston to play BYU and
then traveled the next four weekends. In 1977, my final season with the Aggies,  we had five straight games on the road, winning four. Two of the teams we played  back-to-back were ranked; Texas Tech and Michigan, respectively.

  The only team to win  three consecutive games on the road in the modern era was the 1975 team, which beat three unranked opponents.

  Although the only national ranking you’ll find Auburn in is the Bottom 2 or 3 offensively, this  weekend’s SEC matchup between Mississippi State and Alabama will leave two ranked teams for us to play in the second and third games of this trifecta.  Each is 7-0 overall and the loser most assuredly will remain in the Top 25 when  this one is over.

  First things first,  though, thankfully. Auburn is off to its worst start in 60 years and ranks  121st nationally in scoring (15.7) and 122nd in total offense (276.7). Auburn  is surrendering 411 yards defensively (77th) and 25.1 points (56th). They will  probably start at least a dozen freshmen and sophomores. The buyout for coach  Gene Chizik is $7.5 million and there are a lot of fans who are okay with  paying it. As my high school coach used to say, “It ain’t far from the  penthouse to the outhouse.” Of course, he wasn’t making $7.5  million.

 Meanwhile, A&M  defensive end Damontre Moore is averaging 1.36 sacks, which are more than 24  teams are averaging. He leads the nation with 2.43 tackles for loss per game  and leads all defensive linemen with 8.9 tackles per game. There’s your Heisman  Trophy winner!

  And finally, this Auburn game, A&M’s first visit to Jordan-Hare Stadium, should mark Coach Sumlin’s  10th straight win on the road including his last season with Houston. With a  streak going like this, maybe we CAN be the first team in 35 years to win three straight on the road.

  Now THAT would piss them  off.

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.