Texas A&M Football

Colorado vs. West Virginia

This is the third game that I’ve watched Colorado this season and I just want to go on record to say that Colorado will be MUCH improved if/when Hawkins is replaced by CU.

Hawkins has one pass and it’s to Scotty McKnight.  He gets in McKnight’s range and McKnight does the rest.  McKnight got knocked out cold against Colorado St. but he’s come back and is a solid possession guy along the lines of Ryan Tannehill.

I still don’t feel good about our game in Boulder just yet.  Lot’s of football but paint me skeptical on 10/01/2009.

Thoughts from UAB


Before I hit the UAB game, let me quickly touch on the Utah St. game since I never wrote anything about it:

  • We were gutted up the middle on defensive.  There is little doubt our weakness on defense is up the gut.  When we face running teams it’s going to be a looooong night.  Just get used to giving up yards on the ground.
  • Jerrod Johnson didn’t look good at all.  He was getting pressured but he was missing guys left and right.
  • We played GREAT defensively in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.  My personal belief is that Utah St. was ready for us and we were a bit sluggish in the 1st quarter being off for two weeks.  I think the 4th quarter was just us getting lax up by a decent margin coming off the previous throttling of New Mexico.
  • All in all it was a nice win but obviously showing areas of concern.

On to the Blazers of Bama Birmingham:

Special Teams:

  • We actually had a decent special teams showing as a whole but we had two BIG snafus early on.  The first one was the idiotic move by our kick return team of retreating without knowing where the ball was going.  The upback should have called a fair catch and been done with it.  As it happened the guy let the ball hit the ground and then UAB recovered.  They would drive to get 3 points on us on their opening drive thanks to that gift.
  • The other snafu was Dustin Harris’ fumbled punt in the same quarter in which they turned into 3 more points.  Dustin is a true freshman and had a decent return later on so you hope it was just a freshman fluke.
  • That’s pretty much it for special teams other than Ken Wood looking decent as a punter.  Definitely not on the level of Brantley but he’s looking decent.

Offense:

  • Jerrod likely had the game of his career so far.  Dude did everything right and looked outstanding.  I don’t know what else to say about the kid as he was EXTREMLY accurate hitting short and long balls.  I think I saw one play where he didn’t see a wide open guy and forced a ball into traffic but the best QB is going to have that happen to him.
  • JJ also looked extremely good running the ball.  He obviously scored 3 running TDs but one of those was a QB sneak.  One involved a run to the corner and the other involved a draw up the middle.  I don’t know if it was a draw by design but it was a great decision and great run by JJ.
  • Howard Morrow came out of nowhere and had a great night.  I’ve always liked this kid and I hope he has more games like he did Saturday night.  He looked really good catching the ball.  The only thing missing was that sleeve he wore last year.  I kind of liked that look.  Seriously.  I miss his sleeve.  He could prove to be a very solid #2 or #3 wide receiver this year.  I hope he does.  And I hope he reconsiders the sleeve.
  • Other receivers that looked good in general were Jamie McCoy and Brandal Jackson.  Jackson still has some work to do but he looks like a straight up possession guy.  With this offense Jamie McCoy just seems like one of those guys that’s going to get lost by the defense which will result in a great safety valve for JJ and moving the chains.  Need guys like Jamie on your team.
  • Ryan Tannehill just looked tremendous on Saturday night.  Kid is a football player plain and simple.  He finds the open spot but most importantly positions himself to block the defender and keep positioning where only he can catch the ball.  I don’t want to say he’s like Larry Fitzgerald but he has that same ability where he can just adjust and position himself where the defender has to go through more of himself to get the ball.  It makes it easier to catch the ball when you know how to shield the defender.  It’s one of those underrated skills like a pitcher that is able to hide the ball longer from the hitter.
  • 9 total people caught the ball which just tells you how well JJ did finding the open guy.
  • The offensive line looked pretty decent.  Not great but maybe the best I’ve seen them in the three games.  I think a lot of it has to do with Shumard at guard.  He’s by far the best lineman on the team as long as he’s playing guard.  That can be stated enough.  He’s a natural guard and a damn good one.  When he’s not there the line is weaker.  Let’s just leave him there.
  • Barrera looked pretty good at LT and I dare say has looked better than any other LT in our short season.  Not saying he looked great but he did do a decent job.  Long ways to go and he’s going to have his hands full when he goes up against the better DEs in the Big XII but if one game is an example then it’s better than anything else.
  • Danny Baker looked to do okay as well at the RT but I did see him get blown up once resulting in the RB getting pegged in the backfield.  It’s probably best he’s not at LT anymore.
  • Didn’t really see much out of Matthews or Allen which is fine.  It’s sometimes best not to notice an offensive lineman.
  • I did watch Pat Lewis quite a bit as he got quite a bit of PT at guard and looked damn good.  Didn’t get a real good look at him on running plays but he’s a solid pass blocker.  He’s just got a low center of gravity and uses great technique.  If he doesn’t start at center this year then I think he just plugs in next year and goes.  He might still Matt Allen’s spot this year which I’m fine with if that’s what it comes down to.  It’s good to know that it appears that Lewis can push both Matthews and Allen.
  • All in all this line looked decent on Saturday night.  Don’t take it as things are hunky dory as there are still issues but if they played like they did on Saturday night all season we can easily get to a bowl game and a half decent one.  They didn’t dominate but they did a nice job of engaging their man on run plays and creating some semblance of a pocket on pass plays.
  • I hate saying this next thing but Cyrus Gray is no Christine Michael.  I don’t mean that as slight to Cyrus as he seems like such a great guy and team player.  I think we’ve gotten spoiled with the explosiveness in guys like Goodson and saw it early on in Michael.  Without CM suited up it became painfully obvious what Cyrus is missing.  He’s not a horrible back by any stretch as I think he’d start on several other Big XII games but he just lacks the explosiveness of a featured back.  What Cyrus does well is make cuts and shift.  Think of him like a healthy Courtney Lewis but without the acceleration.  Against good teams he’s never going to break one off out of nothing and I don’t see him ever really carrying a team.
  • I was actually really impressed with Bradley Stephens.  He’s more explosive than Cyrus and looks to be somewhere between Cyrus and Christine.  I know he’s had issues holding onto the ball but I would actually feel decent about a Cyrus/Bradley tandem if we had a better OLine.  We don’t have that so let’s just feature CMike from here on out.
  • There’s not much else to say about the offense as they put up 56 points.  And that was without their two best playmakers in Christine Michael and Jeff Fuller.  Let’s hope they keep this.

Defense:

  • Overall this was a VERY good defensive performance.  Joe Webb (UAB QB) is no slouch and the special teams turned the ball over at some key points to really shorten the field and put the defense in a bind which the defense worked out of.  It was not a dominating performance but it was a VERY good performance.
  • It’s hard to really point out any one person as it was a true team effort.  Seriously.  11 guys playing their assignments, getting to the ball, and making the tackle.  UAB scored points but let’s just realize that we don’t have the experienced talent it takes to shut teams out for four quarters.  Maybe in two years but not right now.
  • We do have a severe weakness in that we’re weak up the middle.  I think some of this is by design as Kines has consistently given some slack up the middle.  I think it’s just him trying to eliminate the big play over the top and keep his defense playing side line to side line.
  • As always, Von Miller looked good but I think his days of getting sack after sack are over as he’s getting more double teams and the competition will only get better.  Don’t get me wrong as he still got 2 Saturday night but I think more and more teams will commit more resources to him and he won’t be as disruptive as he’s been in these first three games.  That’s actually a good thing as two people on Von means we have better coverage or opportunity elsewhere.  Let’s hope some others can step up.  You’ll still see Von applying pressure but it’s going to get harder and harder on him.
  • Outside of giving up yardage in the middle the DLine looked decent.  I thought Matt Moss did a great job opposite Von and I think the guys inside actually do a pretty good job considering I rail on this defense for giving up yards up the middle.
  • All of the linebackers looked solid but not yet spectacular.  This group is leaps and bounds of where they were last year but they still have a ways to go to being one of the top LB corps in the country which is where we ultimately want get back to.  Each one will have a great play each game but they’re not disruptive by any stretch all game and that’s where I think we have to get back to.  I think Kines is not attempting to try and make them disruptive as he doesn’t want to give up the big play.
  • Same thing with the secondary.  Very solid but not yet spectacular.  Don’t get me wrong in that this group played a very solid game but they’re not quite disruptive of where the Wrecking Crew used to be.  I would have to go back and look at the stats but I’m not sure this secondary has an interception yet.  They have some fumble recoveries but I’m racking my brain trying to remember an interception by the secondary and can’t think of one right now.  You don’t need interceptions to be good but I do feel you need interceptions out of your secondary to be great.  At the same time, you never want to trade interceptions for touchdowns as TDs burn you much more.
  • Tackling – This can’t be talked about enough in that this crew tackles 100X better than last year.  It’s not even close.  This defense is fundamentally sound and they can bring down the guy with the ball.  A lot of this has to do with being in better position and having speed to get to the ball carrier but it’s good to see these guys bringing ball carriers down with initial contact.
  • 3rd Downs – I need to go look at the stats to see exactly how good they were but this defense did a damn good job getting off the field on 3rd downs.  This is probably the best stat for a defense (outside of points obviously) as I don’t care how many yards you give up if you’re getting off the field on third downs.  Not only does it give you the ball back but it keeps your defense fresh.  This was a huge problem last year and what ultimately led to our second half collapses.  So far they’ve been really good in getting off the field on third downs and that’s great to see.
  • Don’t worry about yards given up by this defense.  It’s going to happen. Focus on the score given up and 3rd down holds.  I’m convinced that’s all Joe Kines cares about.  He’ll give you yards on 1st and 2nd down but he’s going to do everything he can to get his defense off the field on 3rd down.  Same thing with points.  He’s going to try and keep you outside of the red zone but if you get there he’s going to do everything he can to keep you to a field goal.

Looking at Arkansas:

This is not a big game by any stretch but I think it’s safe to say that this is the biggest game since Miami in 2007.  We’re playing a name team on national television so we can get some good pub if we do well.  We’ll be opposite of OU/Miami so we won’t get that much national pub but it’s better than nothing.  We win this game and we’re clearly on the road to a bowl game and maybe even something on the level of the Alamo Bowl.

I’ve watched the highlights of Akry in their first two games and then the first half against Bama.  Here’s what I’ve learned:

1)      Their OLine is not that great.

2)      Their defense is not that great.

3)      Ryan Mallett can throw like a mother.

4)      They don’t have a dominant running back.

If we play like we’ve played then this is a VERY winnable game.  The talent is very equal so it’s all going to come down to preparation and scheme.  In my mind this is clearly a game that will be won by the coaching staff unless one of the QBs can’t hit the broad side of a barn then it will be on the QB.  Make no mistake as this game will be won by the coaching staffs and the QB play.

It’s going to be a shoot out for the most part and we won’t be able to win if JJ isn’t hitting his guys.  If JJ plays like he did against Utah St. then we lose.  If he plays like he’s played against New Mexico and UAB then we win.

I do think Sherm and Co. have to come up with a slightly different scheme offensively for this game.  Not a drastic one but they need to introduce a new set besides the bunch formation.  It’s served them well but I think they need something to surprise and give Arkansas something to think about.

My prediction – Aggies 45, Arky 35

I don’t feel good about it as neither team has had enough games to truly see what’s going on but I think we win based on what I’ve seen in the first three games.  And just so you know I didn’t think there was a chance in hell we could win this game coming into the season based on how both teams closed out last year.

Early 2009 Texas A&M Football Predictions

Attainable Results:

New Mexico – Win
Utah State – Win
UAB – Win
Arkansas – Loss
Ok. State – Loss
KSU – Win
Texas Tech – Loss
ISU – Win
CU – Win
OU – Loss
BU – Loss
Texas – Loss

I think the Baylor and Colorado games are interchangeable as I could see us winning in Boulder but we haven’t really done so in the past.  I can see us beating Baylor but I’m not sure.  Either way, I don’t see any reason why Sherm should go less than 6-6.  Anything less (and it’s completely possible) and he should be dismissed in year 2.  His first three games at home are gimmees as are his conference games with KSU and ISU so that’s five wins in his pocket.  I know no games are gimmees with A&M football anymore but in his second year there’s no excuse to lose any of these five games if we’re going to get this thing turned around.  He should be able to find one win in the other 7 if he’s truly going to be great here.

I personally think he goes 6-6 in 2008 and get his third year at the helm.

Outstanding Season:

New Mexico – Win
Utah State – Win
UAB – Win
Arkansas – Win
Ok. State – Loss
KSU – Win
Texas Tech – Loss
ISU – Win
CU – Win
OU – Loss
BU – Win
Texas – Loss

That’s 8-4 with losses to his Big 12 South counterparts except for Baylor.  Completely attainable in my mind.  Personally, I think this should be his measuring stick if he wants to be great.  This sets him up to go 9-3 or 10-2 in his third year and really get this thing turned around.

Crazy but Possible:

New Mexico – Win
Utah State – Win
UAB – Win
Arkansas – Win
Ok. State – Win
KSU – Win
Texas Tech – Loss
ISU – Win
CU – Win
OU – Loss
BU – Win
Texas – Loss

That’s 9-3 with his only losses going to OU and Tech on the road and Texas at home.  He beats OSU which seems like a tall task right now but it is at Kyle Field.  This would likely put him in the Holiday Bowl which would be nothing short of amazing in his second year.

Like I said, I fully expect him to go 6-6 and leave us wondering if/when he’s going to get it turned around.  I really don’t think 8-4 is out of the question if he’s going to make that leap to great.

Only time will tell.

Thoughts from the tu Game

I had planned on writing up my thoughts from the game like I normally do but I just can’t do it. I think everyone saw the game and knows what’s going on. I still stand by my statement that Sherman deserves another year unless we can get Mike Leach. I know that’s not possible so I’ll fully support Sherman for another year while being critical. I want him to prove me wrong but I’m not seeing it.

As for Leach, I was driving back to Fort Worth on Saturday and listened to the game on the radio. Mike Leach deserves all kinds of credit for pulling that game off. It was a classic let down game against a team that was getting better each game (more on that later) while Tech was being decimated by injuries. Tech was down by 14 points at one point and lost probably the best player in the Big XII in Crabtree. They got a couple of lucky breaks thanks to penalties by Baylor that negated turnovers but Leach and his DC hung in there and pulled it out. That was not a cheap win by any stretch.

To the A&M/tu game:

  • Back on Turkey Night. I know some people don’t like this but I can’t tell you how great it was seeing the game featured on SportsCenter on Wed, Thur, and Friday. Sure, it wasn’t good for us but those of you that remember 1984 and 1985 will understand how great it will be when Aggie Football is back. There’s no better stage for us. My wife wasn’t completely excited about it as she wanted to spend more time with family but she’ll adjust. I think.
  • The I-Formation. I think this is the part that frustrates me the most about Sherman. He ran the I most of the game but there were three times that got me. It was the formation for the first play in each half as well as a 3rd and 11 in the 3rd quarter. All three times it went absolutely nowhere. What the hell was he thinking believing he could convert a third and 11 from the I formation? Sherman had a week and a half to prepare for this game and this is what he came up with. What did he do for those 10 days? Surely he could have been creative for those three moments. At least set the defense up to think you schemed differently for 10 days. That’s like Fran going option to the short side on 3rd and 3.
  • I saw Mike Shumard cut out the legs of the DE on the first drive of the game. I kid you not. He sawed the DE right down and I got giddy. 12 games into the season and Sherm’s vaunted OLine finally chopped someone down. Shumard actually played fairly decently for most of the game. Most of the offensive line struggles came up the middle. We just can’t establish the running game or a pocket but Sherman doesn’t seem to realize this.
  • I think the OLine play is the part that bothers me the most about Sherman. He’s supposed to be an OLine guru but this line has not developed AT ALL. I understand there have been plenty of injuries but in 12 games this line has NOT DEVELOPED. I also understand that Fran left Sherman in a bad way with numbers but this line has NOT DEVELOPED. In addition, they get flagged for false starts 12 games into the season. I played OLine in high school and my coach had two cardinal rules – 1) Hit someone. Even if you missed your assignment you better be blocking someone. You’d still get yelled at if you blew your assignment but if you were at least hitting someone you wouldn’t get yelled at as loud. To this OLine’s credit they do a better job of that than they did last year. 2) No penalties. This included false starts and holding calls. Our rule was that the line was one unit and we got two penalties a game with no repercussions. After that we had to do these awful drills called “Back, backs” where we had to drive the blocking sleds backwards. We had 4 penalties in our second game and we did “Back, backs” for 15 minutes. Needless to say, we didn’t do anymore “Back, backs” for the rest of the season. Sherman’s OLine is not disciplined and you can blame the players all you want but I see this on the coaching staff. They have to instill confidence and discipline. It’s not there.
  • I’m glad I was there for Mike’s last game as an Aggie. I’m glad he almost broke a 90 yard reception for one last memory. Unfortunately, Earl Thomas had an angle and happens to be fast as well so Mike couldn’t outrun it. Until that moment the offense hadn’t done jack. Say what you want about Stephen McGee but Mike Goodson is the reason we beat the sips in 2006. Not only did he get that first TD but he had two long 3rd down runs on “The Drive” that would not have happened without Mike coming along. I’ll never forget standing in the end zone of DKRMS watching those two runs and realizing how special he was. I’m gonna miss the kid despite all the criticism of injury and not being an every down back. If you don’t think he’s gone then you’re fooling yourself as I don’t think he’s been going to class which explains why Keondra has played so much and there’s really nothing for him to come back to.
  • Bag on Joe Kines all you want, but that man did everything he could for as long as he could. For 20 minutes of football the sips had only scored 7 points, 14 points for 25 minutes of football, and 21 points for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the offense of the team he coached went three and out on its first three possessions and then settled for a field goal on a 4th and short on their fourth and final drive of the half. (Won’t even get into that decision) If the offense does anything then it’s likely that game goes to half tied or down by 7 at the worst. I told my wife at halftime that the final score would be 56-17 as our defensive dam was about to burst and our offense would still be inept. I was ~7 points off on each side.
  • We have no idea how lucky we are to have Trent Hunter for three more seasons. If Sherman does anything defensively it’s going to because this kid is leading the secondary. Kudos to Sherman for landing the kid and realizing he needed to be on the field.
  • Von Miller had a hellacious knock on Colt McCoy. I don’t know what it takes but you find a way to spring this kid. In two seasons he’s put licks on Harrell and McCoy that have caused them to get up gingerly. I’m not advocating late hits by any stretch or injuring anyone but you have to find a way to spring this kid. Don’t worry about him covering people. Line him up and let him be the focal point of the offense’s pass blocking scheme. If they screw up they’ll know their QB is going to pay. If they’re going to turn just let Von contain and have the LBs fill. Oh wait, we need LBs. Either way, turn the kid into a pass rushing machine.
  • This is going to sound stupid but I knew we were done when the sips ran on the field. For those of you that haven’t been to a game at DKRMS the teams come on the field from opposite sides. The sips come out from the South end zone and the visiting team comes out from the Northwest corner. A&M was huddled up in the NW corner ready to release as the sips came on the field. The sips ran to the North end zone and lined up across ¾ of the goal line taking a knee blocking A&M’s path to their sideline. It was clear what the sips were doing and I don’t blame them one bit. I know they were praying but it was an act of intimidation and confrontation by the sips. Make no mistake they knew what they were doing. Our team stood idly by while it happened and finally showed some fight at the end which is what you saw on TV. It took way too long for that confrontation to happen. A coach with nuts would have released his team to get in the face of the sips way sooner. This team had no fight from the beginning and that has to change. Same thing goes for Harrel’s late TD and McCoy’s last running TD where Batson could have lit the guy up but just kind of gingerly tackled him while McCoy was going into the end zone. Once again, I’m not advocating late or dirty hits but it is a painful game and you better be ready to make your opponent pay when the opportunity is presented. The great Aggie teams had swagger and confidence and it’s clearly missing here. Somewhere along the way the sips got some of it and intimated us before the game ever started.
  • One knock I do have on our defense is the DEs biting on the ball fake in the zone read. I don’t know if that’s by design but they’re HORRIBLE at containing on the zone read. It’s just like defending the option. Stay home as grabbing them from behind ain’t really going to slow them down. If your interior holds then you can still get there in time if you’re certain the RB has the ball but don’t go down until you know the QB has released the ball.
  • As much as I’ve railed on McGee this season I was glad to see him getting some PT in his final game. I don’t agree with his getting in the face of the tu player that sacked him as it was a clean hit and he wasn’t celebrating anywhere near him. I didn’t even see what was going on until I heard the crowd as McGee and the celebration was so far apart that McGee went and found him. It’s his final game against a team he’s had his greatest moments so I can’t completely blame him. You’re a good Ag, #7 and I’m sorry that Fran ruined you.
  • JJ to Jeff Fuller. I don’t care if it was garbage time as those two are going to be very important to Aggie Football’s future.
  • Speaking of WR, that group deserves credit for being the most improved unit for the season. If the rest of the team showed the improvement that WR corp showed then we might be bowling. Fuller, Tannehill, and the two McCoys really stepped up and developed over the course of the season.
  • It was kind of sad seeing McGee, Lane, and Goodson on the field for one last time. It’s amazing to think what we could have been had Fran been a better head coach with those guys as the foundation for 2008.

Honestly, there’s not much else to talk about as it’s just disheartening knowing what’s coming and seeing it happen. I think the oddest thing was that in 15 years of attending this game both home and away I’ve never seen the sips sympathetic when we lost. The only thing I can equate it to is after the 2005 game where they tight as a drum in McGee’s starting debut. They know they earned a win that day to keep their MNC hopes alive.

This game was similar but different in that I had a bunch of Texas fans ask me after the game what had happened to A&M football. They were genuinely concerned for Aggie Football because it felt strange whipping a hopeless team. We went out on Sixth Street after the game and didn’t have anyone talk trash to us at all. Even before the game we hit a bar and just had a couple folks ask us if we were going to the game, from College Station, or wanted to change shirts before going in a joking manner. I’m used to people genuinely hating me when I wear maroon in Austin the day of the game. Most people were good natured ribbing us and asking what happened to Aggie Football. It’s like we’re terminal or got hit by a car. I even had a couple of shots bought for me because they felt Aggie fans needed it. I wasn’t even crying. Very surreal and I don’t like it one bit. I want to return to the day where we genuinely hate each other because there’s something on the line.

I still stand by my statement that I won’t feel good about Sherman until he wins a bowl game next season and finishes in the Top 25 in his third season. He dug himself a HUGE hole and he needs to see some immediate success to turn around recruiting. He can’t just skate by going 6-6 and 8-4 over the next two seasons. He needs some late season success because as you’ll see the great coaches get better as the season wears on regardless of the schedule. I firmly believe Sherm walked into the situation not knowing what college football had become both on the field and in recruiting. He’s now been head coach for 12 months which is plenty of time for him start turning this thing around.

As for his coordinators, I think Joe Kines actually deserves to stay. The last thing this team needs is turnover at the DC spot. If Kines is committed for another 3-4 years then by all means let him stay. The only coach I can see potentially moving on is Buddy Wyatt which pains me to say as he’s from my hometown and really likes A&M. However, if there’s one unit on the field that truly underperformed then it’s the DLine.

Offensively, I personally hope Cromwell moves on and Sherm hires either the OC at UH that was the OC under Leach or the OC from Tulsa just so Sherm can get some serious spread input into his scheme. I still don’t feel he’ll ever be successful with a true I formation just like Fran wasn’t successful with the option. He needs to learn the spread as that’s what most of the high schools in Texas are running and most Big XII teams which is why you see the Big XII QBs getting all the press except for A&M. If Sherm is going to be stubborn like Fran then he’ll see the door like Fran and never get another get a head coaching gig again or have any kind of legacy anywhere. I also think Sherm needs to get a truly awesome special teams coach. Go find the craziest high school head coach you can find that’s had some measure of success and get him on your staff to focus on special teams. It’ll also help with recruiting. I’m not kidding.

I’m definitely not shutting the door on Sherm being successful but he’s going to have to make adjustments and hire some folks he’s not comfortable with but are damn good coaches. It’s what Mack’s done twice in his most successful seasons. He simply went out and got the best DC he could hire at the time and obviously had no prior relationship with. Not saying he should do it with his DC but he should do it with his OC. It’s not a knock on Cromwell at all as his work with the WR corp has been absolutely amazing but I just don’t think he understands the college game right now and we don’t have the time to allow him to learn. It’s time for Sherm as an old dog to learn new tricks from an offensive standpoint.

Thoughts From the Baylor Game

I didn’t write any thoughts from the OU game mainly because I didn’t feel there was anything to write about.  We got our butts whooped plain and simple.  Outside of Cyrus Gray’s efforts there wasn’t that much positive in what OU did to us.  I didn’t want to waste any effort writing about it.  I feel much the same way after yesterday’s game but think it might be cathartic to write about it so here goes.

 

My wife and I made the journey down I-35 yesterday to the game.  We’re 60-90 minutes further from Aggieland in Fort Worth than Houston but we’re about 75 minutes from Waco.  I guess that’s a positive.  It makes that drive after a Baylor loss a little more bearable.  Notice I said little.

 

For this write up I’m going to get to do my usual style of Offense, Defense, and Special Teams.  I’m adding a special section on Coaching and Where I’d Go From Here.

 

Offense:

 

·        Normally I write about Mike Goodson here and quite honestly I’ll do it again because he had the greatest play by an Aggie offensive player when he made an amazing catch on a 51 yard pass that took him to the 1 yard line.  Not sure why he’s not getting more touches but he’s not.  Mike had some very solid swing passes where he’d gain anywhere from 4-12 yards.  The kid is special.  One more game folks and he’s gone.  I don’t know why he’d come back at this point.  Someone will take the kid.

·        Second post always goes to JJ.  We had 5 turnovers yesterday and 3 of those he’s responsible for.  The other 2 were due mainly due to tipped passes.  He’s had less and less time in the pocket since the second half of the Tech game.  I will say his biggest mistake yesterday was not recognizing the pressure and dumping the ball sooner.  He spent way too much time looking downfield trying to gain more yardage and he’s just not getting the time he needs to do so.  He has to learn to dump the ball sooner.  He’s definitely played better games but he’s getting less and less time in the pocket every game.

·        The offensive line.  I don’t even want to go there but I feel I have to.  I think the best illustration of what’s going on here is the time Baylor brought 8 guys on a flat out blitz and the offensive linemen whiffed on 6 of them.  I kid you not.  There 5-6 Bears in the offensive backfield and we had 3 of our lineman just standing around.  Some of that’s talent but some of that is coaching in not learning how to pick up blitzes.  At least make contact with someone.  The other thing I noticed was the offensive linemen pulling into space and not picking anyone up.  There’s no attempt to chop block or really make contact as they just kind of cruise out there like my dogs at the dog park just kind of running free with no real purpose.

·        Surprisingly we have a really good core group of receivers.  Fuller, Tannehill, and T. McCoy are really looking good.  Jamie McCoy had his usual solid catches but he also had a couple of drops.  All in all the receivers looked decent when we could get them the ball.  This group without a doubt has progressed the most of any group through 11 games.  Credit to Cromwell for that.

·        Other than that, not much here as this staff is just not giving this group a chance to win games which I’ll touch on later.

 

Special Teams:

 

  • Let me give HUGE credit to E.J. Shankle here.  I’ve bagged on this guy not having good hands but this kid has been nails on punt coverage as a gunner.  He simply blows by the defender as the gunner and is consistently near the punt returner when he gets the ball.  In addition, he’s not afraid to make some contact.  Love to see a kid embracing his role on the team and Shankle deserves HUGE credit here.
  • We got a punt block.  Not to take anything away from that but I do have to say we looked really confused on what to do with the ball bouncing around.  No one really knew if they should fall on it or run with it.
  • Probably the most disheartening part of the game for me was the fact that Baylor got to kick off so many times.  To make matters worse Gray and Stephens looked REALLY confused on who should be getting the ball.  In my mind that’s all coaching as there were at least 3 times when the ball either hit the ground or they really had no clue who should be catching it.  Now to their defense it was pretty windy and the ball wasn’t going to the same spot every time but when you’ve to two guys back there they need to figure out quickly who’s getting the ball.
  • We were offsides on our only onside kick attempt.  Folks, that’s coaching in my book.  I think what’s worse is that we only did one onside kick.  Our second TD was in complete garbage time and we had nothing to lose but we kick off instead of the onside.  If anything to just practice onside kicks in a game.  It’s not like we were saving face.  We weren’t covering the spread and we weren’t winning so let’s work on some things you don’t normally get the chance to.
  • Justin Brantley is solid.  I can’t wait to see 2 of the 32 NFL teams anchored by Aggie punters.  We’ve got that going for us.

 

Defense:

 

  • First off, let me say that this team takes WAY too much heat for the overall trouble of the team.  The offense is not helping these guys out one bit.  They actually played pretty decent in the first half as Baylor got two big plays when they converted a long third down that ultimately led to a Baylor TD and then when Kendall Wright made a pretty amazing TD catch right before half.  In the second half Jonathan Batson completely misplayed a deep ball he could have deflected or even picked off.  Once that TD happened the gates were open and the route was on.  I have to think Trent Hunter makes that play.  Either way we weren’t winning that game.
  • I have to give credit to Danny Gorrer as I have bagged on him in the past for poorly supporting the run and shying away from contact.  Something’s changed in him as he made some decent tackles yesterday so I want to give him a shout out since I normally bag on him.
  • Speaking of tackling, this team is just horrible at it.  Not only can they not arm tackle but they don’t know how to take anyone’s legs out.  Blame the last staff all you want but we’re 11 games into the season and the fundamentals still aren’t there.
  • In addition to tackling, we’re HORRIBLE at shedding blocks.  It seems like we’re so worried about losing site of the ball that we can’t anticipate where it’s going in order to fight off the blocker and make the play.  It’s horrible how tentative we are because it looks like we’re afraid we won’t see the ball if we try to shed the defender.  Once again, 11 games into the season and we’re lacking in fundamentals.
  • Other than that, not much else to speak of except that Matt Featherston had his named called quite a bit.  I guess that’s good.

 

Coaching:

 

  • At 11 games into the season we can’t keep blaming the players.  We just got destroyed by a Baylor program that is also in its first year with a head coach.  Plain and simple our coaching staff got out coached by a Baylor staff.  Can we really say they have more talent than us?  That game truly exposed the ineptitude of our coaching staff.
  • Here’s where I think the main issue is and it starts with the man at the top and the staff he’s assembled.  First off, he’s a pro coach that hasn’t coached college in 10+ seasons.  Because of that he has no idea how 7 on 7 has influenced the spread attack that is now prominent in Texas which is what stocks most Big XII schools.  He’s trying to run a system he’s familiar with but that his players have no idea about.  There’s a reason why fullback prospects don’t exist anymore in the entire state.  That position doesn’t exist anymore and TE is on its way out as well.  As it stands those are two of the most crucial positions in what Sherm is trying to do.
  • In addition to his unfamiliarity with the college game he went and hired an OC that has ZERO college experience and ZERO coordinating experience at any level.  I think Cromwell would have probably been a decent enough OC at the pro level but he’s never going to cut it at the college ranks.  I just don’t think he’ll ever get the talent in the state of Texas he’ll need to make their pro style system work.  I’m going to mention Kevin Sumlin later but guess who he went and hired to be his OC at UH this season?  The guy who was the OC at Tech for the last three seasons and spent a total of 8 seasons in Lubbock where he coached Wes Welker as inside receivers coach and then Graham Harrell the last three seasons as OC and QB coach.  Obviously Leach is the OC in Lubbock but I’m sure this guy has picked up a ton of knowledge along the way.  How Sumlin convinced him to leave Leach whom this guy actually played college ball for is beyond me but Sumlin got it done.  Sherm hired his buddy.
  • Defensively I’m actually okay with Kines.  I know he catches a ton of heat but if the Aggie offense was any better I swear the defense would probably average 100 yards less a game.
  • Outside of the staff there are a couple of things I just can’t get over.  The first is how our best offensive showing was the first half of the Tech game and since then we’ve gone away from it where Sherm keeps forcing the I formation which he obviously doesn’t have the personnel for.  Sure we beat two teams but that was a pitiful ISU team and if we don’t have the offensive outburst in the third quarter against CU we likely lose that game as well.  The I formation is going to be the same as Fran’s option.  It doesn’t scare anyone and its not working but yet we keep forcing ourselves to do it thinking it will break through at some point.  I wish I had the time to go back and see the average yards when we’re in the I formation.  I bet it’s not more than 2.5 yards.  I understand you have to establish the run to establish the pass but when everyone in the world knows what’s coming it’s not going to work.  The other thing that’s not working in the I formation is that JJ is dangerously staring down his target as he drops back.  That’s going to get jumped in the Texas game so get ready for it. 
  • The other thing that gets me about this staff is their decision to use certain people in situations.  I think my main concern is the concerted effort to use Keondra Smith so much.  I’m not bagging on the kid but when you have a Mike Goodson, Mike needs to be getting the ball in key situations.  The best example I can give is yesterday when we had a third and three and Keondra is in there.  We got a sweep to the right which I actually LOVED as a play call but we only got about a yard and a half and had to punt.  It was actually executed really well but Keondra just doesn’t have the burst or moves to get outside.  He’s a between the tackles runner.  I don’t understand the play call with the package on the field.  Maybe Goodson doesn’t practice well but there’s times you have to put that aside and know your best option for converting a third down.  I just see a lot of the same issues as I saw with Fran when it comes to utilizing personnel as well as they should.
  • Let’s face it too that Sherm was never great at the pro level.  I think he’s a very solid fundamental coach but I just don’t think he has that great factor about him.  I know everyone wants to point to Pete Carroll but the list of pro coaches that didn’t make it is longer and I see Sherm ending up like Charlie Weiss or Al Groh.  Sure he needs time but I just don’t see “Great” coming from Sherman.
  • I won’t even go into Sherm’s inability to go up against the Big Boys and get the top recruits.  He’ll recruit decent enough and do a better job of identifying talent than Fran but he’s never going to be a lights out recruiter because of the hole he dug this season.  We have a chance to close out with Christine Michael and Craig Loston and I bet we get neither of the guys even though they were both committed to us at one point.

 

Where Do We Go From Here:

 

  • I hate saying that I’m off the Shermwagon in his first year but I am.  What I’ve seen these past two games is simply pathetic.  I didn’t expect Sherm to light the world on fire but I fully expected us to be competitive.  Let’s look at who we’ve lost to.  Arky State at Kyle.  They’re currently 4-5 in the mighty Sun Belt Conference.  Their other three wins you ask?  Texas Southern, Middle Tennessee State, and Louisiana-Monroe.  That’s some select company for us.  Let’s not forget about that loss to KSU at KYLE by 14 who is 4-7 and their only Big XII win so far.  Baylor who is 4-7 and their other Big XII win is over ISU.  Other losses include Miami, OSU, Tech, and OU with the closest margin being 18 points in both Miami and Tech.  I fully expect to get clobbered in Austin as they make atones for the past two years.
  • Next season I see us going anywhere from 5-7 to 8-4.  I still say we have to win a bowl game next season and then for us to be in the Top 25 at the end of Sherm’s third season.  I say if we’re not bowl eligible at the end of next season then Sherm needs to be gone no questions asked.
  • I do say there’s one scenario where Sherm should be let go this season and I’m not advocating for it all but I would strongly consider it if I was Bill Byrne.  There’s a good chance Mike Leach is leaving Lubbock this season.  I know Tech is probably going to make a serious run at keeping him but if I’m Bill Byrne I keep in tune with what’s going on with Leach’s situation.  If I know for certain we can get Leach then I move on from Sherm this season.  It’s outlandish but desperate times call for desperate measures.  I would even go so far as to tell Sherm so he knows he’s operating with some serious heat under him.  It would cost us a ton of money but my guess is keeping Sherm is going to cost us more.
  • Outside of that I let Sherm come back next season with the understanding he needs to win a bowl game next season to get comfortable and if he doesn’t go to a bowl game then he’s gone.  I keep an eye on what’s going with Kevin Sumlin at UH.  That’s the guy we should have hired and I’m firmly convinced of that now.  Go look at the guy’s staff of who he’s assembled.  I’d dare say it’s much more impressive than Sherm’s staff.  Couple that with the fact that he throttled the #25 team in the country and it’s hard to see why we should have hired him.  I still get really pissed thinking that Bill Byrne didn’t even give the guy or anyone else an interview outside of Sherm.
  • I always advocated that we should have interviewed Sumlin, Briles, and Muschamp once it became obvious we weren’t getting a big name such as Butch Davis or Tom Tubberville.  As it stands Sumlin is doing pretty good at UH, Briles just beat Sherman, and Muschamp is doing a yeoman’s job with a young secondary in Austin.  I don’t mean this personally towards Sherm but it feels like we got the run of the litter.

 

Now that I’m done with this I don’t feel any better at all.  In fact I feel sicker because we’re essentially stuck with Sherman for two more years at least all because Bill Byrne didn’t want to interview anyone else and was in such a hurry to hire Sherm when he clearly wasn’t in demand by any other program.  This is nothing personal against Sherm at all but it has everything to do with wanting A&M Football to be great again.  He’s not going to get us there.

 

I’ll be renewing my season tickets next year just like I will every season until I’m six feet in the ground but my wife and I talked about how much we spend and how it’s just not enjoyable anymore.  There’s no much I enjoy more than watching those maroon helmets with the big white aTm running around on a football field but I just feel like we made a huge mistake in hiring Sherman because he’s been gone from the college game so long and was never truly great in the first place.

Thoughts from the Tech Game

I have to admit that I had a good feeling going into the Tech game. I knew Tech was beatable because their defense is still not that great and Joe Kines knows how to scheme against them. I put the chances at about 20% but I got a serious high on Saturday morning. There’s a little Italian joint caddy corner from our house. Best Italian place in Fort Worth. It’s not big at all but they put tables and chairs on the sidewalk for folks to eat and it’s BYOB so folks bring bottles of wine and pop them open out on the sidewalk. Shealynn collects corks so we often look for corks when walking the hounds. On Saturday morning as I was walking the hounds the first cork I saw was sitting in the middle of the sidewalk with a #12 staring me right in the face. I saw it as a sign and even took it to the game for good luck. At the end of the day, I was just some idiot sitting in the stands with a cork in my pocket for no apparent reason. Oh well.

I was highly disappointed by the results but I was greatly encouraged by the effort. So much so that I was ready to whip Mike Leach’s ass in the last minute. I know Leach is Leach but that was a prick move and I was pissed because our kids put up such a great effort to have Tech basically poop on it for no good reason. Leach did explain after the game that the reason he went for the score was to get Shannon Woods a touchdown. Harrell made the decision to keep the ball which makes me hate that prick even more. I’m just disappointed no one on the Aggie defense leveled him in the endzone. Not a cheap or dirty hit but just a good clean shot that put him on the ground. I think that bothers me the most is that no one on the defense stepped and popped the kid when Harrell was prancing in their endzone at home. Lay him out. I apologize to anyone that was in my section when I was hollering at Leach. There where no kids around but I told Mike Leach and the rest of the Tech team what I thought of them. I was pissed to say the least. I was ready to just deck a Tech fan for looking at me wrong after the game. I hate those aholes.

Onto my thoughts:

Mike Sherman:

  • I know I’ve been critical of the man up until now but I don’t think there was anything else he could have done that game. His plan was as good as it could get in my mind. He had his team emotionally ready and most importantly they believed it. He knew his team’s strength and weaknesses and Tech’s strengths and weaknesses and planned perfectly. His plan was to keep it close and hope that home field pulled him out in the end. Not a thing wrong with that.
  • He also deserves credit for adjusting to his personnel on offense. The offense you see is not the offense Sherm wants to be running. Ideally he’d want to be under center with a fullback, tailback, and tight end all disguising run and pass. He knows he doesn’t have the players to do that so he’s giving his offense the best chance to win. He’s not putting square pegs in round holes and he’s making the adjustment as a staff instead of to his players. Kudos to him. Especially at the goal line.
  • I also agree with both of his questionable decisions on the day. His team believed they could beat Tech and not getting it on 4th and 1 from the 1 would have been devastating to the team. He doesn’t have the offensive line to guarantee a 4th and 1 conversion. Not by drive blocking, not by play action, and not by rolling out. He did realize later on in the game that Mike Goodson is his best short yardage option mainly because it forces the defense to respect the edge. Without him, the defense is going to crash from the edge not worrying about losing containment. That decision didn’t cost us the game as we went into half time up by 3. I don’t think you can question any decision prior to that.
  • I also agree with the punt on 4th and 15 with almost 6 minutes left. The difference in the game came when Tech learned JJ loves to be blitzed and that you can get pressure with a 4 man front against our offensive line. JJ had been sacked 3 times in the second half and the play before that was the amazing JJ running for his life and getting the penalty because his line was downfield. Had JJ run there and gained 5-7 yards I bet Sherm goes for it. We had 18 plays and 32 yards in the second half. We weren’t converting that 4th and 15. Our defense had done decently so there was a chance for muffed punt return or even our defense holding. We weren’t getting that conversion. You don’t make it and the game is over with 5+ minutes. At that point in a game you need a prayer for success. If you punt, you give yourself a chance for more prayers. It wasn’t the time and place for one prayer. It wasn’t going to be answered even with my lucky cork. I’ll post a separate entry on this a little later so I don’t bog this down. I’m sure many of you will disagree but Sherm just had zero faith in his offensive line and so did I.

Special Teams:

  • Randy Bullock looked good but that was a bright spot outside of a streaking Arkeith Brown.
  • The worst part was the kickoffs after scoring on both sides early in the game. One involved Crabtree getting a strong return and then when our appointed 12th Man makes a great play, it gets brought back because someone was off sides. The only defense I can say is that I believe it was Bullock’s first kick off duty in a game so their timing could have been off a bit.
  • The other issues involved the return where we had a hold to bring it back half the distance to the goal line. Just have to get that cleaned up. We can’t have that stuff against Tech.
  • A great job by the kicking defense. They blocked two extra points and even returned one for a two point conversion. Arkeith looked great cruising that ball down the sideline. That’s the kind of stuff that can turn a game around but unfortunately our offense just couldn’t respond. Most importantly that play wound up being the difference between covering the spread and just having a push. Sure, with this team a push is some kind of victory but we COVERED the spread against Tech. Thank you and your fleet feet, Arkeith Brown.
  • I worry about Cyrus Gray returning kicks. He just doesn’t have that explosiveness you want in a kick returner and his fumble didn’t help. I do think it’s pretty amazing that Bradley Stephens never gets the ball. Don’t know if people are kicking off to Cyrus on purpose or if that’s just how it’s working out.
  • I also worry about Jordan Pugh on punts as you know. In a surprise move, Leach actually punted the ball once and Pugh didn’t look real comfortable pulling in the ball on a fair catch. I know I’m being critical but a muffed punt is going to manifest itself at a really bad time this season.
  • Nice work, Randy Bullock.

Offense:

  • Mike Goodson was one chop block away from taking it to the house on a sweep. Other than that he wasn’t too productive since we had no offensive line. Five more games. I should probably quit typing that as it’s just sad. I still don’t think we’re using him enough.
  • JJ looked great in the first half but Tech actually discovered his weakness. He doesn’t have an offensive line so he really wants you to blitz. He knows if six guys are coming at him then that means he’s got man coverage all over the field. At that point, he’s going to find someone and hit them. In the second half Tech realized that they could get enough pressure with a four man rush and poor JJ couldn’t find open guys coupled with a pass rush. I just worry other teams are going to start doing the same. I did love it when he stared down the Tech defensive lineman. Kid is fearless but I don’t think he can stare down too many other defensive lineman. Texas is going to rip our heads off with their four man rush that’s destroyed OU and now Mizzou. Just getting us ready for the inevitable. In addition to suffering from a porous offensive line, JJ didn’t get the benefit of his receivers as they dropped some sure passes. I believe the stat was five drops with each of them being for a first down had they been completed. For the most part, JJ was putting the ball on the mark when he had time. I love this kid. I won’t even mention the pass to Fuller that got called back. I don’t blame the game on that one play as the defense got the ball back and we wound up scoring to go up at halftime. It just really hurt his stats.
  • Sherm did the right thing with his offensive line. He had guys that were banged up and they needed rest. Unfortunately, it just meant he had a bunch of inexperienced guys playing in the position. He had to do it and the guys did a pretty solid job until they were just beat in the second half. I’m not going to bag on any of them but to be fair it was their lack of stopping the four man Tech rush that ultimately lead to us being on the wrong side of the scoreboard. I don’t blame the loss on them as they did all they could. It’s just the reality of why we lost. Let’s hope they just keep getting better. If you want to blame the loss on anyone, blame it on that money stealing joke of a coach that came before Sherman that didn’t feel offensive line was an important position to recruit to.
  • I personally think what Sherm is going to have to do from now on is leave Jorvorskie in as the lone back. We’re obviously not going under center anytime soon and we need the Train in there to help protect his back side. Plus, because he can catch the ball he can handle that new little shovel pass we incorporated on Saturday. The reason it stopped being effective was because Tech started twisting their DTs which spread our offensive line instead of giving them the ability to create a lane. Jorvorskie is the perfect guy for this situation because of his hands and feet. He can catch the ball in space and has the feet and balance to get 3-4 yards after the catch even with defensive linemen bearing down on him. He can also chip the DE and then release so that JJ can hit him in the flat. Seriously, this needs to happen as teams are just going to stop blitzing us and slow us down with a four man front. He can also motion in Goodson with Lane in the backfield and run a semi-traditional two back set just for a different look. I still think Goodson is most dangerous on sweeps but I just don’t think Sherman trusts his line. I’m not talking about a toss as I’m talking about a sweep where you have a tackle pulling. This is actually Shumard’s greatest strength so use it more.
  • Not sure there’s anything else to write about. Lots of positive with two obvious negatives in spotty offensive line play and dropped passes. I don’t think most people realized that we had 18 plays and 37 yards in the second half. We lost 27 yards on sacks in the second half. We had 16 plays and 25 yards if you don’t count that last drive after Tech’s cheap TD. JJ just looks more stylish so you don’t realize the lack of stats. Once again, we’re still waiting for 2 halves of football from the offense. We haven’t seen it all year.

Defense:

  • I know most of you want to skewer the defense but Joe Kines did what he could and did it admirably in my mind for about 55 minutes. He came back from that KSU debacle and pitched to contact like he should be doing. He did everything he could to win that game and just got little offensive support. He didn’t give up any big plays and actually held Tech for the most part. That’s all you can ask for. The only negative I can put on Joe Kines was that his blitzes weren’t called at the right time. He called a couple that we flat out got burned on. It’s not really a big knock because blitzes are so risky but you still have to call them to keep the offense honest.
  • I don’t know how anyone can pound on this defense that got three turnovers against Tech. Two of them were about as big as you can get to boost the offense. The second one came after Fuller’s TD was called back. Harrell lays out a bad pass and we wound up covering the fumble. Harrell was out of synch for much of the game on vertical passes and you have the defense to thank for that. I would have to go back and look at the film but I bet his total passing yards reflect only about 25% of his actual doing. The other 75% came from runs after catches by his receivers which is more a credit to the system he plays in and Tech’s receivers. He didn’t look good at all when he had to pass beyond 15 yards in the air. Credit the defense for that.
  • The third turnover was in a serious do or die situation after Cyrus Gray fumbled the kick return. Tech was ready to throw the dagger and the defense made a great play knocking the ball out of Crabtree’s hand and Bennett picking it off. HUGE play. Tech scores there and we get our butts handed to us and no one is questioning any of Sherm’s decisions and just call it a butt whipping.
  • The first turnover was all on the defense too. The two DTs actually made that happen. Lucas Patterson and Kellen Heard were lined up just outside the center on both sides. Patterson stunted to his left taking the center with him and Heard jumped the gap that Patterson created. Heard had Harrell in a flat out run backwards. Heard had his hands up and Harrell wound up overthrowing his guy in Hunter’s hands. All defense.
  • As a unit this defense did some great things. The linemen did a really nice job of keeping their heads and hands up. It didn’t wind up being that effective but Harrell was much slower to throw the ball because hands kept popping up in his throwing lanes. The lineman also did a nice job of pulling off and looking for the underneath stuff when they knew they were getting to Harrell. Our old defense would have kept pressuring for no apparent reason and never even attempting to trail the play.
  • I was surprised to see Tech tighten up their splits. I had read that Joe Kines wanted to run some faster guys on the defensive line and attack those splits. Tech never really let that happen which hurt our use of Von Miller to shoot those things.
  • The safeties did a nice job of playing the receiver and not the ball. There were some serious sticks out there so nice job of the safeties to pound on the receiver. You have to do that against Tech. Crabtree actually spent about 5 minutes out of the game in the 4th quarter because he got popped once.
  • Not much on the linebackers because we really ran a 4-1-6 for the most part which is why you saw Harrell hold on to the ball for so long with no pressure. That’s fine as it slowed them down. Harrell was not completely ready for what he saw. Had our offense showed up in the second half then the defense looks MUCH better statistically.
  • I love what I’m seeing out of Hunter and Frederick. A lot of those kids credit goes to their high school coach. Coach Joseph at Katy is a great defensive coach and these two kids show it. It’s nice to know we have two guys sitting back there that can contribute for a while. They both appear to be hard workers that understand the game and most importantly know how to win as they won a state championship last season at Katy. That can’t be understated since very few folks on this team really know how to win. Feel good about these two.
  • Don’t look at the stats when you look at this defense from that game. They played their hearts out and did everything they could to win. They should be proud outside of not knocking Harrell on his ass and getting in a little scrum to show some fight at the end of the game.

I’m sure Sherman is flat out depressed after this game. For about 45 minutes of football his team really stood a chance against Tech. He had his team believing and it was working for the most part. Unfortunately, his offensive line just couldn’t hold. I don’t want to call those guys out but their lack or protection is ultimately what did A&M in. They did an admirable job in the first half but just weren’t ready for Tech’s adjustments in the second half. Sherman had no choice but to play those guys though. I’m sure it was devastating for Sherm to call for that punt because he knew his pride and joy couldn’t hold. Like I said earlier, put this entire loss on Fran due to his lack of offensive line recruiting. That bird has come home to roost and to me that will always be his biggest sin.

All chances of bowling went out the window on Saturday. At this point, Sherman DESPERATELY needs to get to 4-8 with two wins over ISU, CU, and Baylor. If there’s only two wins in there I’d prefer CU and Baylor. I don’t think the ISU win is nearly as important as people make it out to be. Sherman appears to have these guys playing week to week so I don’t know that an ISU loss makes us spiral out of control. It would be a nice win but in my mind there’s no difference between 2-10 or 3-9 if that extra win is over ISU. I do think we beat ISU so it’s kind of a moot point.

If Sherm were to come back and go 5-7 and keeps OU and tu within 14 points then that’s all you can ask for. After Saturday’s game I do believe it’s entirely possible and if he’s a good coach he’ll get it done. There’s lots to build from this game and he needs to take it into the ISU game and then into the CU game. 4-5 would be damn nice going into OU.

Thoughts From the KSU Game

I’m not going to come up with any cute nicknames for this game because it pretty much sucked for the most part. Sure our offense put up passing like we’ve never seen before but much of it was either too little, too late or not converted into real points when we needed them most. Don’t fool yourself in that this is not a very good K-State team. We’ll get to the specifics of the game here in a bit, but there was NO reason for A&M to lose this game. In fact, I’d put about 70% of this game on the coaches and the other 30% on the players.

I will say that I think it’s apparent that Mike Sherman is committed to getting his youngsters some OJT. At this point in the season if there’s any meaningful experience to be had then he’s going to burn the shirt. Considering the heat he might be feeling from the fans, I say good for him. We need wins as soon as possible and if playing someone 6 games this season means 1-2 wins next season then we really have no choice. If he can’t recruit to replace these guys in year 5 then it’s just going to show in years 3-5 and it won’t really matter.

I just hope he does it at QB. Like I said all along it’s nothing personal against McGee and has everything to do with JJ making plays out of nothing and simply being our future. If JJ goes down at any point then I’d actually be okay with Tommy Dorman’s shirt being burned. I don’t think Tannehill should ever go back under center and should work WR exclusively from now on. Right now we’re playing for years 2 and 3 in the Sherm Era as they’re going to be the most crucial. If he’s not Top 25 by the middle of Year 3 then years 4 and 5 won’t matter because he won’t be getting it done on the field and all likelihood in recruiting. There is no reason for him to not be in the Top 25 come year 3. A great coach would have his team there.

On to the game analysis

Coaching:

  • We’re going to start with coaching this game because that’s what cost us the game. We’re sitting at 2-4 and have been all but blown out in all but one of them. I posted something on rcwouldhavegonefor2.wordpress.com looking at the coaches in their second year and in the current AP Top 25. The three coaches are Nick Saban, Butch Davis, and Mike Dantonio at Mich. St.. All three coaches blew out their first opponent at home and with the exception of Butch Davis losing to two pretty good teams on the road never got beat by more than 7 points last season. Check out the blog or ask me for a copy of the post and I’ll shoot it to you. It’s a small sample set but I think it’s pretty telling the consistency in the first year of those coaches. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, great coaches don’t get blown out. We’re now at blowout #3 coupled with losing to a lesser opponent at home to open up the Sherman Era. Based on this small sample size, things ain’t looking good.
  • The part about this game that got me more than anything was we lined up incorrectly 2 times on key plays, had a WR jump offsides, and had to call a timeout after a K-State timeout because we didn’t know what the hell was going on. That’s all on coaching right there. Blame the players all you want but lining up incorrectly and receivers jumping offsides are all on the coaching staff. Linemen should never lineup incorrectly and receivers should never move until the ball is snapped. They should never focus on anything else but the ball and its movement. Not sound, not offensive motion, and definitely not defensive motion.
  • We all love Jorvorskie, but the stubbornness to run him again in the EXACT SAME FORMATION AND PLAY on 4th and 2 after not getting credit for any yards was idiotic at best. Jorvorskie is a hell of a short yardage back only when the defense has to respect the pass. When the defense doesn’t have to respect the pass they’ll load up and stop the Train. The Train can displace linebackers all day long but he can’t run through a brick wall of defensive and offensive linemen. He’s not a violent runner and what makes him work best is his ability to adjust to a developing seam and then just load up and punish whoever might be coming through that seam to stop him. I hope Sherman learned his lesson as it was a pretty valuable one. We probably still lose that game, but it would have given us a puncher’s chance if we get in from 3rd and goal on the 2. I’m sorry, but I think great coaches get that score. At least Sherm admitted to it after the game.
  • Special teams is still having issues which I’ll get to in a bit but that’s all on coaching so I want to at least put that here.
  • This was just a poorly prepared team on Saturday. Based on practice reports I sometimes wonder if Sherm and his staff are worried too much about teaching technique and not worried about the mental and non-technical physical aspect of the game. They play more aggressive than Fran but they’re still making mental errors and definitely not whipping anyone’s ass.

Special Teams:

  • Probably the key moment of the game was the blocked punt and return for a TD. Most folks know this but that was the perfect time to go for a blocked punt by KSU. You see it all the time when a team is backed up and the punt return team goes for a jailbreak. We should have known this was coming and been ready for it. You run max protect in that situation and don’t worry about coverage until the ball is gone. We were on our 15 yard line. I hope we weren’t running max protect because if we were there’s even more to worry about.
  • Outside of that, the special teams units just seem unsure of themselves. No one is real assertive and just appear to be going through the motions. Maybe they need to put Billy Pickard in charge.
  • One of our onside kicks was one of the goofiest things I’ve ever seen when everyone knows it’s coming. We had the team equally split on the hashes and then had had our kicker squib it 10 yards straight ahead where KState had a guy ready for it. It made no sense. That’s the kind you run where you’re trying to sneak it on someone and there’s no one there. I’m personally a fan of lining up 10 people opposite of the kicker and hoping for a scrum and you wind up with the ball. It would be interesting to see the most successful onside kicks.
  • Von Miller made a hell of tackle on a kickoff or punt. I forgot which one it was now, but he basically had the pedal to metal and came behind the returner and tripped him up for a short gain. Hell of a play by him.
  • Mike Goodson retuned one punt and looked decent doing it. You can’t really see this on TV but Goodson is without a doubt the most explosive player on the field at all times. He just chews up yardage faster than anyone and at the same time can adjust his direction. It’s unreal. At this point, I don’t want to see anyone back there but Mike. In case you’re wondering, the kid is gone after this year. Just like Martellus and DeAndre Jordan, he’s not coming back. The reason he didn’t play in the 1st quarter was because he wasn’t going to class. Supposedly he has an athletic department person verify he attends class. If that’s true then you’ve got a junior skipping class knowing he’s going to get busted. Mind’s on draft and not next year. It hurts for me to type this, but enjoy the last 6 games of Mike Goodson in maroon and white. We let a legit Heisman Trophy contender waste away. Thanks Fran and Sherm. Both of you talked about utilizing him but you never really did. Nice work.

Offense:

  • Although we never got to see it, Mike Goodson = Stud. Sherman suspended him for a legitimate reason but I think his not playing in the 1st quarter cost us the game. You had a defense just asking to get gashed on the ground and we didn’t have our main offensive weapon for some 20 minutes. By then we were playing from behind and couldn’t establish the run. Mike did have some pretty good runs on sweeps where he just showed his speed and cutting/cornering ability. We did run a few options his way and they now need to be stricken from the playbook. I think this is one of the areas where Sherman needs to understand the college game. These aren’t professionals that get hit in the pocket when they screw up. I’m sure Goodson was pissed standing on the sidelines in the 1st quarter but it probably didn’t phase him at the end of the day. What Sherm, Cromwell, and Jordan need to do is incent the kid to go to class so he understands what missing a quarter means. It’s a completely different mindset. Discipline is fine, but motivation is important with key guys. Don’t baby them but give them a little extra motivation. Goodson should have been salivating all week knowing he was going to bust 100+ yards and at least two TDs against KSU. That’s why he needed to go to class.
  • Jerrod Johnson became the first Aggie QB to exceed 400 yards in a game. The kid still has a long ways to go but there are moments that take your breath away. It’s what he does. The kid is exactly what this offense needs right now. He stands tall, steps up, and can buy time with his feet while still looking to pass. He’s getting much better about realizing when to run and when to keep buying time. In all honesty, he’s the only chance of Sherm being able to keep his job long term. I hope Sherm realizes this at this point. Look at practice all you want but this kid is a gamer. When the lights and pressure are on he’s ALWAYS looking to move the ball. ALWAYS. Not many people have that inherent talent but he does. Don’t get me wrong in that he missed a few passes (mainly one to Cyrus Gray) but he also completed a couple of passes that could have never been completed by anyone else. Let’s also not forget JJ is the likely reason we have two wins and not one due to that win over UNM.
  • LOOK EVERYONE!!!!! It’s Howard Morrow. Remember him!?!?!?!? He’s not only back but he has a sleeve on his left arm. He’s very fashion forward these days. He mad a hellacious catch on a ball that JJ laid out a bit too far but Morrow extended out parallel with the ground and hauled it in. Not many people can do that but Morrow can. Morrow actually got a lot more playing time as the game progressed and looked decent although JJ never really looked his way much. Morrow did have a nice block on Tannehill’s garbage time TD so it’s good to see him using that Fran training. Let’s hope he keeps developing as Fuller, Tannehill, Morrow, and J. McCoy could be solid next season. Yes, everything is about next season at this point.
  • Jeff Fuller is a beast and JJ loves him so. JJ has complete confidence in this kid and is not afraid to lay it out there when he’s in single coverage. I don’t blame him one bit. Fuller still needs to work on securing the ball upon catching it, but this kid is going to be outstanding. He and JJ are probably going to set all kinds of passing and receiving records by the time they’re gone. I’m okay with that.
  • I’m not sure what to think on the offensive line. The starters look like a MASH unit and I think their backups are actually playing better. Schneider, Grimes, and Shumard all came out at some points during the game. Poor Grimey was feeling it in the second quarter of the game and couldn’t even stand up during that extended KSU/A&M synchronized time out in the second quarter. Kudos to all of those guys playing hurt but when you can’t stand up in the second quarter and are still playing we’ve got issues. I really think at this point you give those guys two weeks off to get healthy and get these other youngsters some OJT and see what they can do. Right now the current starters are not really helping anyone due to their injuries. I know there’s no depth there but let them heal. Kevin Matthews may not be an NFL prospect but he’s got the best technique on the line and knows how to read a defense. Let’s hope the others can learn from him.
  • Our tackles get their own bullet point because they’re pretty damn bad. They get smoked something fierce and they need to learn just run the DEs or LBs and not even try to engage them. The actual best block occurred when one of our tackles was bull rushed and fell down taking the DE with him. Hey, whatever works. That might just be further proof we need to learn to chop block better. Maybe Howard Morrow and his sleeve can run some clinics this week.
  • We burned K.J. Williams shirt this weekend so we might as well get him some real OJT. Ja. McCoy won’t ever be a true TE so it’s time to find out if K.J. has any promise. Kind of wished we could have done it earlier but I guess Sherm held out some promise he could cobble together six wins and keep some people shirted. Now it’s all best are off and it’s time for shirts to be burned.

Defense:

  • Remember how I normally gush about Joe Kines pitching to contact? Well, he was throwing meat balls this entire game. That whole defensive debacle was on him. We were so afraid of Josh Freeman’s arm that I don’t think he ever once worried about the running game. Credit to Ron Prince and his staff for seeing our weakness on film which is getting gashed between the tackles. I didn’t track it every play but almost every time we were in a 3 man front they ran the ball between the tackle. Whenever we had a four man front they threw the ball. I’m sorry Joe but you can’t beat any team in America when you’re letting them gash you for 4-5 yards a carry.
  • KSU scored their first three TD on drives of 81, 93, and 47 yards. They totaled 27 plays in those three drives for an average per play of 8.2 yards and chewed up 15:14 of the first half just on those three drives.
  • Statistically, this was just a HORRIBLE game. They averaged 4.6 yards per carry on 47 carries and Josh Freeman was 21-26 through the air averaging 9.0 yards per attempt and 11.1 yards per completion. The longest run was 15 yards and the longest pass was for 32 yards so in reality they just chewed us up and spit us out.
  • Based on the stats, no one really stood out individually. Arkeith Brown had a nice pass defense, Tony Jerod-Eddie had a nice pressure, and Lucas Patterson had a nice play where slipped the linemen to fill a gap. We did have a few decent sacks but I don’t remember it being due to individual effort as much as it was for team effort.
  • We burned Billy Chavis’ shirt for this season so we have that going for us.
  • I’m not going to go on because it was just a horrible day defensively. Not sure why the offense and defense can’t synch up but just it’s not happening.

What I want to see for the Tech game is the exact same offense we saw on Saturday with a little more Goodson from the beginning to chew up some TOP and keep the defense off the field as much as possible. Joe Ganz of Nebraska was 36 of 44 against Tech on Saturday with one crucial pick in OT so you know they can be passed on. I would run a boat load of sweeps to stretch the field and then let JJ do his thing. If we don’t score 30 on Tech then I’ll consider this game a complete failure offensively.

Defensively, Boxcar Joe has to run a 4-2-5 in my mind. With Baron Batch, Mike Leach is committed to the run now more than ever. If we continue to run our 3-3-5 then we’ll get gashed just like KSU did to us. Featherston has to either fill the gap on a running play or look to cover crossing routes if it’s a pass. He just needs to play zone defense like a center in basketball. If someone comes in your area you make them pay. Von Miller has to be moved around and looking to shoot those wide splits. He can’t really cover in space so pin his ears back and let him go. Make your corners play closer because Von is going get there in a hurry. I also bring up Alton Dixon on occasion just for a different look.

From a defensive back standpoint the safeties have to play the receiver and not the ball. As soon as the ball is in the air, find the receiver and go look to punish them and don’t worry about making a play on the ball unless you absolutely know you can catch it or get in front. I think you have to have Arkeith Brown playing three yards off Crabtree with an inside shade to limit him coming inside and using the sideline as your friend. Mix up man and safety help so the Tech offense is never sure what’s coming. Easier said than done but beating this Tech offense is all about confusion since it’s such a read based offense.

Joe Kines has beat this offense before and I believe he can do it again. I do believe it’s entirely possible that we could beat Tech in a 35-28 shootout like Nebraska almost did. Nebraska is not a very good team and the Belini (sic) brothers found a way to slow them down at home. I watch that game a ton in addition to how OSU shut down Mizzou this past weekend to see what was done to slow down these spread offenses.

I’m not saying we do win as I’m actually guessing that our offense sputters early and Tech gets a couple quick scores and then the route is on. I’m actually thinking of a 45-21 beat down.

Okie State Game Thoughts

I was able to watch the OkSU game through the magic of the Interweb and surprisingly got a much better feel for what took place than listening to the soothing sounds of Dave and Dave. We’re going to call this game the watered down Sex Panther game. It’s like Shem and Co. took the Miami game and only made it work every time 30% to 40% of the time. There were definitely some positives from the game but there’s even more negatives in my mind.

I’m going to call this game a 7-14 point win by OkSU. We definitely gifted them some points but they didn’t play as good as the score suggested and we didn’t play as bad. They did beat us fair and square by 7-14 points though. No way a few breaks here and there let us win that game. We got beat plain and simple.

OkSU is a pretty formidable team but they’re definitely not on the level of OU, tu, or Missouri. They might be just slightly below Kansas and Tech as I don’t think Tech has really played anyone to test them yet. Based on what I saw I do think we can go 6-6 if we can ever get that Sex Panther up to 80% of the game.

Let’s get to the specifics of the game:

Special Teams:

  • Starting off with these guys because they were HOR-EN-DUS outside of a couple of things.
  • I’d said it before and I’m going to say it again that if Jordan Pugh really is our best punt returner then we’re hosed. I don’t know if he’s being coached to stay away from the ball but he’s definitely not willing to go into traffic and call for a fair catch. Maybe he just doesn’t know how to position himself but whatever it is it’s removing any threat of a return we might have..
  • Coverage and tackling is still really bad so I don’t know what’s going on there. I think Kirk Doll needs to channel his inner Frank Beamer and get this thing going.
  • The two great things I saw were that we got to the punter a couple of times and did it in a great manner. We tested their splits and blocking on the first punt and got fairly close. On the second punt we pulled off and then on the third punt we had a flat out jail break. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to the ball but wound up getting to the punter. Surprisingly, we didn’t maul the guy and only got a 5 yard penalty. Sadly, all they needed was 4 ½ for the first down so they did get that. I was actually really pissed listening to the radio as I thought it was just lack of discipline but when you’re going for the ball in that manner incidental contact happens sometimes so I’m okay with that. I’m just glad we took the chance considering how we were down. Honestly, if we get that it could have swung the game. They still win but it would have been much more competitive.

Offense:

  • Guess what goes here? That’s right – Michael Goodson = STUD. Remember when he outran the Miami defense? Well, he blew the damn doors off the OkSU defense. He didn’t really get a chance to establish himself outside of that as we pretty much abandoned a consistent running game but he looked good a few times. I still believe he’s the most explosive player in the Big XII and I mean that. Maclin is pretty special but Goodson is truly Reggie Bush like. In that Mizzou offense he’d be leading the Heisman talk.
  • I believe Whitney Houston said it best when she sang, “I believe that Jerrod Johnson is our future. Teach him well and let him lead the way.” He definitely had more bad moments than good but he’s the only shot we have at six wins this season. He does something we haven’t seen in a long time and that’s make teams pay for blitzing. He stands tall in the pocket and delivers the ball before getting hit. OkSU actually pulled off blitzing a lot of time which actually hurts JJ. He does much better when teams are loading up as he sees its, reads it, and knows where single coverage is. He simply delivers the ball right before contact. His throws aren’t always on the mark but the kid is fearless through the air. He’s still got a long ways to go but when he has those moments where he moves the ball you just smile because he actually got the better of the defense. Keep on keeping on, JJ. We need you out there getting some serious OJT.
  • Fuller needs to work on securing the ball but the kid is a stud. He and JJ pitching and catching are the future of this program offensively.
  • Tannehill made a few great catches. He, Fuller, and JJ are going to be pretty formidable for a couple of years.
  • The offensive line actually did a pretty decent job of blocking. They still got burned and vapor locked a few times but they were picking up blitzes and knew their assignments. They did get shuffled in the second half as it looked like Matthews and Vince Williams were running guard with Brian Thomas snapping the ball. Not sure if that was due to injuries or what. Either way, they looked decent but the OkSU defense is not that solid. Still, maybe this group can hold their own against KSU, ISU, CU, and Baylor.
  • I love Jamie McCoy but the kid still has problems blocking. I can relate to him because I played TE in high school and often went up against DEs that were 30-40 pounds more than me. My coach told me I was never going to dominate them so just engage them as long as I could. McCoy still has issues engaging people at times but he’s giving it all he has. He actually did decent a few times but there were also a few times he just missed his guy. He’s such a great receiver that you take the negative and hope he just gets better at engaging people. He’s definitely working at it but he has problems.
  • Good to see the Train worked into various packages. I don’t know if the FB experiment is over but he played tailback and did what the Train does. I’m actually hoping he gets his TD record this weekend and it energizes him for the rest of the season. He actually did decent on blitz pick up a few times as well as catching the ball out of the backfield. It’ll be interesting to see how he gets used going forward.

Defense:

  • Once again, Joe Kines pitched to contact in the first half. He knew OkSU’s reads and positioned our guys perfectly for the most part. OkSU does that crap where the coach reads the defense and then signals in the play. Kines had his defense adjusting after the call and usually had the play sniffed. Gundy adjusted in the second half and we didn’t do nearly as well. Still, for a half Joe Kines did all he could.
  • The goal line stand was a thing of beauty. BIG credit to the defense on that one.
  • We suffer big time from cut backs and the zone read. We’re so hell bent on attacking the ball that we lose contain really easily when someone cuts back. We’re also so bent for the ball that our outside guys go after the play action leaving the outside wide open for the QB most of the time on a zone read. Sure that’s what the zone read is built to do but you need to confuse the QB just a tad and we’re not doing it at all.
  • We still need help on tackling head up. We like to tackle from the side and from behind just like I like shooting dove. Doves are pretty safe coming straight at me just like offensive ball carriers against the Aggie defense. They’ll get better but they’re just lacking it right now. Me, I’m still not getting better about dove coming at me.
  • Jordan Pugh and Arkeith Brown need to be our starting corners. I’m not going to completely bash a player but someone got burned pretty bad on simple routes by Dez Bryant. Sure, you’re a little on edge covering someone like Dez but this person just whiffed a couple of times and doesn’t bring anything else from a run support standpoint. Arkeith is going to vapor lock sometimes but I think he has more raw talent than the person I won’t name from both a coverage and run support standpoint.
  • Trent Hunter can flat out stick. I don’t know how well he can cover but he’s easily the best tackler on our team and tackler we’ve probably seen in 5-6 years. He’s going to have an outstanding four year career I believe.
  • The tackles still aren’t getting a great push up front. I don’t really expect it out of Patterson because he’s so sound technique wise but the other guys aren’t disrupting much. It looks like Tony Jerod-Eddie has pretty much displaced Kellen Heard as the other starter. It’s disappointing as Heard has so much talent but he’s just not delivering consistently.
  • The defensive ends did fine except for not realizing when the QB was keeping the ball but that was mainly due to the fact the QB reads the DE and we were hell bent on crashing on the RB so the QB kept knowing the DE wouldn’t be out there.
  • Our LBs are still a major work in progress. Anthony Lewis actually saw a lot of time so I don’t know what lead to that but the kid does hold lots of promise. Von Miller is still learning to play in space. Garrick Williams looked okay but definitely nothing special. Hopefully these guys get better and have solid years next season.

I posted it already but I really think at worst Sherm has to win one of KSU or CU at home and then one of ISU or Baylor on the road. Ideally Baylor as Briles beating Sherm could really hurt recruiting wise. I think best case is that we beat KSU, ISU, CU, and Baylor. There’s not a chance in Hades we’re beating Tech, OU, or the sips. Just not going to happen. 6-6 is the best hope we have right now.

I’m excited for Saturday as I do think we can pull it off and get to six wins. Will we? I don’t know but we’re going to find out a lot on Saturday.

First Post – Name Explanation

The name comes from my trip to Clemson back in 2005.  We took on the mighty Clemson Tigers with a team that should have been on the rise after coming off a Cotton Bowl berth.  I’ve drank a lot of beers since then so I don’t remember the exact details but late in the game Coach Fran went for an extra point when he clearly should have gone for 2.  His defense was getting gashed and it wasn’t certain we’d get the ball back.

I believe we lost that game by one point which is why he should have gone for 2.  The point of the name is that after the final second ticked off and we lost, I turned around behind me and there was this older Aggie that looked at me and said, “Young man, RC would have gone for 2.”  He said nothing else and walked on.  No other exchange other than, “Young man, RC would have gone for 2” and that was it.  I could clearly tell he wasn’t on the FranWagon like me.

I was a very vocal opponent to RC for oh, about 7 years so I thought the old man was crazy because he couldn’t see what Fran was building like I could.  It was a one point loss on the road to open up the season agaisnt a decent Clemson team.  I joked to people that night that I was going to get the url http://www.rcwouldhavegonefor2.com to show those idiotic RC supporters what fools they were as Fran brought us to national prominence.  Well, the joke wound up being on me because he was right.  Fran wasn’t the answer and here we stand.