The Countdown
[h2]No. 10: Texas A&M[/h2][h4]By Paul Myerberg // Aug 25, 2011[/h4]
Welcome to College Station: don’t forget your folding chairs. And your military regalia, love of dogs and knowledge of — don’t hate the messenger — puzzling chants and yells. Pucker up after every touchdown; cheer your voice hoarse for the 12th man; rally behind a one-two backfield punch nearly unparalleled in college football; welcome back a senior quarterback, once again; and rise and welcome a coach who has rapidly transformed from a punch line to a perfect fit. It’s turn back the clock year in College Station, as after the darkest decade in generations the Aggies have reclaimed some of the luster lost during rival Texas’s monstrous revival under Mack Brown. Welcome back to College Station: happy days are here again.
Conference
Big 12
Location
College Station, Tex.
Nickname
Aggies
Returning starters
18 (10 offense, 8 defense)
Last year’s ranking
No. 34
2010 record
(9-4, 6-2)
Last year’s
re-ranking
No. 21
2011 schedule
- Sept. 4
S.M.U.
- Sept. 17
Idaho
- Sept. 24
Oklahoma St.
- Oct. 1
Arkansas (in Arlington, Tex.)
- Oct. 8
at Texas Tech
- Oct. 15
Baylor
- Oct. 22
at Iowa St.
- Oct. 29
Missouri
- Nov. 5
at Oklahoma
- Nov. 12
at Kansas St.
- Nov. 19
Kansas
- Nov. 24
Texas
[h3]Last year’s prediction[/h3]
Surely, this team has turned a corner. (Still), Texas A&M is not yet ready for prime time. While the rest of the offense is in wonderful shape, the defense has yet to prove itself capable of stopping any offense of consequence. This group will be improved, and landing DeRuyter may end up being a coup, but the defense continues to face question marks alone the line and in the secondary. It’s clear that the Aggies have improved, and this improvement will reveal itself in the win column. Eight wins should be expected, thanks to this offense and a schedule conducive to early success. It will be nice to see the Aggies winning games again, especially after the last three years. Having said that, this program remains a season away from having the depth and top-to-bottom talent to challenge the Sooners and Longhorns in the Big 12.
[h3]2010 recap[/h3]
In a nutshell Let’s reverse the regular season, pitting Texas A&M against Texas to start the year and moving backwards through time: in this hypothetical, Texas A&M is ranked in the top three nationally once we reach the midway point. Disagree? Take a glance at what the Aggies achieved over the final half of the regular season: wins over Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech and Kansas, and extremely impressive home wins over Oklahoma and Nebraska, the latter pair coming over the first three weeks of November. It’s merely a hypothetical, but one that does illustrate just how impressive the Aggies were down the stretch, erasing the foul taste of a three-game losing streak that had the team staring at a .500 mark through six games. In the process, Mike Sherman has the program and its fans in the recently infrequently habit of thinking big: after rejuvenating the program over the second half of 2010, the Aggies are eying a national championship run in 2011.
High point Six straight wins to end the season. The contenders for finest moment: a 33-19 win over Oklahoma, a 9-6 win over Nebraska and a 24-17 win in Austin over the hated Longhorns. At another program, I’d think the win over Nebraska — complete with the best home crowd of the F.B.S. season — would be the choice. Not here: it’s Texas.
Low point A three-game losing streak that coincided with the start of Big 12 play; it also came on the heels of a 3-0 start to the season, evening Texas A&M’s season heading into an Oct. 23 date with Kansas.
Tidbit Texas A&M’s roster lists 118 players, from Alexander to Woodum and all points in between. Of those 118 players, 103 are from Texas — 87.3 percent, which is a lot. Eight players come from Louisiana, two from Florida and one each from Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. America’s Dairyland, you might ask? Well, sort of: defensive back Johntel Franklin played his high school ball in Madison, but he’s in College Station via the JUCO ranks of California.
Tidbit (150-word preview edition) Today’s guest writer is loyal reader Ol’ Rock, whose correct answer to a quiz in the Maryland preview, which you can find along the right sidebar, earned him the opportunity to pen a 100-word preview of his favorite team. His team? The Texas A&M Aggies. Take it away, Ol’ Rock; if you remember, Ol’ Rock did such an amazing job answering his quiz question that he earned a shot at 150 words, not the normal 100 words:
The 2011 Fightin’ Texas Aggies look very familiar, returning 18 of the 22 starters from last year, as Head Coach Mike Sherman and Defensive Coordinator Tim Deruyter look poised to show that this experienced Texas A&M squad can be a leader in the new “Big 12-2.
