It's time to bring this back and to reward Scott's patience with it. Texas A&M: Establishment. That word should be the battle cry and ethos for Texas A&M football this season. This is a very tradition rich program with a whole lot of money that is a wonderful fit for the SEC. In the long run, I think the move will greatly benefit both parties. That being said, onto football. Texas A&M will be looking to establish a new chapter in their history in a new conference at a very bad time to be the new kid on the block. That being said, this isn't SMU or Baylor. They've got some very solid building blocks that should make them competitive in this conference. They have a new coach looking to establish an identity and so long as they remain competitive (meaning in the shot for a bowl slot), he'll buy himself a few years time to build what he wants. One thing A&M will find in the SEC West is that establishing the run is an absolute must in this division. A&M returns a stout offensive line and they are chalk full of questions at QB. They've had a great RB (I can't remember his name) who keeps getting hurt, but if they can keep him healthy, that kid should carry a load. It looks like they have solid backups and a good young recruit in. Establishing the run and creating a physical presence on the offensive side of the ball cannot be emphasized enough in this division. That pass happy **** in the Big12 won't fly here. There are passing teams in this conference, but even they run the ball. What separates the contenders from the pretenders in this division is the ability to put a game away with your offensive line. A&M has the tools to do that and I'd recommend highly that they not lose sight of that. They will need a QB to stand up and establish himself. Likewise, they'll need at least 2 WRs in time to stand up and establish themselves. I'm not sure the answer is on the roster at the moment, but we'll see. Recruiting in this conference should help with that. Texas has always had the edge of being 'the best' in this state, but with this new allegiance A&M will be able to market themselves to student-athletes as an opportunity to prove you're the best against the best. Texas is no longer even a part of that conversation, sorry Longhorns. I know it appears A&M may look to throw the ball a lot in their future, but they're going to be surprised to find just how good many of these defenses are in the SEC against that type of attack. As I said before, I think they have a need at those 2 spots but odd as it may sound, those are spots you can take your time finding the right guy in this division if you are solid in other facets. OLine and defense wins out in this division. Speaking of defense.. Texas A&M has a very solid group of Linebackers (when don't they?), and although they have some questions along the DLine, this should be formidable unit against the run. Where the Aggies have questions are in the defensive secondary. The good news? Not a lot of teams (aside from Arkansas) really want to beat you with the pass in this division. Alabama has the QB to beat you with the pass, but Saban would much prefer to run it down your throat and beat you 17-0 then he would win a shootout 42-31. Back to the point of establishment, this is a very good year for A&M to establish themselves as a force against the run and establish a reputation in their new home as a force to be reckoned with. If they get beat in the air, fine. You can recruit your way out of that in time. What you can't be in this division is a team getting whipped between the hash marks. It simply is not acceptable and I hope A&M doesn't lose sight of that in their rebuild for this team. As for the schedule, I think it would be great for A&M to establish their home field and their place on the schedule with at least one marquis/name brand big win in the conference this year. There's no place better to get that than at Kyle Field and I think they're going to find playing on the road in the SEC to be a very difficult task...at a minimum, much more difficult than it is in the Big12. After the season opener at La Tech, there is no better opportunity for A&M to get that big win then when the Florida Gators come calling on Kyle Field on Sept 8th. The Gators are a big name team with a lot of questions to answer themselves. If this was a rebuild under Meyer or Spurrier, I'd give the nod to the Gators but I'm not sure that's the case with the new guy. Playing in big, crazy venues is nothing new to the Gators. At the same time, historically, they've had trouble on the road in snake pits such as Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Starkville and Baton Rouge. This is as good a time as any to put College Station on that list. After the Gators come calling, they close out Sept with games at SMU, home against SoCar State and home against Arkansas. Needless to say, that home date with Arkansas looms rather scary. That's a team that does all the things well that A&M will struggle to stop. Other than home field, I have no good feelings for the Aggies in that game. October could be brutal. They go at Ole Miss, they get LSU at home and then head to Auburn. I think the Aggies will find that playing down on the Grove and the loveliest little village down on the Plains can be landmines. They should beat Ole Miss, but that game with Auburn should be circled in red. That could be a great shot at a marquis road win, and another opportunity to establish themselves as a presence in the SEC. Any time the 'high point' of your month is to have one of the top 3 teams in the nation come calling, that's a pretty low valley. November brings hope and possible death to the Aggies. I can't emphasize again how important that game at Auburn to close out October is. They start November by heading to Starkville to take on a very physical, very tough Miss State team with a QB who can throw the ball all over the place. We'll find out a lot about the future of both teams right there. As if the sh*thole of Starkville wasn't bad enough, A&M then travels to Tuscaloosa the next week to take on the Crimson Tide. Honestly, they might as well just stay in Hoover and practice there all week. That would make their week easier and that's the only thing that will be easy about playing the Tide in T'town. The Aggies close out November with home dates against Sam Houston State and Missouri (who they should be quite familiar with). If the Tigers are stout at throwing the ball around, it could be trouble for the Ags. Then again, this may well be a team on the verge of a bowl spot in a must win situation playing at home. That bodes well for the Aggies. I could see A&M rolling into that Missouri game a 5 win team with 1 win in the SEC over Ole Miss. As I said, they get some shots at turning their season around and taking it to a level higher than most experts figure. I just don't see any way in hell they are going to beat either Arkansas (because of what they do) and Alabama (because of who and what they are). LSU is also highly unlikely regardless of the hatred between the two. That leaves Florida at home, and Auburn/Miss State on the road to make or break a memorable 1st year in the SEC. Welcome to Thunderdome Aggies, establish yourselves.
Not bad... I think you missed some things on both the strengths and weaknesses, but we're going to be so "new" I'm content to wait and see. I sure wish we'd been given a night slot for the Florida game. It's gonna be hotter than heck at 2:30... ugh. I think folks are going to be surprised at what this offense is capable of. The OL is ridiculous. It's finally two deep in bad-ass talent and the RB's are ready to take advantage. (Mike Sherman knew OL!) Newcomer Trent Williams put on a show at this past weekend's scrimmage, giving notice he's ready for some touches immediately. We won't have any trouble at WR... we are more than solid there. I'm just ready to get started! Oh... and just so our old Big 12 friends know we still love them, we put up a sign in Austin...
I get what you're saying Scott. I tried to stick with more 'core' items that we know for certain to be true. One offense, your core is your offensive line and that's a very good thing. On defense, it's your LB corps. You've made some moves to get more perimeter pressure along the defensive front, but that's still a bit of a question to me. Your secondary is a huge question. Recruits and JUCOs aren't answers until they prove it on the field. My single biggest concern for you guys is that I am still not sure you know what you're getting into yet, but you're about to find out. There are three programs in terms of tradition etc that are well aware of the Aggies: Alabama, Arkansas and LSU. Sadly for you guys, all 3 are in your division and two of them are arguably in the top 5 of the nation. (at least). New is a double edged sword. You guys have a ton of potential, but you also have a lot of questions. Momentum means quite a bit and I think you are in an interesting situation in which you can beat a few teams and launch yourself into a great 9 win season. At the same time, you may be .500 I have very good feelings about you guys in a long term prognosis. We're going to see how ready you guys are right now. You're better than Ole Miss. You're not as good as Alabama or LSU, yet. Where you fit into the shuffle between Auburn, Miss State and Arkansas?? We're about to find out and you play 2 of those 3 on the road with the home game against a team I'm not sure you can beat. I actually have great faith in your offensive potential at A&M. I'm not sure you guys realize how good these defenses are in this conference right now. I like that you don't play Alabama until November. Saban has a way of figuring out and exposing offensive weaknesses that future opponents can exploit. Playing them later will probably help you, although they'll most likely have solved any questions they have about themselves by then. I'd love to see you guys finish 3rd. I think that would be a smashing success. I don't think it will happen, but we'll see. I'm rooting for ya!
UF was 7th in the nation in defense last year....and has 10 starters returning....an obvious team strength. The Aggies will get to see a legit SEC defense right out of the gate.
Yet you're no better than the 4th best defense on their schedule. Not everyone gets to benefit from playing in the SEC East. Alabama, LSU (and even Furman) had no issue scoring on you. Not everyone is Florida Atlantic, UAB or Kentucky.. As a matter of fact, looking at it, you played some really bad offenses.. Eh whatever.. wait your turn. Florida is coming up, but not yet.
What you're forgetting Corey is that UF's pathetic offense.....no wait....putrid offense....last season put the defense in huge holes all year. Best example for that and it's a damned good one is the 95 TOTAL yards given up to FSU in a 21-7 loss.....which is a head scratchin stat until you remember how challenged and TO prone our offense was.
Thread hijack.....This just in Auburn RB has fake transcript....I'm shocked I tell you I'm shocked. Auburn RB Fake Transcript
Hey Terry, JO'Co's first post in the topic linked below covered the Auburn transcript problem. http://www.theskybox.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=8202
Love the sign in Austin. Love that the Aggies are in the SEC. I will be glued to the TV for our game with the Aggies. It's a big game for the Gators trying to scratch our way back to being relevant. But we will arrive with a QB that has a lot of potential but a real lack of experience. I don't know which one of our two guys that is going to be yet but we should know within a couple of weeks.
Jesus Christ.. No, I did not forget, overlook or not know about your shitty offense. I wasn't reviewing the Florida Gators. I told you that you'd get your review, but you still gotta make every team review about the Gators.. So, since no one wants to follow the format of this thing.. we'll do this. Missouri: Athletic, benefits from playing in the down SEC East, hurt by getting Alabama and A&M as their non-divisional opponents. They may well be in trouble because they lack the defense in my opinion to play SEC football so it won't matter how good their offense is. Alabama: Quite possibly the #1 team in the country and if they don't get beat by Michigan, I'm not sure they're going to lose. LSU: May be better than last year, but they are still in the same division as the Crimson Tide. Kentucky: Shitty South Carolina: Are they really a 10+ win team or has their schedule been soft? The schedule isn't really soft this year, so we'll see. Auburn: Has an absolute ton of questions but they also return a lot of great football players. Before Cam, this was a team without an identity. Since Cam, they are a team without an identity. We'll learn a lot about their HC this year. Florida: Ask Dave All points in between, ask everyone Dave how these teams relate to the Florida Gators.
I am Corey.....BTW, when do we start talkin' Nebraska? Now?....how 'bout now.....Corey...you there?....you want me to call you on my....Nebraska phone....so we can talk about...the....Huskers....call me and let me know....call me on my...Husker phone....thanks....till later when we talk about the...CORNHUSKERS...and the Train....the Train they call....Nebraska...The Nebraska Cornhuskers....the Big N....The Red N.....The Big Red N........NNNNNNN.....yyyyeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhh
Corey, Florida is Texas A&M's very first SEC game....so THAT makes the UF-A&M game a big deal and relevant to any analysis of the Aggies this year. The addition of the Aggies to the SEC is a pretty good interest story nationwide and playing SEC stalwart Florida at home will generate some national interest and a whole ton of interest for Texas A&M fans as well as Gator fans. You mentioned SEC defenses.....and I just said they will see one in Florida.
I see that the Aggies are starting a Freshman QB, I don't remember if he's a redshirt or true freshman.
Johnny Manziel... RS Fish is named the starter for now. Gotta love his nickname: "Johnny F'ing Football"
Our two QB's fighting it out for the starting position are both true Sophmores so they came in at the same time as the Aggie starter. We are still waiting to see who it is going to be.
Nah... his mistake was actually speaking to them rather than slinking off leaving his vehicle protruding from a building...