Texas A&M Finally Recognized - bccards13's Blog

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Texas A&M Finally Recognized

Posted on November 11, 2012 at 12:26 PM.

I just want to say from the beginning that I am biased to Texas A&M being a fan since I first learned about college football. So if you want an objective look at the game I ask that you go somewhere else to read.

Now that that's out of the way I can without a doubt say that Texas A&M has been for the past few weeks one of the most underrated teams in the country. Of course now that statement is not true but at least now I can be believed when I say it. And it has been true for a while. The only two losses A&M had were to current top 10 teams and by less than a touchdown in each case. The one cause of the Aggies defeats has been a nagging problem. Turnovers. Against LSU the Aggies turned it over 4 times and yet still managed to stay with LSU until the end of the game. And against Ole Miss the Aggies turned it over 6 times to Ole Miss's 2! Over the course of the season they have been minus 7 in the turnover category which usually doesn't happen to winning teams. Yet turnovers were what gave A&M their boost. 0 turnovers to Alabama's 3. Taking care of the ball is one thing, but taking away the ball is another. Showing the ability to actually control the ball and the pace of the game is a good sign for a team that has hopefully three more years of Johnny Football. Without those three turnovers Texas A&M falls to Alabama, plain and simple.

The defense of Texas A&M won the game and it's worth noting that they haven't just now started to show up. Damontre Moore has 11.5 sacks and 70 total tackles on the season and has been a very difficult player to contain for any offensive line. On top of that they have 9 interceptions thanks to a solid secondary which has kept passing games in check many times. Though the defense has had off nights to teams like Louisiana Tech and Ole Miss, most of the season the D has remained solid against tough offenses. As the saying goes offense wins games, but defense wins championships.

Speaking of championships Alabama has probably been knocked out of national title discussions at least for the time being. With only 1 loss it's hard to say the Crimson Tide aren't still the best team in the country but even so Notre Dame and Kansas State have been nothing short of impressive so far this year. And of course the question does come to "Does Texas A&M have a shot at the title?" Short answer: no. Anyone not wanting a long drawn out response to this question should skip this next paragraph.

Long answer: it's about 10%. The Aggies would need a lot of help to get to the national championship game. First they'd need to win out which shouldn't be difficult since they're remaining schedule is Sam Houston and Missouri. Second they'd need the SEC title which would most likely have them facing Florida, assuming Alabama loses to Auburn or Western Carolina which there is a very good chance that won't happen. But even so Alabama's schedule hasn't been too difficult for a national champion. Western Carolina, Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida Atlantic and Western Kentucky aren't exactly powerhouses. On the other hand, A&M has played SMU, South Carolina State, Sam Houston, Auburn, Arkansas, and also lost to LSU. So the schedules are in favor of A&M but the loss to LSU hurts them badly. On top of that there are more favorable teams to choose from like Notre Dame, Kansas State, Oregon, and such. Assuming all of the top 5 lose out, and A&M wins the SEC title game, there is a chance they can go, but even with all of this in their favor, it's still a 50-50 chance at best.

I think the final point to make here is something that's not mentioned too often. The change to Kevin Sumlin as head coach. Sumlin's high tempo offense has spawned the first heisman candidate from A&M since Bucky Richardson in '91 who finished 10th in the voting. And it's a freshman. Johnny Manziel's success has been mostly due to his freakish athletic ability, but also due to the high tempo game of Sumlin's air raid style offense. Manziel is one of the better quarterbacks to play at A&M in recent memory. This is including first round draft pick Ryan Tannehill who isn't remembered by Aggie fans as being very successful. I give Kevin Sumlin a lot of the credit for taking a Texas A&M team that was supposed to struggle at the bottom of the SEC and bringing them to the very top of the dog pile so to speak. Of course a quarterback like Johnny Manziel does help when you just start a new job.

So hats off to Kevin Sumlin, hats off to Johnny Football and Damontre Moore, and congrats to the entire Texas A&M football team on a solid win against the #1 team in the country. Gig 'em!

Comments

# 1 Jimbo614 @ Nov 11

First off, obviously A&M didn't get the memo that they was supposed to let Alabama Through undefeated to play in the NCG for the sake of the SEC (6 straight???). Everybody got it except the new kid.
But in all seriousness, your assessment of A&M is dead on. Nobody should have been shocked at the upset. LSU exposed Alabama's weakness.. Fatigue. And the A&M offense was the last thing the Tide needed to run into following the "Thrilla in Louisiana" 15 round battle the previous week. I liken it to Muhammad Ali defeating Frazier, but then falling to Ken Norton.
A&M has always been perhaps my favorite SWC team since Bubba Bean back in 1975, I'm glad to see them doing so well. Hopefully they get some floundering Big Ten Team in a Bowl. Go SEC!!