Big entry today – lots of stuff
about this Texas A&M team, especially with no update since the demolishing
of Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl…
As we are on the doorstep of the
second game before what will no doubt be one of the key games of the 2013
college football season – September 14, 2013, Texas A&M hosting the Alabama
Crimson Tide in a rematch of their epic 2012 battle, a game that was the Tide’s
lone blemish on another national championship season.
That game had a series of
interesting pre-conditions. ‘Bama had just played their “game of the year”
against LSU, beating the Tigers in Death Valley with an amazing comeback
victory. The Aggies were upstart success stories in the SEC – but surely not
good enough to beat Alabama on their home field.
But in what was the coup de gras
of an amazing season for the Aggies, a complete team effort, led by a motivated
Johnny Manziel and fueled by a smash-and-grab first quarter, did just that –
defeated the undefeatable. For the
Tide’s sake, it did not cost them a shot at the national title, much to the
chagrin of many outside the SEC, but it took Oregon losing to Stanford at home
and Kansas State being beaten by Baylor to make it happen.
As for the Aggies, they went on
to see their redshirt freshman quarterback win the school’s second Heisman
Trophy. Combined with a crushing defeat of Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, what
began as a perfect storm ended with just about a perfect season: filled with
success, but just enough room for improvement that there was hope for raising
the bar in 2013.
Manziel, the 2013 Offseason
and August 31, 2013
Of course, the off-season was
anything but simple – the actions and antics of its quarterback led to much ado
about nothing in many cases, but much ado about (probably) something in two
instances – the Manning Quarterback Camp and autograph-gate. And then you had
last week’s game against Rice and the taunting penalty.
So quick thoughts on all that.
First, the vast majority of it is stuff I attribute to the rare situation of a
*returning* Heisman Trophy winner, who just happens to have the money and
brashess to spend it living life to the fullest. All the talk of how he was out
on the town at sporting events, etc. – put the can of jealousy down and slowly
back away, people.
Second, though… The Manning Camp
– that was a professional situation that Manziel let get away from him. That is
something that does not reflect well on him or the school. Don’t take the
position if you aren’t going to treat it as seriously as you do playing for
A&M, please.
Third, the whole autograph thing.
I have my opinions on what happened, but like many others, it is just an
opinion - with no facts to back it up. I will say this, though – that sure
wasn’t an example of avoiding the appearance of impropriety. Here is another
place where Manziel could have done himself and the school a huge favor by
thinking and making smart decisions.
As for the Rice aftermath, I
don’t read as much into things as most seem to be. An ultra-competitive guy was
goaded into mouthing off. Clearly, the Rice players (plural) weren’t just
standing there holding hands, but at some point, where are his teammates to get
him back to the sidelines?
A Current Conclusion on
Manziel
I do find myself seeing a lot of
irony in people who lauded Michael Jordan for being hyper-competitive and one
of the biggest trash talkers in the game ripping Manziel for giving a little
lip to a team he was cutting up like tissue paper that had the audacity to try
to get under his skin. Not knowing what was said, I have no idea if he went too
far. Seeing how Sumlin reacted, my thought is that he did go too far. On the
other hand, don’t we think we’re blowing the mistake a bit out of perspective
when people are talking about not voting for the guy who was hands-down the
best in the game last year because he got a 15-yard taunting penalty?
Oh, there is the issue of
autograph-gate. And I can see some people not voting for him because of that,
and I don’t entirely blame them. The situation smells like a guy who got away
with something that he engineered to get away with from the beginning. It
doesn’t sit well with me, especially considering that as Aggies, we have so much
going for us in terms of the opportunity to shine in a new spotlight. Why take
the risk?
But at the end of the day, the
process was followed, and a decision made and agree to and all parties moved
on, so that is the end of it. Enough. Back to football.
Reviewing the Rice game and
looking at September 7, 2013
And so we look now at Sam
Houston. This is a very strong FCS side. Strong enough to make the championship
game the last two years. And one that gave the Aggie second unit fits in the
second half of last season’s matchup, especially the defense. This will be a
strong test – not in the “they might lose” sense, but rather in the “bring your
best every play or you will get embarrassed or hurt or both” sense. (Sorry
Janice, I can’t say with seriousness that your Bearkats can win… not unless the
Aggies just really throw up all over themselves….)
It should prove another good
“walk-thru” for the Aggies, and a chance at redemption for a defensive unit
that really dropped its shorts the week before against the Owls. Make no
mistake, Rice is better than people gave it credit, and when the Aggie defense
played the way they did, I was not surprised that they got carved up. And Sam
Houston will do the same thing if the A&M defense doesn’t shore up its
gaps.
As for the offense, it will also
be a good challenge – a final sharpening of the knife, so to speak. I don’t
know about you, but personally I was very impressed with the offensive line
against the Owls. I mean, we knew going into it that the wide receivers were
going to be good and the running backs were arguably the deepest pool of talent
in the SEC. But an offensive line that lost the best in the game last year
looked like its old 2012 self by the second quarter despite the new faces.
Thank you to the Matthews family!
Am I too much of a geek for
getting excited about our punter? Goodness-gracious, that kid can drop the ball
wherever he wants. What a weapon, especially against a team like Alabama! And
certainly, seeing the other parts of the special teams (for the most part) play
well was a great sight to see.
But make no mistake – Alabama is
going to look to punch the Aggies in the mouth first this time, and it will be
up to the defense to take that blow. The nice thing is they have some of their
own challenges as evidenced by struggles in their only tune-up for the big game
against Virginia Tech, but I am afraid that most of that was due to the
strength of Tech’s defense, not Alabama’s weakness. And either way you slice
it, the fact is that the Aggie defense is not as strong as Tech’s. The ability
to slow Alabama down will be what decides the game, not the ‘Bama defense
against Manziel.
And another reason I was glad to
see the Aggie success on special teams? The way the Alabama special teams units
flat out embarrassed VT’s vaunted unit. For those paying attention, you know
that Tech has had a great reputation in that area of the game, and against the
Tide, they were shown the door. I will tell you right now, the Aggies are going
to need every ounce of success via the special teams units they can get.
The Big Picture
Why is this game so big? Because
it is one of a very, very small handful of games that Alabama might lose. And
the same can be said of the Aggies. (Eight home games? Really?) The winner of
this game very well could win out and play for a national title.
Both A&M and the Tide have
games against LSU and Old Miss to worry about before the SEC Championship game,
but not much else, although early returns from Auburn and Arkansas indicate
that they will not be nearly the pushovers they were last year. The Aggie do
have banana-peel games against Vanderbilt and Missouri as well, but at the end
of the day, the team strong enough to win on the 14th should be
strong enough to win out other than LSU and against the Rebels.
Either way, the 14th
is going to be one of the “Christmas for college football geeks” games.
Clearly, it is one of a handful of games – along with LSU v both of these
teams, as well as SC-Georgia, Stanford-Oregon, the SEC Championship Game,
possibly the ACC Championship Game – that will decide who plays for the
national title via the Bowl Championship system.
Quick note – do NOT underestimate
LSU. Their schedule – along with Florida’s – is atrocious, and that might
prevent them from winning the division, but those who think “oh, they lost so
many talented players on defense” forget that there is talent galore in that
program and more importantly, by the time they have to play the Big Boys, they
will have had enough games to learn their craft well enough that they can call
themselves LSU defenders with the pride that should accompany the descriptor.
The Bottom Line
There are two things that will
control the outcome of this game. The first is as described above – the Aggie
defense’s ability to slow and sometimes stop the Alabama defense. The second is
if Saban can become the first coach to stop Johnny Football from getting the
Important Third Down that he always seems to be able to get.
Seeing how competitive Manziel is
– to a fault, in some instances – I just can’t see it. His work to improve what
was already a successful passing ability in the offseason, and the clear
results you saw in certain moments against Rice, tells me that if Saban tries
to do what Sam Montgomery said had to be done to Manziel (make him a pocket
passer), his secondary, good as it is, will get eaten up.
As a reminder, here are a few
clips worth reviewing. Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 Simply put, he is that
X-Factor. How many times do you see him make plays that college football
players simply do not make? And to say he might be a touch motivated is more
than a slight understatement.
And to add to it, I don’t think
that ‘Bama has ever played in front of a crowd like the one they will face on
the 14th. No one has – because the 12th Man will never
have had as much a reason to be as hyped, as focused, as intense as they will
that day. It will be something to behold, and it will affect the game.
So I’m calling this 28-24, Aggies
over Alabama. How things play out against LSU later in the season – or the
games v. Old Miss, Vandy or Mizzu – we can discuss later. But for this game, with
a win, the Fighting Texas Aggies are going to be the best team in college
football. No reasons to dismiss, no excuses. Both teams coming into the game
with eyes wide open, no lack of awareness of each other, no reasons to be
distracted or thinking about last week or any other game. The team that has one
three of the last four national titles will fall to the team that beat them
last year. Imperfect though the Aggies (mostly on defense) might be, they will
have beaten that juggernaught twice in a calendar year.
