Psst . . . you guys. It's August.
Do you know what that means? Do you know what starts in just one month?
Football!
Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got tired of waiting for the Walgreens next to my work to get in any college football magazines (all they have is fantasy football and
And now, to kick off my own personal college football pre-season, I bring you my first Aggie football post of the '09 season. (I was going to add non-Aggie things that I'm interested in this season as a #3, but this is really long as is, so maybe another day.)
1: How are the Aggies, overall?
Still not good, friends, still not good. I definitely think we will see improvement on the field, but I don't know how many wins that will translate into. The defense, let's face it, has nowhere to go but up (I'm having trouble finding a link, but I think we finished something like eleventy-billionth in total defense last year).
The offense (particularly Jerrod Johnson at QB and Ryan Tannehill as aspiring QB/surprisingly good WR) showed promise last year, and I am confident they'll be even better this year. Lots of Jerrod's problems were mental/rookie mistakes, and I'm very exicted about watching him grow out of that. The brightest spot, all the magazine guys agree, is our brand new freshman guy Christine Michael, a five-star rated running back. The hope is that he'll improve our run game (did you know the Ags averaged 2.9 yards a carry last year? That's painful).
So I'm as sure as can be that the Aggies will be better this year. The biggest problem is that the Big XII South is still going to be the best division in college football. And the Ags are, across the board, getting picked to finish last in it.
t.u. and OU are getting picked to finish second and third in the country. Oke State comes in at 10 in both my magazines. My enemy Texas Tech isn't going to be as good as last year, but they're still ranked in the top 25 or sniffing distance of it. And then there's Baylor. Oh good gravy you guys, Baylor. And oh good gravy, Robert Griffin. Why couldn't he stick to the 400-meter hurdles? You can't go to the Olympics in American football, Robert! Anyway, Baylor might break their bowl-less streak this year (14 years . . . and counting?) and if they do, one of those six-or-more wins would probably come at Kyle Field, where the Bears haven't won since 1984. I will cry.
Overall, I am hoping for six wins. (More than six would be just as wonderful as it is unlikely.) I will accept five. Four or fewer (tying or being worse than last season) and I am going to be an unhappy camper. But from whence might these wins come?
2: How does the schedule look?
Here now is my schedule summary, but as usual, I prefer not to make my conference predictions until after the non-conference slate is over.
September 5: New Mexico @ Kyle
Last year we managed to beat New Mexico at New Mexico. They have a first-year coach, new offensive and defensive schemes, and a slightly unsettled quarterback situation. I'm having a hard time trying to worry about this one. (And I feel compelled to try because I clearly remember walking down the street with my friend Lindsay in the morning of August 30th last year and saying these exact words to her: "We're not going to lose to Arkansas State.")
September 19: Utah State @ Kyle
Hot Aggie on Aggie action! Lindy's ranked all the FBS teams (that's what we call them now, right?) and lists Utah State at #118, just before North Texas and Western Kentucky. But then Sporting News has them third-to-last in their own conference, which just goes to show that there's less consensus about the bottom teams than the top teams. Or that around #77 or so, they lost interest and start putting teams wherever. In any event, this is another consistently underperforming team from a lackluster conference (it's basically Boise State and The Pips) with a first-year coach who's overhauling everything. And again, it will be a severe disappointment if this one lands in the loss column.
September 26: UAB @ KyleOctober 3: Arkansas @ Jerryworld
Now here we go. This game is interesting for several reasons. One is that this is the renewal of an old Southwest Conference rivalry. Arkansas seemed ready to renew their more famous SWC rivalry with t.u.--they played last year and were going to play again this year, but Arky dumped the home-and-home agreement to switch to playing the Aggies. Another factor here is that it seems clear to me that this is Bill Byrne's answer to the Red River Shootout. (And I'm glad that he decided on Arkansas instead of, as was being floated a few years ago, Texas Tech.) Sure, it's not a prestige game now, but if both of these teams become nationally relevant again, it would be a big deal. Big XII! SEC! Grudge match! Also, even with two nationally irrelevant teams, this baby is going to be a cash cow.
But who will win? Well, the smart money's on Arkansas--it looks like they'll be middle-of-the-pack contenders, and they've got young Ryan Mallett who used to QB for Michigan. I do reserve the right to change my mind, though, depending on how the Ags and the Pigs do in the first few weeks.
And speaking of reserving the right to change my mind, here are my first impressions about the conference schedule:
October 10: Okie State @ Kyle
At the time of this game, Mike Gundy will be both a man and forty-two. (I always think that's going to stop being funny, but it never does!)
October 17: K-State in Manhattan
I saw a couple billboards in Kansas with a big picture of Bill Snyder and then the slogan "THE TRADITION CONTINUES" sort of like this. If there were any truth in advertising, K-State would go with something more like this:
Seriously, guys. It's going to be terrible. (You might even get beaten by Texas A&M.)(Sorry about the terrible quality of my mock-poster. The best program I have on my computer to work with images + text is--and I'm not making this up--Microsoft Word. It's bad, guys, it's bad.)
October 24: Texas Tech in Lubbock
Ah, jeez, I don't even want to talk about it. Can we just agree to return to this subject later?
October 31: Iowa State @ Kyle
OK, here's a game I can get behind! The Ags may be ranked last in the South, but Iowa State is picked last in the conference (the Ags are also ahead of K-State, b-t-dub). I never even thought we were going to lose to Iowa State at their place last year, and unless I see (or, let's be realistic, read about) dramatic improvement this year, I'm going to maintain my confidence in their beatability.
November 7: Colorado in Boulder
Colorado was one of the Aggies' two conference wins last year, and that was nice. Their coach has promised 10 wins this year, and that was dumb. But they should improve, especially since the odds of them losing as many players to injury again are very high. (It was pretty ridiculous last year.) Best case scenario: CU's special teams are again terrible and they have to bench their returning kicker and punter with K/P combo freshman Zach Grossnickle. Because who doesn't want to hear the name "Grossnickle" at the end of every possession?
November 14: Oklahoma in Norman
I'm so happy for Sam Bradford that his acne cleared up. And I mean that sincerely.
November 21: Baylor @ Kyle
Here's an article conveniently addressing the question, "Will Baylor beat A&M?" It's where I got that 1984 fact from earlier, and the painful trivia nugget that this decade, the Aggies are 7-23 in the month of November. After I read it and sighed heavily, it hit me that I've been following the Aggies for all but one year of this decade. This will be my ninth year as an Aggie football fan, which is just weird. For all that it seems a lifetime or two ago, it also seems like just yesterday that I was running up to third deck because an untrustworthy new friend (because how could you know yet which of your hundred new friends was trustworthy?) had been entrusted with out tickets and made us late. We missed the first score against McNeese State (the cannon was going off as we--did I mention this?--ran up to third deck. In the early September Texas heat), and I still haven't totally gotten over it.
Mostly I have. But not totally.
November 26: t.u. @ Kyle
I would really prefer that Colt McCoy not win the Heisman. That is all.
6 comments:
I used to live in the land of Utah State, so I need that victory to assert modest bragging rights, and more importantly, not get laughed at.
Also, I care much more about the pending NFL season, but even there, I don't get interested until maybe the last 2 preseason games.
I am afraid if KSU does not win many games, we will have to tear Coach Snyder's name off the stadium. How sad would that be? If he just needed to work, Otis-Bison HIgh is always looking for coaches.
I would much rather have McCoy win the Heisman than Tebow. Man, I can't stand that guy.
Yay college football!! Your enemy Texas Tech? Really? I've never understood the Aggie's intense hatred but utter lack of respect for Tech. At least football wise, everything else about it makes sense. I'm surprised Tech made it near the top 25, as usually our history of good records means nothing nationally, and this season we'll be depending on a lot of young guys. I think the Tech - A&M game will be close, but since it's in Lubbock, Tech will probably win. I'll be at the K State game cheering on the Aggies, and I feel that A&M has a very good shot. I'll be very disappointed in an Aggie loss in Manhattan. I can't really figure out the Coach Snyder situation here, except that it's usually not spoken of positively. And I would much rather have either McCoy or Tebow over Sam Bradford. At least they seem to have some knowledge and a respect for the game...Bradford is just a jack ass and a huge moron.
Bill Snyder might be out of Otis-Bison's price range. Also, would he be willing to teach social studies?
I can't decide whether I would prefer Colt or Tebow to win. I don't think I'd have such a problem with Tebow if announcers didn't confuse him with Jesus of Nazareth.
And Angela, I think there are a few different causes for the hatred/no respect for Tech from Aggies. Part of it is probably that Ags see Tech as an upstart; Tech's football program doesn't have the history that A&M's does but has been much, much more successful recently (obviously). But I think the biggest part of it is Tech's horrible, horrible fans (en masse, of course, not in the particular). Texas Tech would always have my personal loathing/scorn for the '01 goalpost incident, even if there weren't other examples of their creepy behavior (which there are).
Also, I think you have more faith that the Aggies could do well in Lubbock this year than I do.
The fans are horrendous. It's beyond my comprehension how they can be as dumb and disrespectful as they are, to other schools and to their own school. Even on national television they think it's ok to change the words of our fight song to vulgarities. Unacceptable. But I guess there are programs with even worse fans out there. I just wish the football program itself got more respect...you'd think 10 years of consistency would help but no. I'm not sure there's much that can be done with the idiocy in the stands. That city is just an odd place to be.
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