Friday September 9th, 2005
1:20amBest News of the Week
I heard about this on Wednesday and I just have to share it with you all.
EA Sports has announced the release of the first ever COLLEGE BASEBALL video game! It will be called "MVP 06 NCAA Baseball" and it is coming to us in the spring for the PS2 and the XBOX.
Ever since I was in high school I wanted a college baseball game and now my wish has come true.
From what I've read elsewhere, A&M will be one of the teams in the game but Olsen Field will not debut until the following year, although there is a Create-a-Stadium feature. I'll be sure to edit my truck into Aggie Alley, if it's possible.
The play-by-play will be done by ESPN's Mike Patrick and Kyle Peterson (an All-American back in his days at Stanford....I really like him) and there will be a "Road to Omaha" mode similar to the Dynasty mode in EA Sport's NCAA Football games.
Following the footsteps that ESPN started this past season with their heavy dosage of TV time, I think this is another big step towards promoting collegiate baseball nationally.
If I put a quarter into a jar every day, I'll easily be able to pick up a copy when it comes out!
WHOOP!
Wednesday September 7th, 2005
12:01amThe Most Important Factors in an Aggie Football Game
On SportsRadio610 (in Houston) last night the Night Shift had Jaxson Appel on for his weekly "show" and the hosts mentioned that we lost the game on Saturday even though we had done the things that gave us victories last season. I think they predominantly meant that we didn't turn the ball over the ball too much.
This got me thinking, what are the things that we do that are virtually essential to winning games. I came up with 5 categories that could be considered important....time of possession, # of offensive plays, turnovers, 3rd down conversion (offense & defense). I then went back through all of our games during the Fran Era to see how we did in each category (skip down to the next paragraph if you want....I just put these first charts up for thoroughness):
T.O.P. #Plys Third Down Conv 2003 Res TAMU/Opp TA/Op T.O.s TAMU Opp =============================================================== ArkSt W 27:22/32:38 54/58 -1 5/11 8/17 Utah W 22:37/37:23 56/97 0 1/9 7/22 @VTech L 30:43/29:17 65/60 0 4/14 6/11 Pitt L 28:59/31:01 78/72 -3 7/17 6/13 @texas tech L 29:15/30:45 70/81 -1 4/11 8/13 Baylor W 28:47/31:13 73/71 +2 7/11 6/18 @Nebraska L 26:01/33:59 64/77 -8 0/12 4/16 OkState L 28:37/31:23 66/72 0 5/14 8/14 Kansas W 31:20/28:40 77/72 +2 9/15 5/12 @Oklahoma L 23:09/36:51 42/82 -1 0/12 9/13 @Mizzou L 33:15/26:45 90/68 -1 6/17 5/11 texas L 29:13/30:47 74/68 0 6/17 3/9 T.O.P. #Plys Third Down Conv 2004 Res TAMU/Opp TA/Op T.O.s TAMU Opp =============================================================== @Utah L 26:56/33:04 74/76 0 3/16 7/16 Wyoming W 34:21/25:39 71/62 +3 6/15 3/15 Clemson W 34:46/25:14 79/63 +4 5/13 2/11 K-State W 19:32/40:28 43/90 +3 3/8 10/20 @ISU W 29:23/30:37 68/85 +2 9/15 8/19 @OkSt W 25:05/34:55 63/79 +2 7/14 10/17 Colorado W 27:56/32:04 85/79 +2 9/19 11/19 @Baylor L 31:49/28:11 74/74 -2 8/16 8/19 Oklahoma L 27:53/32:07 71/77 -3 6/13 7/16 texas tech W 29:23/30:37 65/76 +3 5/13 5/14 @texas L 22:07/37:53 63/79 0 4/15 7/16 v.Tennessee L 19:38/40:22 56/85 -5 2/9 10/16 T.O.P. #Plys Third Down Conv 2005 Res TAMU/Opp TA/Op T.O.s TAMU Opp =============================================================== @Clemson L 22:02/33:39 50/75 -1 2/7 7/16I think it'll be easier to split them up into wins and losses, rather than year by year. To help make it easier to read I'm just going to use the +/- system for T.O.P., # of plays and T.O.s and %ages for 3DCs. If it is a + then it means A&M had that much more and if it is a - then we had that much less. The games are listed in order just without the year (look at the above chart if you need that).
T.O.P. #Plys Third Down Conv WINS Res TAMU/Opp TA/Op T.O.s TAMU Opp =============================================================== ArkSt W -5:16 -4 -1 45 47 Utah W -14:46 -41 0 11 32 Baylor W -2:26 +2 +2 64 33 Kansas W +2:40 +5 +2 60 42 Wyoming W +8:42 +9 +3 40 20 Clemson W +9:32 +16 +4 38 18 K-State W -20:56 -47 +3 38 50 @ISU W -1:14 -17 +2 60 42 @OkSt W -9:50 -16 +2 50 59 Colorado W -4:08 +6 +2 47 58 texas tech W -1:14 -11 +3 38 36 T.O.P. #Plys Third Down Conv LOSSES Res TAMU/Opp TA/Op T.O.s TAMU Opp =============================================================== @VTech L +1:26 +5 0 29 55 Pitt L -2:02 +6 -3 41 46 @texas tech L -1:30 -11 -1 36 62 @Nebraska L -7:58 -13 -8 0 25 OkState L -2:46 -6 0 36 57 @Oklahoma L -13:42 -40 -1 0 69 @Mizzou L +6:30 +22 -1 35 45 texas L -1:34 +6 0 35 33 @Utah L -6:08 -2 0 19 44 @Baylor L +3:38 0 -2 50 42 Oklahoma L -4:14 -6 -3 46 44 @texas L -15:46 -16 0 27 44 v.Tennessee L -20:44 -29 -5 22 63 @Clemson L -11:37 -25 -1 29 44Those are both interesting and surprising.
I would have surely thought that we would have won the T.O.P. battle in the wins and lost the battle in the losses. I read that to mean that we either score too quickly or go 3-and-out too often. We haven't really had a run-it-up-the-gut approach and I'm sure that makes an impact there as well. Basically we just disproved that T.O.P. is crucial for us win, although I will say that clock management is still very important.
I'm also surprised to see that the number of offensive plays each team runs has little bearing on the outcome of the game. One would think that more offensive plays = more points but that isn't necessarily the case. Importance disproved.
Turnovers! This is the #1 indicator from the stats I chose. We have never lost a game where we won the turnover battle. On the same note, we've only won 1 game where we lost the turnover battle. That's a pretty amazing stat.
Offensive 3rd down conversions seem to make quite a bit of difference. When we convert at least 38% of our 3rd down conversions we are 10-3. When we convert less than 38% we are 1-11.
Defensive 3rd down conversions have a similar effect on the outcome, although not as significant as our offensive conversions. When we allow our opponents to convert more than 38% of the time we are 6-12 but when we hold them to less than 38% we are 5-2.
In the Clemson game on Saturday we lost all three of the battles that we just concluded impacted the game's outcome. We lost the turnover battle (-1), we only converted 29% of our 3rd down conversions, and we allowed the Tigers to convert 44% of theirs. We have never won a game when that happens.
Just thought that was interesting.
Tuesday September 6th, 2005
11:45amTAMABINPO's Week 2 Top 25
Ok, so my Top 25 poll is due tonight over at the BlogPoll when the clock strikes 12. I didn't get to watch an enormous amount of football this weekend but that's going to be normal this season (and as long as I catch the A&M game and one other big match up I'm totally OK with that). Here's what I saw bits and pieces of: GTech/Auburn, texas/ULL, VTech/NCState....Here's what I watched in its entirety: A&M/Clemson, UH/Oregon, FSU/Miami.
My impression of the first week is that it was the first week. Big programs rolled small ones and big programs found some kinks in their armor ruining their fan's off-season swooning.
The easiest way for me to do this would be to go with the "if they don't lose then they shouldn't drop" theory. Just move the losers down and fill their spots with lower ranked winners. I'm just not comfortable with that though....there are too many things to consider other than just W-L. You can lose a game and still be better than a 1-0 team.
It's interesting that all of the teams that lost were ranked consecutively in my poll from 13-16 (other than the late Miami game last night). I can't say that all of those losses were equal.
Oklahoma lost AT HOME to TCU. The Sooners still have ZERO answers regarding the replacement of Jason White....and their sole savior, Adrian Peterson, had to leave the game early with a high ankle sprain, ala Courtney Lewis in 2004.
Auburn lost AT HOME to Georgia Tech. The Tigers still have ZERO answers regarding the replacement of Ronnie Brown & Cadillac Williams.
A&M lost a one point game ON THE ROAD. You can read all about A&M's game in my recap. Defense was a concern but the offense will be solid....the problem was that they only had 9 minutes on the field in the second half.
Boise State lost ON THE ROAD at Georgia (who I had ranked #17 & the BlogPoll had ranked at #13). Unfortunately for Boise State playing at a ranked opponent doesn't wash out after getting completely annihilated. The final score was 48-13 but it was 38-0 before Georgia started to clear out the benches.
Miami lost an incredible game to FSU last night in Tallahassee. The offenses for both teams were led by youngsters who just need game experience but FSU's defense certainly fit the description of "swarming". The kicking problems that FSU has traditionally faced in this series was flipped onto Miami as the Canes missed two FGs and couldn't handle the snap on a third one to tie the game with under 5 minutes. This loss to FSU shouldn't hurt Miami too terribly much. Unfortunately for FSU, their atrocious QB play doesn't give me enough confidence to vault them too much after the tough win.
Other movements....
Tennessee: Home against UAB....QB situation is still up in the air
Cal: Won big but lost starting QB with a broken leg....second string QB was 0-for-10 passing
Louisville: Didn't move but would have had the 4 teams ranked behind them not all lost
Note: 20-25 are pretty much all shaky
- Southern Cal (1-0; 1)
W 63-17 @Hawaii
- Texas (1-0; 2)
W 60-3 v.LaLafayette
- Louisiana State (4)
DNP
- Michigan (1-0; 5)
W 33-17 v.Nothern Illinois
- Virginia Tech (1-0; 6)
W 20-16 v.NC State
- Iowa (1-0; 7)
W 56-0 v.Ball State
- Ohio State (1-0; 9)
W 34-14 v.Miami (OH)
- Florida (1-0; 10)
W 32-14 v.Wyoming
- Georgia (1-0; 17)
W 48-13 v.16-Boise State
- Tennessee (1-0; 3)
W 17-10 v.UAB
- Florida State (12)
W 10-7 v.8-Miami
- Miami (Florida) (8)
L 10-7 @12-FSU
- Louisville (1-0; 11)
W 31-24 @Kentucky
- Alabama (1-0; 18)
W 26-7 v.Middle Tenn State
- Purdue (19)
DNP
- Virginia (1-0; 21)
W 31-19 v.Western Michigan
- Texas Tech (22)
DNP
- Arizona State (1-0; 23)
W 63-16 v. Temple
- Colorado (1-0; 24)
W 31-28 v.Colorado State
- Boston College (1-0; 25)
W 20-3 @BYU
- Cal (1-0; 20)
W 41-3 v.Sacramento State
- Texas A&M (0-1; 15)
L 25-24 @Clemson
- TCU (1-0; NR)
W 17-10 @13-Oklahoma
- Clemson (1-0; NR)
W 25-24 v.15-Texas A&M
- Notre Dame (1-0; NR)
W 42-21 @PittWho is gone....
- Oklahoma (0-1; 13)
L 17-10 v.TCU- Auburn (0-1; 14)
L 23-14 v.Georgia Tech
- Boise State (0-1; 16)
L 48-13 @13-Georgia
I know I didn't get to watch all of'em so tell me where I'm wrong before I make it official tonight at midnight....or else you'll turn into a pumpkin....or something....
Monday September 5th, 2005
1:45amAgs Beat Themselves
I really don't know what to think of the game. We really beat ourselves in this one....players and coaches.
For those of you who couldn't watch the game that picture of kicker, Jad Dean, is a pretty good summary. He was 6-for-6 in field goals (from distances of 21, 22, 25, 18, 44, & 42) including the game winner with 2 seconds left on the clock.
There were three big mistakes we made offensively. The first was a holding call on Joey Thomas that nullified a Courtney Lewis TD, we settled for a FG. The second was a dropped pass by DeQwan Mobley on the 1 yard line....it was a trick play that had Jason Carter throwing the ball, and it was under thrown, but it hit Mobley in the hands with no one defending him. The third was Reggie's interception....just a bad play overall.
Actually, there was a fourth offensive mistake. In the 4th quarter we took a 23-22 lead after a great 31 yard end zone catch by Chad Schroeder but with 9:22 left in the game Coach Fran decided not to go for the two point conversion and we kicked the point after and led 24-22. As you know, the final score was 25-24.
"With 9 minutes left in the game [actually 9:22], I felt more would happen,"
-- Coach FranIt just didn't make any sense. If we convert the 2 point play the worst case scenario is a tie 25-25 and we go to OT. If we miss the 2 point play we lose 25-23. If we kick the extra point we still lose 25-24.
I love Coach Fran and he's won us some games with his play calling but this was certainly not one of them.
Offense
Reggie didn't look to great in the first half, although our WRs didn't help him out too much. He played much better in the second half but the offense was only on the field for just over nine minutes.
PASSING RUSHING ------------------------------- --------- Att Com Yds TD INT Att Yds 1st Half: 11 3 70 0 1 4 38 2nd Half: 5 5 40 1 0 5 62 ============================== ======== Totals: 16 8 110 1 1 9 100Courtney Lewis looked strong picking up 2 TDs while carrying the ball 17 times (he only 78 yards though). Chris Alexander looked good too with a couple nice rumbles (3 for 43 yds). Including Reggie's rushing we finished the day with 248 yards on 33 carries.
The WRs didn't particularly WOW me in any way, shape, or form (besides Schroeder's TD catch):
No Yds Td Long J.Carter 3 21 0 13 C.Lewis 2 28 0 23 C.Schroeder 1 31 1 31 D.Mobley 1 29 0 29 E.Taylor 1 1 0 1That certainly doesn't make me look good after my praise of our WR corps. I suppose you could say we did a good job spreading the ball around.
Uber-freshman, Martellus Bennett was a non-factor in the receiving game dropping the only pass he had his way (although people who watched the game more carefully than I did said he blocked very well).
A big part of the problem was the fact that our offense was only out on the field for 22:01 minutes and 50 plays. It's tough to put up big offensive numbers when our defense is on the field so much.
Defense
I was impressed with our play when we were backed up against the end zone and we didn't give up a defensive TD....but we gave up 6 FGs.NOTE TO SELF: Don't make fun of another team's kicker until after we play them
While we didn't give up a TD, we sure gave up a heckuva lot of yards (213 in the air and 183 on the ground).
One of the most telling stats of this game was Clemson's 3rd and 4th down conversion %ages....7 of 16 on 3rd down and 1 of 1 on 4th down. That's a big explanation of why their offense had the ball so much longer than ours.
They really didn't go for any big plays but it didn't matter because we seemed to struggle on screen passes, mainly our tackling. They seemed to have quite a few yards after contact.
Our three starting linebackers were 1, 2 & 3 in tackles for the first time that I can even remember (McDaniel-10, Foliaki-9, & Warren-8).
We got to see quite a bit of our young CBs, Marquis Carpenter & Danny Gorrer, and I expect to see more and more of them as the season goes on.
ETC.
Jason Carter had a solid day returning kicks as he had 4 returns for 95 yards including a 49 yard return that led to a TD.On the flip side of that, our special teams defense gave up a TD on a punt return....not good.
We saw a lot of guys make their DI debut (besides the 12th Man, Nathan Haile)....CBs Carpenter & Gorrer, Michael & Martellus Bennett, Howard Morrow, Jordan Chambless, Pierre Brown, Alton Dixon, Richie Bean, Justin Brantly, Arkeith Brown, Cyril Obiozor, Amos Gbunblee, & Yemi Babalola. No Jorvorskie Lane sighting. We saw quite a bit more of Michael Bennett than I thought we would (although he played well) and Yemi Babalola got the starting nod over Jami Hightower.
If I had to take anything positive away from this game it would have to be that as poorly as we played, especially in a tough environment, I feel OK about the team itself. Some early season mistakes and a poor coaching call were the difference in the game. As long as we all learn from them and improve on them we'll be right where we need to be.
Basically, I can say that I feel better about this loss than Sooner fans can about theirs.
We have an off week next weekend before starting up a 3 game stretch against SMU, Texas State, & Baylor where we need to get the offense running on all cylinders (and get the defense some experience) before we head off to Boulder for our next road game.
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