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Friday September 22nd, 2006
12:03amAg Football Preview: Louisiana Tech
Going into last weekend I thought we were going to wreck shop on Army....but we didn't. This weekend I feel much more cautious as game time nears. We're 8-0 all-time against LaTech with an average margin of victory of 29.25 points. Really, I should never have to feel cautious before a game against LaTech but that is where we are at this moment.
Here are their numbers in their two games this season (L @ Nebraska & W v. Nicholls State):
@Neb Nicholls St Avg/Game ========== ========== ========== PassO.... 238 yds 203 yds 221 yds RushO.... 67 yds 178 yds 123 yds TotO.... 305 yds 381 yds 343 yds ScorO.... 13 pts 22 pts 21 pts PassD.... 332 yds 83 yds 208 yds RushD.... 252 yds 141 yds 197 yds TotD.... 584 yds 224 yds 404 yds ScorD.... 30 pts 14 pts 35 ptsTheir offensive numbers against Nebraska are somewhat concerning but so are their defensive numbers. I think the loser of this game will score 20+ points.
They're going to throw the ball around the yard with junior QB Zac Champion. Champion is 25-for-49 passing with 3 TDs and 1 INT. His favorite targets are WR Johnathan Holland (who has 10 receptions for 193 yards and a TD) & WR Josh Wheeler (4 receptions for 106 yards and a TD). Holland is a stud.
We have no true feeling for our pass defense this year because we haven't had anyone throw the ball on us well. The Citadel had a lot of our guys beat on passing plays but simply couldn't catch the ball, ULaLa couldn't throw the ball 10 yards on the fly, and Army was successful with their tiny RB.
Speaking of RBs, the Bulldogs are led by Patrick Jackson (159 yards on 32 carries for 5.0/carry, 1 TD; 5'10"/195) & WR/RB Freddie Franklin (81 yards on 19 carries for 4.3/carry, 1 TD)
Coach Darnell described LaTech's offense for us earlier in the week:
"They have a one back set and they've got you spread out," Darnell said. "Coach Bicknell will control the game with the running game more than the passing game. Formation wise, it'll be almost the same as you saw from the Lafayette and Citadel games. It's just a little bit different style. It's not as abstract."....
"It's a much more vertical passing game than the other two (passing teams)," Darnell said. "Coach Bicknell likes to throw the ball down the field. In general, you could say that their passing routes are slightly deeper than anyone we've played so far. "
Coach D also gave some insight into what we're doing wrong on defense
I don't expect us to finish the season anywhere close to the top 25 in any defensive category but I do expect us to continue to make progress, which I think we are doing."The single biggest crack we have right now is tackling," Darnell said. "We've got them chasing to the ball hard now...so that's a good thing we're chasing the ball hard. We just have to chase smarter."Darnell has preached aggressive team pursuit of the football. But he said players are sometimes guilty of over-pursuing and either leaving open areas or obstructing each other from making the tackle.
Prime examples, Darnell said, were Army's touchdowns on a 43-yard reverse and a 21-yard cutback.
"We had 10 guys over on top of the ball," Darnell said of the latter play. "Once he jumped out of that pile we had nobody. There are fundamentals that you teach...not to let that happen."
Darnell said the defense is also having difficulty determining run or pass on downs that don't dictate one or the other, forcing him to blitz more than he wants.
I was also reading a DMN article this week discussing how we're not throwing the ball enough. The most interesting thing was the chart they had at the bottom of the article. The thing that jumped out at me was how many fewer plays we're running. Several times now I've heard Fran talking about the new clock rules and how they're affecting the offenses but this was the first time I noticed it on paper. I went to the stat pages to look at the total number of plays run.
Totals Plays A&M Opp Total ======================= '06 63.3 64.0 128.3 '05 70.3 74.4 144.6 '04 67.7 77.1 144.8 '03 67.4 73.1 140.6Essentially there are 15 or 16 fewer snaps taken in games now than there have been over the last 3 seasons. That is a big deal.
Anyways, I need to make sure you are all out at Kyle Field on Saturday and are loud. I've been under the weather for the last couple of days and probably won't be 100% in time for kickoff on Saturday (I'd say I'm at 80% right now). No matter what, I'll be in the stands with my 12th Man towel yelling as much as my body will allow.
Gig'em Ags & BTHO LaTech! WHOOP!
12:01amBlogPoll Roundtable 2.3a
SMQ came up with a quick and impromptu question for us to answer so I will give it to you.
BlogPoll Roundtable 2.3aAs you can see, Marshall made that return with help on more than one occasion.Q1. What gridiron memory sears you so deeply, down to your appropriately-colored veins, that a simple acknowledgement, a "sorry" from the proper source - even if it didn't change the outcome - would lift a burden and cleanse a scarred corner of the soul? What injustice do you still carry, and want officially recognized?
A1. This is kind of a fun question. Old Ags would say something regarding the '63 texas game, the '75 Arkansas game or the '95 texas tech game. I myself wasn't around for those so they don't really fuel my fire.
The first horrible call that comes to my mind was in the '04 Cotton Bowl. It was our second possession of the game and we were down 7-0 to Tennessee. On the first snap Reggie McNeal was sacked and fumbled the ball allowing Tennessee to recover on our 28 yard line. It's fairly clear from that photo, as it was from my seat, why Reggie's head swung around funny just as the ball popped out. It was 14-0 before we knew what hit us. Obviously we didn't play well the rest of the game but there is no telling what would have happened on that drive if that flag was thrown. 7-7 or even 7-3 is a lot different than 14-0. It was certainly a game changing moment.
The second image, which was probably a greater injustice, that jumps into my mind was from the '00 OU game. ESPN Game Day was on campus for the game so there was an even crazier buzz around town than normal.
The score was 31-28 in A&M's favor with just over 7 minutes remaining in the game when QB Mark Farris was intercepted on a 1st and 10 by Torrance Marshall who returned the INT back for a TD. The last points scored on the afternoon.
The zebras helped assure that we didn't upset them that year but they couldn't stop us when they came back to Kyle Field in 2002 (also with a #1 ranking).
Thursday September 21st, 2006
11:09amTAMABINPO's Week 4 Ballot & BlogPoll Roundtable 2.3
TAMABINPO's Week 4 Rankings Rk. TEAM (LW; Record) LW Results ============================ ================ 1. Ohio State (1; 3-0) W 37-7 Cinci 2. Auburn (4; 3-0) W 7-3 LSU 3. Southern Cal (2; 2-0) W 28-10 Neb 4. West Virginia (6; 3-0) W 45-24 Maryl 5. Florida (7; 3-0) W 21-20 @Tenn 6. Iowa (8; 3-0) W 27-17 @Iowa 7. LSU (5; 2-1) L 7-3 @Aub 8. Michigan (18; 3-0) W 47-21 @ND 9. Virginia Tech (9; 3-0) W 36-0 Duke 10. Georgia (10; 3-0) W 34-0 UAB 11. texas (12; 2-1) W 52-7 @Rice 12. Notre Dame (3; 2-1) L 47-21 Mich 13. Louisville (19; 3-0) W 31-7 Miami 14. Oklahoma (14; 2-1) "L" 34-33 @Ore 15. Oregon (16; 3-0) "W" 34-33 OU 16. TCU (23; 3-0) W 12-3 tt 17. Tennessee (15; 2-1) L 21-20 Fla 18. Florida State (11; 2-1) L 27-20 Clem 19. Boston College (20; 3-0) W 30-23 BYU 20. Nebraska (17; 2-1) L 28-10 @USC 21. Penn State (21; 2-1) W 37-3 YngtwnSt 22. Cal (22; 2-1) W 42-16 PortSt 23. Arizona State (24; 3-0) W 21-3 @Col 24. Missouri (25; 3-0) W 27-17 @NM 25. Miami (Fla) (13; 1-2) L 31-7 @Louis OUT: 22. Clemson (NR; 2-1) W 27-20 @FSU 25. UCLA (25; 2-0) <----DNP---->Games I watched: A&M/Army (all), Oregon/OU (4th Q), West Virginia/Maryland (3rd Q), Kansas/Toledo (On in the background, or OIB), Clemson/FSU (1st half)
Auburn beating LSU was more impressive to me than USC's victory over Nebraska so I leapfrogged USC with Auburn. Michigan makes a strong move to #8 after completely annihilating Notre Dame.
Louisville gets a big bump with a victory over Miami....partly because it was a big game but partly because I was a little too harsh on them earlier in the season. OU stays ahead of Oregon because there is no way they should have lost that game. If the officials have been suspended due to bad calls it's fairly obvious that they were game altering mistakes. TCU jumps after holding tt to a FG (and I think I was a little uneasy with them earlier in the season). Tenn drops but not too far because it was to a top 5 team. I would entertain the idea of dropping them further down.
Miami stayed in because I can't justify dropping someone 12 slots right out of the poll....Clemson would have taken their place.
Now to the Roundtable....
BlogPoll Roundtable 2.3Q1. It’s only the third week of the season and we've already seen some highly ranked favorites drop out of national championship contention. Preseason favorite Cal dropped to #21 after a loss and a pair of underwhelming victories. Who's your pick as the next NC contender to take a fall?
A1. I'm going to go with Michigan. Not only do they have to play Ohio State, @Iowa, Penn State, and Michigan State but it seems they've puckered up in the big games in recent years.
Q2. By that same token there are several schools hanging around without a loss that all of a sudden look like surprise contenders. There are also a few one loss teams with a legit shot at getting back into it. Looking at the rankings who's the team no one's talking about with the best shot at crashing the party ?
A2. TCU has the possibility of not losing a game this season. The big question with them is regarding their schedule being tough enough to get them in? I don't think it is. If Utah couldn't do it in '04 I don't see how TCU would be able to do it this year. They needed to at least get mentioned though.
I also want to say Georgia. Their defense is incredible but they have a true freshman at starting QB and they still have to play @Florida and @Auburn.
Officially, put me down for LSU. Their defense is as good as Georgia's is, they have playmakers, and their schedule isn't quite as rough (@Fla & @Tenn).
Q3. Every team has their quicksand away game. You know. That place you should win but somehow find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory or at least scare the &*%^ out of you every year. Did you know that over the last 21 years Kentucky wasn't won once in Knoxville? Where is your team's yearly sandtrap?
A3. Without a doubt it is lubbock. '95-L, '97-L, '99-L, '01-L, '03-L, '05-L. They've even won in College Station twice over that span.
I suppose it's the law of averages getting back at us for doing the same to them from the mid-80s to mid-90s. Let's just hope the law of averages doesn't ever catch up to Baylor, or else we're in for a long stretch of decades.
Q4. Now that you've looked into the darkest place in your football soul, free Escalades aside, turn and look into your crystal ball. Conference play is either just starting or a single game in. Based on what you've seen so far, give the order of finish in your conference, and if you've got a Conference Championship game tell us who the winner will be. Independents must predict the remainder of their schedule. The results your predictions will be held against you at the end of the season.
A4. The Big 12 looks quite open this year.
Big 12 South Big 12 North ============ ============ Oklahoma Nebraska texas Mizzou TAMU Iowa St texas tech Kansas Baylor Colorado Oklahoma State Kansas State OU over Nebraska in Big 12 ChampionshipQ5. In keeping with the spirit of Maize n Brew, name your beverage of choice on game days and why. It need not be alcoholic, as there are some of us who choose not to imbibe on game day. Further, it need not be limited to a single brand/type/category. If you enjoy drinking PBR and Kraft Turkey Gravy at the same time (which I have personally witnessed), please, elaborate. Finally, if you should feel so inclined, and this is not a requirement, add an anecdote involving said beverage choice.
A5. I drink lots of water and lots of Gatorade. Even for our last home game of the season it is still relatively warm (low to mid 60s), so you can imagine the heat in August & September. With the amount of yelling I do at games I would literally pass out if I wasn't hydrated. I actually came fairly close last weekend at the Alamodome because I figured I wouldn't need to bring the A-game so I didn't hydrate myself as I normally would. I actually use H-E-B's store brand of sports drink because it's literally half the price (it's a huge grocery store chain in Texas). I'll buy a 64 oz. and freeze it the night before the game and then let it start to thaw out during the morning so it'll still be cold for the game. I try to drink half of it as I'm walking to campus from my brother's place and I'll drink the rest during the game.
Wednesday September 20th, 2006
12:11amAgs (and Fran) Breathe A Sigh of Relief, 28-24
Click to EnlargeI had a great time over the weekend even after a lackluster game.
We left Saturday morning at 8am and made it to San Antonio around 10:45ish. We checked into our hotel and then waited for the rest of our group to arrive. We attempted to watch the Iowa/ISU game but, for whatever reason, ESPN went out on the TV until about 3 minutes before the rest of the gang arrived.
We went to lunch at Rio Rio's, which wasn't bad. I was kinda surprised that everything on the Riverwalk wasn't jam packed for lunch but I suppose lots of people were driving up a little later than we were.
Lisa, Michael, Danielle, Zach, Me (l to r)After lunch we walked to the Alamo as Zach, being a Coloradonian, hadn't ever been there. We did the tour, learned some stuff from our knowledgeable guide, Monty, and snapped some pictures. We talked to a street guy trying to sell us some WWJD beads, which was kind of interesting because our group contained what was likely the largest contingency of Jews in the city. The girls then wanted to go check out Dillard’s, which is right by the Alamo, and us guys were going to try and find a place to watch some football but instead ended up getting some ice cream. We were joined shortly thereafter by the ladies.
Army Band Marching InAfter the ice cream we headed back to the car and drove closer to the stadium so we didn't have to walk back to our hotel after the game. We parked in a parking garage right down by the Alamo and as it turned out, right on the route the march in was going to occur on. From the third story of the parking garage (which we remembered after the game using Michael Goodson's number) we had a great view as the Army band, Army cadets, FTAB, and Ag Corps marched towards the stadium.
After that we attempted to find a bar to watch some games but everything was so packed by this point we just walked around the Riverwalk again and actually stopped in for an early dinner at The Republic of Texas. We heard all the craziness of the OU/Oregon game at the bar, caught the TCU/tt score, and got to watch a smidge of the Colorado/ASU game.
By the time we were done eating it was 6:30 so we started to head towards the Alamodome.
As for the game itself, it was a nail biter. That isn't a good thing after I predicted similar results to our 51-7 score from the previous weekend. It was, however, better than losing.
We essentially ran the snot out of the ball....but we averaged 6.0 yards per carry on our 44 rushing attempts.
Stephen McGee threw the ball a total of 11 times (completing 7 for 102 yards and a TD). That was the fewest passing attempts we have had since '98. McGee also ran for 142 yards while Jorvorskie picked up 101 on his own including 3 more TDs. He has 7 TDs in his last two games (8 total in our 3 games). They simply couldn't stop him....except on one play."We may have got to a point where we ran the ball too much," A&M coach Dennis Franchione said. "We got a little run heavy, but we wanted to stay in front of the chains. They didn't get a lot of stops on us, so we just kept calling it."Mike Goodson also ran 9 times for a net of 19 yards which takes into account 26 yards for a loss, most of which stemmed from two mishandled option pitches. You can see the flashes of big potential but you can also see that he has only played 3 D-I football games.
There was no sight of Courtney Lewis, who did not travel to San Antonio. I actually don't remember seeing him beyond the first quarter of the ULaLa game so I'm going to assume there is some sort of injury. Let’s hope he gets healthy before Big 12 play starts.
The big offensive play of the game was a 46 yard TD flea-flicker to Chad "TD Machine" Schroeder following a Jordan Peterson interception on Army's first possession of the second half. That's 10 TDs in 10 career starts for Chad. I also wanted to happily point out that Howard Morrow finally got a ball thrown his way and he turned it into a big play converting a 2nd & 27 into a first down (20 yards + 7 for a facemask -- it was half the distance to the goal). I am convinced that the guy is going to be a stud.
The biggest difference in this game from the previous two was that we didn't put our opponent away early in the game. There were four big plays that essentially gave Army life. The first was on Army's first possession. It was 4th & 16 from Army's own 44 yard line and we just flat out tackled the punter after he got the punt off. The roughing the kicker penalty gave Army a new set of downs and they ended scoring on it. That's 7 points that shouldn't have happened.
The second big play was a blocked 31-yd FG on our second possession. That's 3 more points (10 points total).
The third big play was on our next possession. Justin Brantly, my boy, kicked a 13 yard punt off the side of his foot that gave Army the ball on our 43 yard line. They scored on one play, a reverse to the WR. I can't say that they wouldn't have scored on their possession but that made it a lot easier for them. Justin kicked the tar out of his next two punts, hitting two more 54 yarders. He has now punted 7 times this season and 6 of those have been for 53 yards or more.
The fourth killer big play was a fumbled punt by Chad "TD Machine" Schroeder. Army recovered on our 37 and scored four plays later. That's 7 more points they shouldn't have had for a total of 17 points that we essentially gave away.
Defensively, we didn't play all that well. They ran the counter with that little jitterbug tailback they had (#33) and we were slipping and sliding all over the place trying to tackle him. He was so small that he just ran up the OL's back and then squirted out the opposite direction they were running. I don't know if we had trouble with our footing because of the turf, or our cleats, or because we took bad angles but it was certainly noticeable. Devin Gregg (West-field!) did pick up 2 INTs and tied Justin Warren with 11 tackles on the evening. Misi Tupe also had a nice night with 9 tackles (2.5 for a loss).
The one Jorvorskie carry for a loss that I mentioned earlier was a big one. The score was 28-24 and we had a 4th & 1 on our own 31 yard line with right at 3 minutes left in the game. Fran went for it, which I was OK with. Unfortunately one of our young TEs missed his block and Jorvorskie was hit about a millisecond after the ball hit his hands. It was a loss of 4 and Army now had the ball on our 27 yard line with 2:55 left in the game and a fairly solid chance to win the ballgame.
Somehow, miraculously, we held them out of the end zone for the win. Bobby Ross called for a run on 3rd and 6 and we stopped them and the clock ran out. Kinda surprising that he went for the run instead of the pass but I'm glad he did. I have to say that the Alamodome got crazy loud for their last possession. Being in the dome helped make the 65K sound more like 80K does at Kyle Field.
After the game Coach Ross had some really nice things to say about A&M.
I always like reading stuff like that, especially from a guy who has been around as long as he has and has accomplished what he has."I have never seen in all my life such spirit that a school like A&M has. I admire it so."
--Army Head Coach Bobby RossI must admit that as much as I've been behind Fran, I can feel myself starting to waver. He was one 6 yard Army carry away from losing me completely. I said in my season preview that if we lost one of our first 4 games or the Baylor game he'd probably lose me mid-season and we haven't lost any of those at this point so I'm still on board, although my patience is growing thin. There was a great article in the San Antonio Express on Sunday that really summed up my thoughts quite well.
After the game we hopped in the car and got out of downtown before it got crazy....unfortunately we ended up getting a random tour of the surrounding area for about an hour before we finally found the hotel again. It is safe to say that there are parts of San Antonio that are a bit scary after dark.
We got back to the hotel around 1:15 and were hungry again so we ordered pizza that would arrive in 30-45 minutes. At 2:20 I called back and was told our driver was stuck in traffic. At 2:20 in the morning. They said it would be 10-15 minutes. At 3:00 I called back and he was still in traffic. They said he'd be there in 10 minutes. At 3:20 I called back again and cancelled the order because I was exhausted. At 3:20:28 there was a knock on the door. The delivery guy's excuse was that he wasn't told we were in the Marriot Courtyard Downtown so he had gone to every Marriot looking for us....even though they had my phone number and I had called 3 times to find out where the order was for Room 208 at the Marriot Courtyard. He also forgot our drink so he had randomly bought us a 20 oz. Dr. Pepper out of a vending machine. The two pizzas were 100% gone by 3:24 and then the Dr. Pepper exploded on Lisa when she tried to open it. The spray went from wall-to-wall....it sucked but it was so late that it was funny. I was asleep by 3:31.
Sunday morning we all got up, packed up, and headed on our way home (stopping at Shoney's for breakfast). I won't speak for the entire group but I had a great time. Road trips are so much fun.
Two final notes....The texas tech game on September 30th will be at 2:30pm on ABC....and....Archived games from this season are now available (for free) on Aggies All-Access (click the button at the top right of AggieAthletics.com).