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Saturday September 29th, 2007
8:41amJust When You Think Things Can't Get Any Worse
Yesterday I was sitting in our construction trailer at work when I got a text message from my good buddy Zach that read "Just another nail in Fran's coffin". My response was "Como?", which I'm not totally sure is the correct translation but I went with it anyways. He responded, "Fran got caught selling team info". My response was "OH *$&#!"
Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express broke the story that devulged what Fran has been doing for the last 3 seasons....selling inside program information in the form of a double-secret VIP newsletter (called VIP Connection) to a few really big time donors....for a measly $1,200 per season. If there are 12 donors (which is one of the numbers floating out there) that is $14,400 a season. Fran makes $2M. That risk sure doesn't seem like it is worth the reward.
We all know how Fran keeps everything tight lipped. He won't discuss any player injuries unless they're season ending (btw yesterday it was announced that my boy Howard Morrow will miss the season with a broken wrist he suffered during summer practice -- the final victim of the old track at Kyle Field). We also know that Fran has never spoken about how things ended at 'Bama because he was saving that information for his own autobiography.
Well, now it seems that not everyone has to wait for that book to hit the press to get the scoop.
This is a very, very bad timed leak of information. I have no doubt that after the Miami game last week one of those 10 or 12 VIP Connected donors finally had enough and decided to do his best to force Bill Byrne's hand....and from the vibe I'm getting from the rest of Aggieland I think it is safe to say "There's your haymaker, Dave South."
Here's the thing that bothers me more than anything. The money wasn't even going to the Athletic department, it was going to fund Coach Fran's website. I'll be honest, his site is nicer aesthetically than mine is but mine costs $12/month. If you're selling athletic department information that you have as a result of you being an employee of the athletic department and that money isn't going to the athletic department that is really shady. Everyone likes to compare a head coach to a CEO of a company. Can you imagine what would happen if Bill Gates got caught selling secret information? Everyone who owned stock in Microsoft would be standing outside his gazillion dollar home ready to hang him.
The only comment I could find from Bill Byrne was this, which I found particularly interesting:
I don't know if there was a sentence that followed that quote or not but if not it sounds to me like BB is not a happy camper."I was first made aware of this VIP email list by a reporter two weeks ago. When I saw a copy of an email, I called Coach Fran and recommended this program be discontinued. I understand he stopped at that time. Since then, I have learned the funding for the emails went to a company that hosts his website."On the heels of the Miami embarrassment and then his "exhibition season" comment, this coming out right now has really accelerated the fan outrage. There has been a grass roots movement for people to wear black to today's game to make a statement that Fran is not welcome anymore. I'm not sure that is the best idea considering we have an 11:30 kickoff on a day that is supposed to have a high near 90 degrees.
If anyone does show up in black, it needs to be made clear that the intention of this blackout is to target the coaches, not the players. I read this quote the other day from McGee:
I promise you Stephen, nobody hates you. You guys play your hearts out on the field week in and week out. The fans can see that and appreciate that and respect that. The reason that so many of us come to Kyle Field is to support you guys."It's in tough times when everybody doubts you, everybody hates you and curses your name," said quarterback Stephen McGee. "Your character gets revealed in tough times. Hopefully, we'll be able to respond to that in a good manner."This is a dark time in Aggieland but I’ll still be in the stands if you need me.
Gig'em & BTHO Baylor! WHOOP!
Friday September 28th, 2007
12:01amAg Football Preview: Baylor
The 15-31 Recruiting Machine that is Guy MorrissBears are 3-1 on the season but should finish the season once again in the Big 12 cellar. They were shut out 27-0 against TCU before reeling off wins against Rice (42-17), Texas State (34-27 ?!?!), and mighty Buffalo (34-21). Rice, Tx State, & Buffalo are a combined 2-10 (Buffalo beat the worst collegiate program ever, Temple, and TxSt beat Cal-Poly).
Regardless, this game is Baylor's Super Bowl every year and with our stumble last week they come in with high hopes. We're down and they hope to capitalize on it.
I don't think we're that down. We're 20-1-1 against the Bears since 1985, they haven't won at Kyle Field since 1984, and they haven't been to a bowl game since '94 and haven't had a winning season in the last 12 years.
BU Offense A&M Defense =========== =========== 102 (101) Rushing 145 (56) 309 (17) Passing 243 (76) 411 (53) Total 388 (67) 27.5 (63) Scoring 25.0 (62)Baylor throws the ball a lot. When they do attempt to run their rushing game is split equally between Brandon Whitaker (35 carries/134 yds/3.8 ypc) & Jay Finley (28/130/4.6). Their only rushing TD is from their QB, Blake Szymanski.
Szymanski (So.) is 104-for-189 for 1211 yards on the season with a 14:6 TD:INT ratio.
THANK GOD that Dominique Zeigler is gone. That guy owned us and single handedly beat is in '04. Szymanski's favorite targets are Justin Akers (6'5" So.; 19 catches/230 yds/3 TDs), Brad Taylor (6'3" R-Fr; 13/210/2).
Their special teams took a big hit now that All-World punter Daniel Sepulveda is finally gone. Seems like he was there forever, didn't it? His replacement Derek Epperson is no Daniel Sepulveda. His 37.8 yards per punt is almost 10 ypp shorter than Sepulveda. Shea Brewster (K) has not been very good making his first FG last weekend against Buffalo. He is now 2-for-6 on the season missing from 20, 35, 45, & 49 and connecting from a long of 43. On kickoffs, they have yet to record a touchback in 21 tries.
A&M Offense BU Defense =========== =========== 247 (8) Rushing 115 (39) 147 (110) Passing 264 (93) 394 (59) Total 379 (64) 39.0 (17) Scoring 23.0 (49)Their defense is pretty bad. They're ranked around where we are defensively but against a schedule that pales in comparison.
Their defense is being led by sophomore FS Jordan Lake who leads the team with 30 tackles, 2 INTs, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. They get their pressure on the QB from their linebackers, Joe Pawelek (28 tkl, 2 sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR, 1 QBH), and Nick Moore (23/0/1/0/3 & an INT).
If we're ever going to start throwing the ball this is the place to start doing it as they're defensive backfield isn't very good even though it's made up of 4 upperclassmen and Lake.
It's going to be a scorcher on Saturday and the 11:30 kickoff time is not really that great of an idea....especially if it is to be televised (read: we're going to have to suffer through endless TV timeouts)....especially if it is to be televised on a channel no one even knew existed until they read the press notes for the game (Versus?).
I guess it could be worse....we could be the ones wearing green and gold.
Beat the Hell Outta Baylor! WHOOP!
Sunday September 23rd, 2007
10:02pmMiami Trip Recap
Larry picked me up Thursday morning at 5:45am so we could get across town to Hobby Airport for our 8am flight. Nothing exciting occurred on the flight. We met another Ag, Kyle '03, from Fort Worth who was heading to the game as well -- really nice guy. We landed in Tampa then took our connecting flight to West Palm Beach where we picked up our wonderful Chevy Malibu after a dull experience with the rental car company.
The 2 hour drive from West Palm Beach to Miami took us through Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale. On the way we grabbed some grub at Chipotle, which still doesn't hold a candle to Freebirds.
We got into Miami and headed straight to South Beach to find our hotel, The Blue Moon. Once we checked in we walked down to Collins Ave. and saw a little bit of South Beach. We headed out towards the Orange Bowl at about 5:30pm.
The traffic was pretty bad getting to the OB and then when we got there, we realized that the parking lot on the map looked A LOT larger than it actually is. We had to park outside the stadium, which was not in the plans. We ended up parking behind some quickie-mart for $20 where a guy who spoke only a bit of English told us he would watch the cars during the game. We figured, "Hey it's a rental."
The OB was oldWe got a little razzing on the way to the stadium, including some unrepeatable words. The Orange Bowl is a dump. It makes the Cotton Bowl look like the Taj Mahal. We were really impressed with the Maroon turnout, particularly in the upper deck. There were an easy 7-8 thousand Ags in attendance which is more than 1/5th of the 44,622 total attendances. It didn't help the team at all.
After the game we got a little more razzing as we exited. I warned my dad before we left the safety of the stadium that no matter what happened we needed to keep our mouths shut and just get to where we hoped the car would still be. My dad has a little more fire in his belly than I do and it only took two trucks rolling down their windows to yell at us before he started firing back. I was thankful that the place was crawling with Miami PD because things never escalated beyond some verbal exchanges.
We were amazed to find the car was not only still where we left it but the gentleman kept his word and was still their watching it. We took a round-a-bout way away from the stadium and somehow avoided all the game traffic.
South BeachWe got back to the hotel and then headed down to Collins Ave. again for dinner. I'm not sure where we ate but it was one of the dozens of restaurants right there on the street. South Beach is a very interesting place to sit and people watch. We saw guys with girls, guys with guys, girls with girls, guys with snakes....all sorts of crazy looking characters. I think that Miami is a mix of European fashion, Las Vegas craziness, & a lot of Spanish. Larry thinks that South Beach is to 30-40 year olds what Bourbon Street is to 20-25 year olds. I think both are accurate descriptions.
After dinner we went back to the hotel and crashed after a really long day. We awoke to the construction just outside our window. We went down and enjoyed the continental breakfast and walked around South Beach some more, exploring it in a different direction than what we had walked on Thursday. Then we took off to see the rest of the city. I wanted to see the University of Miami campus and their baseball stadium but on our way out there we thought, "Hey, let’s go see the Florida Keys and on the way back we'll catch the campus." Our map didn't show how far south the Keys were but at the bottom it had a small little arrow pointing the direction. After about 45 minutes we asked a toll booth attendant and discovered it was about 3 hours further south. We just turned around and went to campus.
The campus was really small but beautiful. It had a very Miami/tropical feel to it. The photo above was of a building that appeared to be the main recreational/dining type building (kinda like our MSC).
We also swung by the baseball complex.
Click to EnlargeLet's just say it is a good thing that Alex Rodriguez donated a ton of money to build them a new stadium (to be named after him) because Mark Light Field was as much of a dump as the Orange Bowl was. I was a little surprised to find that the gates were open so we just walked right in and took some photos. The pitchers and catchers were down the right field line throwing a little bit. Cougar Field at UH is much nicer.
We grabbed some lunch at Subway and headed back to the hotel. We got a little ice cream and then I relaxed by the pool for a few hours while Larry napped.
I could putt to the stadiumWe headed out to Dolphins Stadium at 5:45pm and were amazed to discover that 30 minutes prior to the first pitch we were able to park 13 cars away from the stadium.
Click to EnlargeInside it wasn't much better -- they had more than 70% of the stadium off limits. You couldn't sit anywhere down the RF line beyond 1st base and the only outfield seats were the ones in RF on the first tier.
On Dominican Heritage Night we were treated to a Pedro Martinez start which means, literally, that 75-80% of the stadium was rooting for the visiting Mets.
In the 5th inning the ominous clouds gave in and it started to rain. The game wasn't that exciting and I figured we'd seen Pedro throw his last pitch of the evening so we took off. When we got outside the skies opened up and it started to pour. It turns out we avoided a 2-1/2 hour rain delay. We got a little turned around on the turnpike in the rain but got back to the hotel and then to Johnny Rocket's for dinner (and chocolate shakes) and then back to the hotel....all before the game resumed.
We got up early on Saturday morning, grabbed breakfast again, and then headed to Ft. Lauderdale for our flight home. At the airport a gentleman approached me and commented that I was awfully brave to be wearing my maroon polo. I told him it was only because I didn't pack anything other than maroon. He introduced himself (Jorge '85) and we talked about the game and Aggie football for an hour or two as we waited for our flight. I really enjoyed chatting with him and his wife. There were a couple of other Ags that walked by who stopped and chatted for a minute or two and I'm sure there were a lot more incognito. On Thursday there was maroon all over the city but from Friday morning onwards it was pretty scarce. When we were walking down Collins Ave Friday night I got a lot of "Gig'ems" whispered at me from Ags who were trying to keep on the down low.
We flew from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando and then onto Houston where we landed around 5pm.
It was a fun trip but it would have been a blast had the game gone the other way.
The lesson to be learned from all of this....if you're going to continue to make it to road games then make sure you bring something other than maroon, just in case.
4:36pmAg Football Recap: Miami Sets A&M Program Back 3 Years
Click to EnlargeAfter the Holiday Bowl I said the following,
I'm going to re-use that quote this week and take out the "hands-down" part.The game itself was hands-down the worst game I've been to since the 2005 Iowa State game.The game itself was the worst game I've been to since the 2005 Iowa State game.
We had an opportunity to legitimize the program on national TV. Last year's texas game now appears to have been more of an abbreviation than a sign of things to come.
We got dominated and manhandled on offense. I don't want to say it but.....I told you so. It wasn't just me saying it but we won't be able to beat most of the teams on our schedule if we can't throw the ball down the field. Miami is exhibit 1. There are a lot of things that I cannot understand about our offense and that is one of them.
What on earth was our game plan going into Miami? Why does J-Train have only 3 carries in our last 6 quarters of football? On third down why don't we ever throw the ball beyond the 1st down marker? Why is our longest reception by a WR only 20 yards? Why is our leading rusher our QB and our leading receiver our RB? Why does our second string QB have as many passing TDs as our starter?
Here is another one for you....why am I able to tell the guy sitting next to me if we're passing or running with a 90% accuracy? Because when Michael Corey comes into the game we're running the ball and when he comes out we're throwing it. It's almost a guarantee.
I've been more patient than most with Fran but this week he lost me. I like him, I think he's a nice guy, and I like that he has run a clean program but I can't handle these sort of semi-annual blowouts.
Things went downhill after the first snap where we were stuffed for a 5 yard loss. On third and long McGee got stripped but thankfully Yemi recovered. 3-and-Out for -5 yards.
After a nice Justin Brantly punt we started strong defensively stuffing Javarrus James for a 3 yard loss on their first snap and then got into Wright's face on a screen that was dropped but that was about the end of the good stuff. They converted on a 3rd & 13 enroute to an 8:51, 18 play, 80 yard TD drive. They converted four 3DCs and on the one they didn't convert they did so on 4th down. They scored when true freshman Graig Cooper took the direct snap and ran it into the end zone. They took the momentum early and often.
Our offensive highlight of the 1st half was when Joey Thomas blew up pre-season All-American Calais Campbell as McGee was sprinting towards the edge.
Our offensive line couldn't keep Miami out of the backfield....at all. It was like a giant 300 pound hole sieve. The Canes had 6 tackles for a loss including 3 sacks. I don't even know how many hurries they had but they had 6 registered QB hits. McGee was on his back more than a break-dancer on South Beach. At one point I saw a trainer snapping her fingers in front of McGee's facemask on the sideline. It was bad enough that Mike Goodson had 9 carries for 28 yards....that is with a long a single run that went for 29 yards.
On Miami's second possession Misi snuffed out a fake reverse putting Miami in a 3rd & 19. They completed a short pass to Cooper who fumbled after a shot by Mark Dodge. We recovered at Miami's 39 yard line and hope was restored....for a short time span. We ended up going 3-and-out forcing a 50 yard FG attempt by Matt Szymanski, only the second 50+ yard attempt in the Fran-era. We're 0-2 from 50 yards in the Fran-era.
At this point (9:11 left in the first half) it's still only a 7-0 game. Then Miami threw a 51 yard bomb on a play-action pass to Sam Shields and they went up 14-0 six plays later.
It went downhill very quickly after their second TD. McGee got picked and it was returned to midfield. Somehow they missed a 36 yard FG but on our second snap on the ensuing drive Goodson fumbled and Miami recovered on our 12 yard line. With 33 seconds left in the half they scored on their first play (an annoying screen pass to Graig Cooper) giving them a 21-0 lead.
On the kickoff after the TD they kicked it short and our center, Cody Wallace, fielded it and charged up field where he was stripped. Miami stretched the lead to 24-0 with a FG as the half expired.
Those final 33 seconds ended the ballgame. A 14-0 deficit at halftime is manageable but a 24-0 deficit isn't. I was sick to my stomach.
Final first half stats:
aTm UM ======================= Rush Offense 21 15 Pass Offense 17 175 Tot Offense 38 190 Turnovers 3 1 Pts off TOs 0 10 J-Train Touches: ZERO Martellus Touches: ZEROMiami took the ball to start the second half and we got burnt on another 40 yard play-action pass, this time to Lance Leggett who was even more open than Shields was on his. Leggett had time to stop and wait for the ball to come down as if it was a punt. The safeties both bit on the PA. Thankfully, the D stepped up and forced a punt. The offense went 3-and-Out again but the defense forced Miami to do the same.
J-Train got his first touch at the 8 minute mark of the 3rd quarter. He came out immediately after that play. Then we punted again.
Thankfully Kellen Heard forced a Kyle Wright fumble that Dodge scooped up. We took over at our own 36 yard line. Goodson picked up 6 yards on a direct snap and then 29 more yards on an option that finally worked to the outside. We ran a fake reverse and McGee had the most time he'd had all night but threw it away after not seeing Tellus open down the field. We ended up going for it on 4th & 16 and McGee overthrew Earvin Taylor on our first downfield pass of the night.
Marched the field led by a big long reception to Sam Shields that had extra yards tacked on following a Mike Bennett roughing the passer. They scored 2 plays later to give them a 31-0 lead with 46 seconds left in the third quarter.
Our next possession was our most impressive offensive drive....sort of. We picked up 39 yards, 30 of which were on a pass down the sideline to Goodson. We couldn't punch it in from the 1 yard line after a false start and a bone crushing 8 yard blindsided sack. It was the hardest I've ever seen McGee get hit and I'm not sure how he held onto the ball. Szymanski hit the FG to put our first points on the board.
We forced another Graig Cooper fumble on the next possession and marched down the field on back-to-back-to-back first down passes putting us inside the 10 yard line. 3 plays later McGee snuck into the end zone. 31-10.
After a Miami FG leaving just 2 minutes left on the clock we replaced McGee with Jerrod Johnson. Johnson had a couple of nice snaps and a couple of not so nice snaps. He ended the ballgame with a great scramble TD pass to Tellus in the back of the end zone. You could say it was the first fade to the corner of the end zone we've scored on.
JJ has now manned the helm on 6 drives -- the last 5 have resulted in TDs
Final score 34-17, which was quite misleading.
Defense 1st 2nd Tot ========================= Rush Yds 15 112 127 Pass Yds 175 100 275 Tot Yds 190 212 402 Pts 24 10 34After watching the game again, the defense didn't play as bad overall as I thought they did. The first drive was a killer and the two play-action plays were killers but other than that Miami had incredible field position as a result of turnovers. Three times they started on our side of the field and they scored on 3 of those, for 13 points. Really, the offense was the cause of death. I can't get over how ineffective the offense was. We finished with 98 yards rushing and 142 yards passing (33 of those were on JJ's final TD heave).
I'm not sure what we're going to do the rest of the season but previously I was worried about tech, Nebraska, & OU. Now I'm worried about everyone. We've got Baylor at Kyle Field next Saturday for our 3rd game in 14 days. We had better hit the practice field.
I'll get my trip recap up in the next day or so....I just needed to get all the game stuff off my chest first.
Gig'em.