2009 Previews: Texas A&M

By Tim Cottrell
Sports Writer/Designer
Published: June 29, 2009

We go to Texas A&M for Preview No. 13. Previews of all 65 BCS conference schools, plus Notre Dame and state schools, in no particular order, will run daily through Aug. 22

And now, the sad tale of Texas A&M.

Remember R.C. Slocum? Probably not, but the guy won a lot of football games when he was coaching the Aggies.

For some reason, the fans there never really liked him. And after a 6-6 season in 2002, they ran him off in favor of Dennis Franchione.

That didn’t go so well.

So once they ran off Coach Fran, they thought about getting Tommy Tuberville but instead wound up going with former Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman, an incredibly uncharismatic individual who was moderately successful in the NFL.

They went 4-8 in Sherman’s first season.

This year, 13 starters are back, including nine on offense, but things aren’t likely to improve too much.

Most of the playmakers are back, including quarterback Jerrod Johnson and running back Cyrus Gray. Assuming Johnson manages to hold on to the job, sometimes quarterback Ryan Tannehill will remain at wide receiver, where he was fairly explosive last season.

The offensive line returns mostly intact, but it wasn’t very good last year so that’s not necessarily a great thing.

Defensively, the Aggies only return four starters. And that’s probably a good thing, because that unit allowed 449 points in 2008. So much for the Wrecking Crew, eh?

Let’s take a look at the schedule:

Sept. 5: New Mexico
The Aggies very nearly lost at New Mexico last year a week after losing to Arkansas State.

Sept. 19: Utah State
Aggies vs. Aggies, but the Aggies we’re focusing on here will roll.

Sept. 26: UAB
Playing the Blazers cures a lot of ills.

Oct. 3: vs. Arkansas (at Arlington, Texas)
The Cowboys stadium managed to land a bunch of games this year. The Hogs will win big here.

Oct. 10: Oklahoma State
Last year’s new tradition of getting smoked at home is renewed.

Oct. 17: at Kansas State
If they’re going to sneak their way into a bowl game, they’ve gotta win this one.

Oct. 24: at Texas Tech
And maybe pulling off the upset here wouldn’t hurt, either.

Oct. 31: Iowa State
As mediocre as A&M is, they should pound the Chizik Orphans.

Nov. 7: at Colorado
The Buffs should be improved this year.

Nov. 14: at Oklahoma
The Sooners might make last year’s 66-28 game look pedestrian in comparison.

Nov. 21: Baylor
Bears! Aggies! Fifth place in the Big 12 South on the line!

Nov. 26: Texas
Ugly.

This team will be better than last year’s, but not by much. And the record will probably be exactly the same, or maybe 5-7.