Tennessee, A&M have had similar seasons
09:12 AM CST on Thursday, December 30, 2004
This is the team that lost at Baylor then took Oklahoma down to the
final play in back-to-back weeks, so who knows what to expect from Texas
A&M in the SBC Cotton Bowl Saturday against Tennessee?
What those two games showed is that the Aggies had a tendency to play up
or down to the level of competition. In fact, the Volunteers followed a
similar pattern. Considering both squads' penchant for close games, this
one has the makings of a quadruple overtime thriller.
But this is also the same A&M team that looked overwhelmed in its season
opener at Utah. The young, inexperienced Aggies appeared young and
inexperienced in the blowout loss. Tennessee may be young as well, but
the Vols have been to 16 straight bowls. This is routine to them. This
is new to most of A&M's players.
Since the Utah disaster, the Aggies have avoided falling behind early,
and that has been huge in keeping them believing they could win games.
A&M might be fortunate in that the Vols - who are starting their
third-string quarterback, rely heavily on their running game, and, as
mentioned, tend to wind up in close contests - aren't really the type of
opponent likely to race out to a big early lead.
Bowls can be a weird animal, where often the game means more to one team
than the other. This contest is probably more significant to the Aggies,
which could prove critical if they can get through the first quarter or
so without letting the nerves bury them in a deep deficit.
Q: Did A&M set (or tie) the record for fewest turnovers in a
season? Do bowl game turnovers also count in this statistic?
Guy Wiggs
COHEN: The old record was eight, which is where A&M stands going
into Saturday's game. But Ball State, which isn't playing in a bowl,
finished the season with six turnovers to break the mark. (Pretty
impressive for a team that went 2-9.) By the way, the NCAA recently
changed the rule and now counts bowl stats for records.
•••
Q: Utah ran off to a big lead in the first half of the first game
and Texas dominated the Aggies in the second half of the last game. Both
halves featured an A&M offense that didn't appear to have any
confidence. The quarterback looked uncertain and the team didn't move
the ball. Do you think that there is anything in the film of those
halves that might be useful to Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl, or do you
think they were just lapses that won't factor into the game?
Beau
COHEN: A common thread in both halves was that the opposing
defense was able to put so much pressure on Reggie McNeal that even with
his elusiveness, he couldn't escape. But that's easier said than done.
It's no coincidence that those two foes are going to BCS bowls.
Tennessee does have a strong defensive front and will certainly try to
hound McNeal. One Vols player commented that he noticed on film that
McNeal was usually able to avoid one defender in the backfield, but not
two. But, again, one of the reasons A&M has been effective on offense
this season is that it's tough for opponents to pull that off.
•••
Q: I recently read where Aggie football players last year didn't
really give Franchione's staff a lot of respect when the position
coaches offered advice. They now say that has changed. What created that
change? Obviously, the attitude of players changed, but why? Did this
lack of respect for the coaches contribute to the rumor last year that
some players quit on the coaching staff toward the end of the season?
Dennis
COHEN: There's always going to be a feeling-out process when a
new staff arrives. I don't think lack of respect is quite the right
description. Players aren't sure what to make of the coaches' styles,
and it's easy when things get rough to think, "That's not how we used to
do it." The adjustment can be especially hard on seniors, who don't have
the motivation of building for the future. Franchione likes to say,
half-jokingly, that in the first year, the seniors view instructions as
suggestions, not orders. What changes is that players become accustomed
to the coaches' styles and get to know them better. It's also true that
some players use up their eligibility or leave, and the ones left tend
to be the most likely to want to buy into the staff's philosophy.
•••
Q: What happens when a school receives more signed letters of
intent than it has open scholarships? How does it determine which
signees to accept? Is there some sort of NCAA regulation governing that?
Jim Blande
COHEN: Colleges are not limited in how many signed letters of
intent they can receive. The restrictions apply to how many scholarships
a program can give out each school year. Teams have 25 new scholarships
and 85 overall to give per year. (So the most incoming players a squad
can bring in each season is 25, and it could be fewer if more than 60
veterans return.) Usually when a college signs more recruits than it has
scholarships available, the coaches know that some of the players are
probably not going to qualify academically. If a team winds up with more
eligible players than scholarship spots, the solution is usually to
"grayshirt" an incoming freshman. That means the player does not enroll
until second semester, goes through spring practice then still has five
years of eligibility. He counts against the next year's signing class'
scholarship limit. Sometimes colleges will discuss the possibility of
grayshirting with a recruit when he commits - typically someone who
needs time to bulk up before he could contribute. But if over-signing
results in a player not getting to come to the program who wants to,
that angers high school coaches, so colleges try to avoid that scenario.
Another situation that can happen is when a player in a signing class
enrolls at the college that spring semester, instead of coming in the
next fall with everyone else. Schools then have the option of counting
that recruit toward the previous year's limit, but only if they did not
use all available scholarships in the fall.
•••
Q: Since Keelan Jackson is not listed on the two-deep roster, is
he expected to be at full speed for the Cotton Bowl and will he play?
Ray Huffines
COHEN: I wouldn't put much stock in the depth chart, since the
staff doesn't always update it. And when a guy comes back from injury,
it's common to not automatically put him back ahead of the people who
have played in his place. But Jackson should play, though it's hard to
gauge how effective he will be with all the time he missed.
•••
Q: Who do the coaches think will be in the mix next year at
running back besides Courtney Lewis?
Robert Dosterschill
COHEN: Redshirt freshman Samson Taylor is the most likely. You
could also see fellow redshirt freshman Jay Lucas or even freshman
Jorvorskie Lane.
•••
Q: Are we all correct in assuming Reggie McNeal will return for
his senior year?
Glen Harper
COHEN: McNeal plans to return, and he should be able to improve
his draft status immensely by playing another season.
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