Where to begin with things that made Aggies happy on Saturday? Let's just do it chronologically.
Texas A&M fans started their Saturday by getting to clown on Texas and Charlie Strong via so much College GameDay signage.
Have a feeling this sign was well-received by A&M fans. pic.twitter.com/xkQMaGYEz0
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) October 8, 2016
They then got to listen to Kirk Herbstreit call Austin a "cesspool" live on ESPN for how the Longhorns have treated their head coaches of late.
OH MY GOD #CESSPOOL pic.twitter.com/k2e4kJiVvn
— cuppycup (@cuppycup) October 8, 2016
Aggies then got to enjoy Texas losing a game it cares deeply about in the most frustrating way possible: Oklahoma setting Red River Shootout records on offense, days after Strong had made desperate coaching duty changes on defense.
With that out of the way, A&M got to the business of its actual game, a big one at home against a fellow unbeaten, Tennessee.
After five hours (the game moved at an incredibly CBS pace), the Aggies became the first team to make a double-digit lead over the Vols actually count for something. A&M went up by 21 early, then held on amid the weekly UT rally and won in double overtime, with the previously lucky Vols coughing up seven turnovers.
Tense moments were plentiful for A&M fans (all moments were plentiful for all viewers and participants; it was a five-hour game), but the whole thing ultimately went so Aggie, even an A&M player getting smashed in the face turned into the dude in The 12th Man jersey hyping up the entire crowd for withstanding the hit that got a Tennessee player ejected:
A&M player waves goodbye to ejected VolLOL this A&M player pumping up the crowd and waving goodbye after this Vol was ejected for a brutal hit to the face
Posted by SB Nation College Football on Saturday, October 8, 2016
That part just felt like it meant something.
Onward:
and 0.#BTHOtennessee #ItsAboutUs pic.twitter.com/AvtwZ2jA08
— AggieFBLife (@aggiefblife) October 9, 2016
Could it get even better for the Aggies? It could.
Bama’s up next. The winner’s 7-0. And next week, while the Tide have to put away these zombie Vols in a rivalry game, A&M gets a welcome bye week.
To bring it back full circle, here are the win totals since the two rivals parted after the 2012 season:
- Texas A&M, 42.
- Texas, 30.
Elsewhere!
1. "In case you hadn’t had an annual reminder, there used to be something that fans of Oregon Ducks football called "The Streak." As far back as I can remember, though, Washington has outscored Oregon, 70-21." — Our Washington blog, UW Dawg Pound
2. It wouldn’t be an FSU-Miami game if it didn’t end with an instantly nicknamed kick. I hear they’re calling this game-winner for FSU The Block at the Rock, as in, Miami’s renovated Hard Rock Stadium.
3. At one point, angry Miami fans loaded the end zone with trash, because The U is back, baby.
4. Fifteen numbers that show how completely Michigan beat the holy stuffing out of Rutgers. This game was such an astounding demolition, more people I know were watching it than the ranked rivalry game that was on at the same time.
5. Before the game, an Ann Arbor steakhouse offered a discount promotion based on how badly Michigan beat Rutgers. WHOOPSY.
6. Also, for the second year in a row, Jim Harbaugh went for two against Rutgers with a huge lead.
7. This Jabrill Peppers runback didn’t even count, because of a block in the back. Too dope to call back, in my opinion.
8. In the other top-10 games, Bama squatted Arkansas, Ohio State withstood some typical Indiana chaos, and Navy pretty much knocked Houston out of the Playoff. The other ranked-vs.-ranked game: Virginia Tech clobbering North Carolina in a downpour.
9. That downpour had nothing on the Notre Dame-NC State mud bowl, though, the most blooper-packed game I’ve ever seen.
Notre Dame-NC State was the awful weather game of the yearIf you like football played in horrible weather, Notre Dame-NC State was the game for you!
Posted by SB Nation College Football on Saturday, October 8, 2016
10. The play of the day was probably this by Utah:
11. The SEC commish, LSU players, and Florida players were even madder than you about that game being postponed or whatever it is.
12. For the second week in a row, a hit on Penn State’s kicker got somebody ejected.
DJ Durkin said if the refs hadn’t ejected Isaiah Davis for this hit, he would have done it himself.https://t.co/vAX2lOvPW9 pic.twitter.com/RKaVP16BX1
— Testudo Times (@testudotimes) October 8, 2016
13. Washington State is the latest team from the state of Washington to beat Stanford like Stanford used to beat teams.
14. USC knocked off Colorado. Let’s just focus on trying to count how many times this touchdown could’ve gone wrong.
This from Sam Darnold is worth watching again (and again) https://t.co/mDi9zY93xk
— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) October 8, 2016
15. Things went so wildly off the rails, Purdue won a Big Ten game, thanks in part to TRIPLE ICING the kicker.
16. This Arkansas lineman pinned down Bama’s QB by the neck, drawing no flags.
What's that, @GregSankey? pic.twitter.com/gb4EJU3kyt
— Bryant-Denny Stadium (@BryantDenny_UA) October 9, 2016
17. The god Lee Corso got a nice tribute during GameDay, which brought him to tears, with the help of chanting Aggies:
Corso brought to tears on College GameDayA tribute and chanting fans had Lee Corso in tears on air. He's a special part of our Saturdays! ❤️
Posted by SB Nation College Football on Saturday, October 8, 2016