SB Nation User Blog: carsondude

Unforgiving Season

carsondude — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:38:54 -0000

My expectations aren't too high for this season. My friends have called me a pecimist, although I would refer to myself as a realist. Of course, the aggies could probably pull out third place in the south but they could also pull out with sixth place.

But that is simply the nature of college football. You never really know what's going to happen. Of course, usually you can predict based on the past but with Sherman, no one really has any idea what he's capable of. The first couple of weeks are going to be very very telling.

I'm really not to excited about Sherman. i think he can be a great coach but I also think he's not the ideal coach for today's CF atmosphere. Of course, A&M prides itself on tradition and ideals. We would never hire a Leach...maybe not even a Stoops. This school is willing to give up a lot to win but they won't take a lot of risks with crazy coaches (oops...frangate). If Sherman doesn't adapt to the college game and simply inserts a pro-style atmosphere/gameplan, the team will not succeed.

I don't know anything about coaching football, but I do know that no single scenario guarantees success. It seems that everyone is going to the spread now and it works. But that doesn't mean that if we switch it will work. Maybe Sherman can come in and work a little pro-style mixed with a little spread. Maybe he will actually adapt. It seems like that's what the great coaches do. They don't have a set way. They adapt to players, offenses, coaches, teams, and even during games. If something doesn't work, you have to be willing to take some risks to fix it. If Sherman can take some risks with the team and how he coaches, us aggies might have something to cheer about this season.

Szymanski tranfers

carsondude — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:21:58 -0000

Our kicker is transferring. This is not good. Although he leaves for "personal reasons" Matt has had a less than stellar FG kicking career. He made 17 of 30 FGs over two seasons. If you can remember he was the forte of our offense and by forte I mean the letdown.

He was great at kickoffs though, he could kick the thing into the endzone just about every time. Great leg.

Here's the main thing:

Szymanski's departure leaves A&M without a player who has attempted a field goal in a collegiate game.

Yikes. I'm not sure how our backups look but how often do you have a stellar backup kicker? I hope this doesn't screw us but it looks like it could. We'll just see how things look come August.

Sailing Capsize

carsondude — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:16:14 -0000

I'm not sure if this is completely aggie sports related but it'll have to do.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5825012.html

I heard about this early last night as I am a member of the team. I know just about everyone that was on board. 3 of the four students aboard are from the TAMUG team while one is from the TAMU College Station team. Thankfully after almost 27 hours at sea they were rescued early this morning. I've been on that boat before and had the opportunity to participate in this race so it's a pretty real situation for me.

Unfortunately one member of the crew is still unaccounted for. It seems as though he led the others off the boat as it capsized while perhaps endangering his own life.

They were participating in a regatta(race) from Galveston to Vera Cruz Mexico held every two years. The boat was donated to A&M about 3 years ago and the College Station team has the exact model that was also donated to them.

This is a very big issue for A&M because it was a school sponsored competition. I know sailing doesn't get the kind of publicity I want it to, but his certainly isn't the kind anyone wants.

Updates and releases can be seen from the tamu.edu home page.

Martellus a Cowboy

carsondude — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:07:59 -0000

Cowboy/Aggie fans unite!!
2nd round, good for the aggies. Can't wait to see this guy actually getting passes, especially from Romo!! Witten is one of my favorite players, but Martellus will be a great #2/equal time guy. Both are very tough and physical TEs

Side Note: imagine his mentor? T.O. anyone?

Poll

Martellus in the NFL?

Yell Leader Elections

carsondude — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 02:09:29 -0000

Just found this online. The campaigning has begun. The 5 corps guys all campaign together to make sure they win. Always under the name "5 for yell". http://www.5foryell.com/video

Interesting attempt at comedy.

What would BG do?

carsondude — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:10:45 -0000

How do you guys think we would've fared this year if we still had that coach we used to have? The Big 12 is a lot tougher this year it seems. Even with losing Acie do you think we could've competed for the title? Still been a top ten team? I don't know. I'm going to take the high road and say we would've been better but not necessary equal to last year. Acie was a leader on this team, and now it seems like there is no leader. Also, there is no real PG and Acie was that too. There's a lot of talent though. How would we have done (probably better to evaluate this after march but, oh well)

Texas A&M

carsondude — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:31:29 -0000

hey guys, I'm an aggie and I just wanted to check in with ya'll and give a little insight to things on the other side.

The Season

The ags this year had a very dissapointing season (what year isn't). We were a dark horse to win the big 12 and were finally stacked with coach fran's recruiting classes. everything crumbled after that nationally televised miami game. after the blowout, the A&M former students(not alumni) were so outraged that one of the major donors revealed the "VIP Newsletter" to the media. This was it for fran. Ags are pretty serious about their treasured honor code, and fran broke it. Not to mention lying to his boss, the AD.
After a mediocre season, we ended very strong by dominating our biggest game of the year vs. Texas. We played in that game the way we should have played all year; balanced offense, aggressive defense. It was magical. The new coach(which no one is too pleased about) will not coach the bowl game.

Good Things:
So what should you know about this team? It is a run happy team with a dying pass game. j-train(290 tailback) will knock anyone down and is our most dangerous player. But he is not just a short down back(although he is like 90% on 3rd and 4th downs). He usually averages 5+ on the ground, at least for a while. Splitting his carries is Mike Goodson. A star sophomore. He's basically your typical fast guy.

What not to worry about:
The pass game. Stephen Mcgee is very inconsistent. He was recruited as a pocket passer but now is our third rusher. Expect lots of keepers, options, triple options. He is a threat on the ground though, make no mistake. Our receivers are hardly standouts.

And the school?
A&M is rich with tradition. Above it, it prides itself on it's military history and deep rooted traditions. The 12th man, Yell Practice, etc. if a student sits down at a football game, or attempts to leave, regardless of the score or conditions, he will be yelled at and called a "2%er".

San Antonio

Texas is a great state. San Antonio is a tourist attraction. I'm assuming with the 60,000 extra visitors over the break, it will be just magical. Don't get me wrong, it's an interesting place. Check out the Alamo, the site of a Mexican led defeat over the Texans. The river-walk is a great place for dinner or a stroll. If you don't eat Tex-Mex for every meal while you're here, you're just crazy. I'm not from San Antonio, but check out some places online and go to the. But basically, anywhere will probably be good. Also, there are some very nice golf courses around if you're staying for a while. Just a thought. If you're going to the game, expect to see a lot of aggies. Last time this same bowl match-up was done, there was an attendance record, and I'm assuming it wasn't a ton of PSU travelers. If you can, you should consider coming to the Midnight Yell Practice. You can find out online where it will be. It's a very fun thing to be a part of. Feel free to wear your colors, just be respectful. It's the traditions thing. This is your best way to see the yell leaders, the yells, and the A&M spirit. You should check it out. It's only about 45 minutes or so then you can hit the bars on the riverwalk. Also, aggies pride themselves on being friendly. If you come to tailgate (which you must) don't be afraid to find a big barbecue and introduce yourself.

The Game

I don't really know a whole bunch about Penn State this year or in general. if the aggies play like they can, they can be very competitive. No one really knows because Fran is gone. Our pass defense is pretty awful. If you can pass on us, it shouldn't be too hard. We like to control the clock. We like to run the big guy. We like to play old school option offense. We don't fumble, and we don't cause fumbles. It could be interesting.

Aggies wanted the bowl that game them the best chance of winning. This probably isn't it, but it could be worse. Hopefully it's not the blowout like last time.

Gig 'em

Fran Run Out of Town

carsondude — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:49:33 -0000

Did you see the interview with fran after the t.u. beatdown? I was laughing my ass off. It's so obvious he's gone. Just the way he answered his questions. It's too early for a youtube video, but it'll probably come up in the next couple of days. When asked, "how much do you care about your players?" fran shrugged his shoulders, said, "I don't know", shrugged again, and then said with a lack of care, "A lot". Immediately afterward, the tv announcers guessed that based on that interview alone, he's gone. It's official. FRAN IS GONE!!!!!!!!!! good game BTW

2008 Football

carsondude — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 17:49:34 -0000

Well, I know this is a year off; but I couldn't help not to notice how easy our 2008 schedule will be:
http://www.aggieathletics.com/pressRelease.php?PRID=12315

We play only the easy north teams(KSU, Iowa, Colorado) and our only hard away games are Texas and OSU. Miami at home gives us a decent preseason challenge, and we still have Tech, OU, and army at home for some interesting games. If we had this schedule this year, do you think we'd have a better chance to win the BIG XII? I do. It will be interesting to see how things turn out next year. Let's think about who all will be back.....Texas A&M 2008 Big XII Champions???

Poll

TAMU in 08

Football Preview

carsondude — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 06:09:08 -0000

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/insider/news/story?id=2932264&action=login&appRedirect=http%3 a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncf%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d2932264

Well, I came across this on ESPN the other day. They've joined up for Blue Ribbon for some preseason guesses.

What a good article for A&M fans! I felt as though this was pretty positive, if not skewed a little. Fran comes out in pretty good light even. Blaming his bad seasons on his Defensive Coordinator. Seems to make sense, although I don't believe it entirely. I do believe most of the things in the preview, I mean, you can bend stats to fit anything you want, but they've got the stats. I agree though with the jist of the article; improve passing, keep improving defense: good things.
I read this in the comments section, "We don't need the safeties to make big plays, just prevent them" or something of that nature. But don't you guys agree, a little positively skewed? They make it sound like we have a good shot at winning the big 12 and be ranked top 10.