Headed for Independence

It looks like the Aggies have accepted the bid to play in the Independence Bowl on December 28th. Here, the Aggies will be matched up against a very talented underachieving Georgia Bulldog team. The match up with the Georgia Bulldogs is probably the toughest opponent the Aggies could have drawn (others being Auburn and Navy). Again, I personally would have rather taken the Missouri spot to play in the Texas Bowl at home in Houston against an easier opponent in Navy; however, if the Aggies are going to return to the success of the past, they need to start winning these types of match ups. It's not enough just to make a bowl game, at some point you need to climb over the hump and start winning. Nevertheless, it will be good for some of our young players to go up against the size and speed of an SEC defense.

For this game it has been reported some of the UGA staff will not be participating due to conflicts with other job opportunities. I for one do not completely understand why the coaches would need to skip the game; however, I support anything that could potentially give the Aggies some extra help.

UGA D statistics from 2009:
Allow 328 yds/game
Give up 200.6 passing and 127.8 rushing

ATM D statistics from 2009
Probably worse

Texas or Independence?

As the bowl season gets closer most predict the Aggies will be going to either the Texas Bowl against Navy or the Independence Bowl against Auburn or Georgia. I, for one, would like to see the Aggies matched up against Navy here in the great state of Texas. Although the Texas Bowl is scheduled to be played on New Year's Day amongst the other bowl games and would not get the national appeal of the Independence Bowl against an SEC opponent, I feel the Texas Bowl would be best for the Aggie program.

First, there would be a ton of ATM fans in and around the stadium. The Aggie Fan Base travels well no matter where the game is located. With that being said, I can only Imagine the amount of Aggie support you would see for the bowl game if it was hosted in Houston. Plus, there is a good amount of Aggie players who are from Houston, and they would probably like nothing better than to come back and play at Reliant Stadium.

Also, I believe it is really important for the Aggies to get a win. As briefly mentioned earlier a national television win against an SEC opponent would do wonders for recruiting; however, with the Aggies, you really never know what you are going to get. Call me crazy, but I am real skeptical about our ability to win against an SEC opponent no matter what their record or ranking. If there is one thing the SEC knows how to do it's to play defense. You know, that thing ATM fans have not seen in a couple of years (especially this year). Navy gives us the chance to gain some confidence going into next year. I think it would be the perfect cap stone after the near upset in Aggieland on Thanksgiving.

Ouch...Colorado, Really???

Well, it looks like the roller coaster continues... Some weeks they play great and others they are pretty awful. I do take some fault for the earlier bold prediction

Once again someone must have given the Texas Aggie Defense the wrong directions on Saturday because they definitely did not show up at the game. 35 points to arguably the worst offense in the Big 12, Really? The performance was flat out embarrassing to say the least. I can see if we were playing a power house offense and the game was expected to be a shootout, but that was clearly not the case. No, we were outscored by the 98th ranked offense. Forgetting about the points we left on the field, 34 points should have been enough to win the game against Colorado's sub-par offense. Nevertheless, this does not excuse the Aggie Offense. On 4th and goal early in the game man up and put the damn ball in the end zone. It's missed opportunities like these that end up killing you in the end.

Positives from the game:

Jerrod ties the single season TD record

Von Miller gets 2 sacks

-Who are we kidding, it's a real stretch to find positives when you lose to Colorado.

After suffering this loss the Aggies face a must win coming up against Baylor in 2 weeks to gain bowl eligibility. Yes, OU did also lose last week but come on, what are the chances. I'm not completely counting the Aggies out, but the odds are not looking good (OU opened up as a 16 point favorite). OU has a recent history of success against the Aggies (especially in Norman). Plus, I'm pretty sure they will be pissed off looking to rebound after their own poor performance last Saturday.

Predictions for Saturday

The game this Saturday will showcase two storied programs on opposite tracks. For Texas A&M things seem to be looking up. As I've said all along, we are not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination, but we have made noticeable improvements. We have young talent at key positions on the offense, but naturally struggle with consistency. For the second game in a row the OL was opening huge holes for our running backs who, if given the chance, can do some serious damage. Jerrod is only 2 touchdown passes away from breaking his single season passing TD record. Our defense misses A LOT of tackles and can sometimes look like last year's unit where the first guy never makes the tackle. Nevertheless, they do have their moments where they look tolerable. On the other hand, Colorado looks to be just trying to play out the rest of the season. They have some serious problems and frequently stink up the stadium. Their coach is on the hottest of hot seats and will probably lose his job after the season. Colorado fans are even threatening to boycott and protest the garbage they call their football team.

The Aggies have always struggled at Boulder, but this season seems to be the season to break losing streaks. I haven't felt this way in a long time, but the biggest worry the Aggies should have should be to not beat themselves or play down to the level of their competition.

Saturday's Predicted Outcome: Aggies 38 - Buffalos 24

******UNRELATED NOTE: Be sure to check out this video of New Mexico's Womens Soccer. This chick does not take losing lightly. She's a beast.

Tailgate Time Again

Finally another home game in Aggieland and finally another excuse to make it through the work week. This Saturday at 2:30pm the Fighting Texas Aggies will take on the Iowa State Cyclones in hopes of building on their impressive victory against tech the previous week.

Tailgate will resume this week at the same location near Reed with a limited menu . More details to follow...

Which Offensive Line Will Show Up Against the Cyclones?

This Saturday brings the opportunity for the Texas Aggies to have a statement game. Unfortunately, it also gives the opportunity for the Aggies to fall into the same old familiar trap. The major question: Which offensive line will show up?

In one week we went from -13 yards rushing and 6 sacks given up to 321 yards rushing and 1 sack given up. The offensive line, who against Kansas State looked like they had cement around their feet, looked like the old SWC power football line of year's past. I know there were some changes and shifts in the guard position, but was this the main factor? Did the running backs run harder/smarter? Did moving some personnel around really account for an increase of 330 yards in the rushing game and 5 less sacks? Or, is this the natural progression of young linemen stepping up and essentially growing up?

I know M. Sherman probably had some choice words for his lineman after the K-State beating, and I'm not ready to anoint the line as better because of one game; however, it is nice knowing what they are capable of. Now, Iowa State is the perfect opponent for Texas A&M to prove last week was not a fluke performance. ISU is ranked around 60th as far as rush defense which gives ATM a good opportunity to put up some good numbers against a Big 12 opponent. With that being said, ISU will not be a rollover victory as they are on a little bit of a roll after beating Baylor and Nebraska in the past two weeks.