Some troubling patterns are developing with the Aggie football team. In consecutive games against Oklahoma State and Arkansas, they've played exceptionally well both offensively and defensively in the first halves, building substantial leads against ranked opponents. They led Oklahoma State 20-3 and Arkansas 35-17 to begin the third quarters. In both games, they collapsed in the second halves, committing turnovers, dumb penalties, and major defensive miscues. I could write one meltdown off as the kind of freakish occurrence that most teams experience now and then, but at A&M anything that happens twice becomes a tradition.
The other pattern is even more disturbing now that A&M's move to the SEC is official. The last time the Aggies knocked off an SEC team was in 1995, the final year of the Southwest Conference. R.C. Slocum was still the head honcho, the Aggies would finish 9-3 and one of the 9 was a 33-17 win over LSU. Since that victory, they've dropped seven straight to SEC teams. In their 2000 bowl game, Mississippi State (coached by Jackie Sherrill) beat them 43-41 in OT. Franchione's 2004 team was blown out (38-7) by Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl. Under Sherman, it's been even worse: in 2009, blowout losses to Arkansas (47-19) and Georgia (44-20), followed in 2010 by losses to Arkansas (24-17) and LSU (41-24). Sherman's fifth consecutive defeat by an SEC opponent came in yesterday's game against the Razorbacks. I hate to say it, but this is not a good sign.
The other pattern is even more disturbing now that A&M's move to the SEC is official. The last time the Aggies knocked off an SEC team was in 1995, the final year of the Southwest Conference. R.C. Slocum was still the head honcho, the Aggies would finish 9-3 and one of the 9 was a 33-17 win over LSU. Since that victory, they've dropped seven straight to SEC teams. In their 2000 bowl game, Mississippi State (coached by Jackie Sherrill) beat them 43-41 in OT. Franchione's 2004 team was blown out (38-7) by Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl. Under Sherman, it's been even worse: in 2009, blowout losses to Arkansas (47-19) and Georgia (44-20), followed in 2010 by losses to Arkansas (24-17) and LSU (41-24). Sherman's fifth consecutive defeat by an SEC opponent came in yesterday's game against the Razorbacks. I hate to say it, but this is not a good sign.
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