We beat Army; the wheels didn't fall off, but they almost did. The odds makers gave us something like 30 points, we won by 4. It was nice to see J Train to get the rock and the first to lock up the win.

I am listening to the crap game on the radio because RCN (my cable company) is incompetent, so I cannot judge, but that has to be one of the worst defensive efforts we have ever put up. Army went 84 yards for 7, 39 of them defensive penalties. Dave South et al. seem to think a few of those were bad calls.

Offensive recap: McGee throws a 42 yard bomb, gets hurt, then JJ throws an INT to set up a 58 yard fumble return by Freeney.

14-7 good guys.

At the beginning of the year, even the most sceptical fans thought we would be 0.500 at Kyle Field; we are 0.000. Vegas has us as heavy favorites over Army this weekend, despite their dreaded triple option offense and our dreadful defense---- 105 out of 119 in rush defense.

Will we be stuck at 1 win at this most hollowed of fields? Maybe.

Army, K-State, Tech, Colorado, and OU are our home games. If we loose to Army the wheels fall off--- $Bill will need to fly to Washington, DC and get in line for a bailout ---that's a W. Tech and OU are top 10 teams; L L. K-State and Colorado are maybes. K-State can put points on the board, 44.7 per game, so our offense will have to keep up with what our defense can't contain. Unfortunately our offense produces slightly less than theirs: min 14, max 28, and mean 21.7. Colorado is 3-0 with a win of a top 25 team. Yes that top team was West Va and they got smoked by East Carolina, who in turn lost to NC State who you know stinks, but college football is't transitive. West Va started as a top 10 team and Colorado beat them. We did not start as a top 10 team.

There may be only 1 victory at Kyle this year, but at least it's still Tim Smith's favorite place to watch a game. Is it basketball season yet?

The thing that strikes me the most about the Miami game is how people see what they want to see.  Those that groaned when Stephen was announced with the starters then left their feet and cheered when JJ's name came next saw a different game.  They saw him stay alive in the pocket in the face of a ton of presure, and throw for 275 yards and 3 TDs, even with crummy receivers running crummy routes.  "Just think how McGee would have done with that pass rush," they say.

I saw none of that.  Even Sherms admits that despite the numbers, the passing game it was "nothing to hand your hat on."  I saw poor decision making on runs and passes and a complete disregard for protecting the ball.  I saw "14 points on a silver platter."  I saw poorly thrown passes that left receivers stretched out and dangerously vulnerable to hits.  Thankfully Fuller only had the wind knocked out of him.

Other frustrations/news:

Niether JJ nor Goodson are risk adverse.  When face with decision to either run straight and be guaranteed four yards, or make a move and either 20 yards or loose two, they will both choose the shake and bake EVERY TIME.  We went three and out in one series because JJ left us at third and short after a fail moved.

In his post game news conference, Sherms said that we had no success in the two back set, and some success at the option. In fact, you saw JJ line up as a receive at one point so that we could run the option with out the risk of injuring the QB.  The option?  Really?  Are we reverting to the Fran playbook?  Did Sherms learn something about this team that our former coach already knew?

JJ hurt his shoulder, but not as bad as McGee.

Shermi tucked in his shirt.

I cannot believe people complained out that.

JJ under center. First play is a false start. Second play Goodson
takes it 60 for 6. I like it.

They just announced both McGee and Johnson as starting; very sneeky
McGee got some groan and JJ got cheers.

I may get hit my the fly-by.

Word on the street is that JJ gets the start. Not sure how reliable
the word is, but it's it word.

I can think of worst places to have a beer on a Saturday morning.

I just read that ABC is showing the Notre Dame/Michigan State game to
most of the nation; that is good news. 1) We are 3-78837382 in
nationaly televised games, and 2) the fewer people who see this beat
down the better.

According to the wall in the Wings 'n More men's room, Miami is +4 on
Saturday. Not sure if that line has moved, but 4 seems low
considering we are 0-1 at home in the Sherms era.

Shermi is not expected to name his starting QB (publicly) before
Saturday. I hate speculating, but I cannot see a reason for this
beyond Sherms really wanting Stephen--- or really not wanting JJ ---
under center, so he is delaying his decision as long as possible.

I have stuck by McGee because I think he is a bad-a. The latest evidence of this came when he was asked if he thought he’d be able to play, McGee said, "I always do."

Zone Club seats don't suck. Well they might not see a fade to the
corner of the opposite endzone, but are recievers can't catch those
and our QB's can't throw them so maybe missing it is good.

McGee is still uncertian for Miami. He's doing more this week than
last, which was nothing. One day at a time.

Saw this sign tonight; its not sports related but it's in College
Station and amazing.

Here is a pic of the Reed Arena practice facilities. Not much from
the outside.

ABC put us in the early slot, 2:30. This is going a hot as hell.

ABC picked up the Miami game; kickoff will be either 3:30 or 8 CST.  I am crossing my fingers for 8 considering this will be the only game I attend this year, and I don't want to have to set my alarm to tail gait.

As aways, pease email my public relations department at aggie.sport at gmail.com to schedule any tailgate appearances.  Regetably, due to high demand I will be unable to meet all requests.

I missed this in the press conference earlier today, but Shermi said that if McGee was healthy enough and the we were preparing for a game this week that the Stephen would be his starting quarterback. However, we aren't playing this week, so does that leave room for Johnson?

For those of you that like sources of this weekends two big injuries...

"We thought there was an outside shot [Stephen] might have torn his labrum. But it [the prognosis] was more positive than that."

"Coach Mike Sherman wouldn't rule out McGee returning in time to start the Aggies' next game."

"RB Mike Goodson (knee/ankle) is expected to be fine."

Live streaming working again.  I am a crappy stenographer, so cut me some slack.

Shermi:

Miami is also dealing with injuries so the effect of the bi-week balances out.  But going into a bi-week with a win is a good thing.  His wife and the secretaries really like it when we win before a week off.  Facing a very good defense and offense.  Phenomenal speed.  We have to improve.  Just as important after a win than after a loss.

3 man front has been pretty decent against the run.  A lot of time we are bringing a fourth to pressure people.  It is frustrating that when we put 4 we are not better.

Worst play in the game was the muffed punt.  Pugh showed that he is a great player by not being effected by that, came back and did well.
Just to give him a mental break.

Offensive Coordinator: Nolan Cromwell

Switched a handful of plays when Johnson came in.
We were a little conservative on play calling in the 2nd half, also not executing both in the running and passing game.

Stephen said he was fine but Shermi had to take him out of the game.  No question that Stephen could play the rest of the game.  Really speaks to how tough mentally and physically he is.

We concentrated on created a running game in fall.  Thought we had the backs to have a good running game.  Because of injuries at full back we have been really hurt.  We just need to maintain our focus and execute better.  We are going to run the ball and play action.  Would have hoped we would be better.

Lane will loose weight as he starts practicing.  Had lost some in training camp, lighter than he was in the spring.  When he got hurt he couldn't do any work and all the weight caught back up with him.  It is up to him to shed the lbs he needs to shed.  He is a valuable part of the offense and it is just a matter of how many plays we can get out of him.

Update on Stephen McGee and Mike Goodson from today's press conference.  McGee has a sprained shoulder and a slight separation; he is day-to-day and will likely not practice this week.  Goodson has a mild ankle sprain (sure looked like the has grabbing his knee to me), but he looks good and will practice.

Great time for a week off so guys can heal up.

Stephen McGee will undergo tests on his throwing shoulder today. The extent of the injury isn’t yet known, but "doesn’t appear season-ending."

Two thoughts:
1) McGee played with the shoulder hurt all last season, then had post-season surgery.
2) Ya Johnson threw two TDs, but he I didn't think he played well enough to take over the starting stop IF McGee is 100%. Kirk Bohls of the A-Statesman disagrees; he thinks McGee should line up in the slot, which is very interesting.

I will never complain about a win, ya just kidding. Some things looked good: Mi Bennett was all over the place, we had 21 points on four turnovers, the defense has a number of big stops and open field tackles, and Johnson drove the offense 93 yards for a TD. Most things did not look good: McGee was knocked out of the game, we fumbled all over the place somehow only lossing one, and NM had 134 MORE yards than us.

If Johnson is the QB for the rest of this season, then we will throw at least one pick per game; touch passes and last minute throw aways will be INTs against good teams.

I did think the o-line improved over the course of the game. McGee was getting slammed at first, but by the end Johnson had a few seconds to find open receivers.

Mi Bennett is a man, and can we talk about the ref's triceps?

McGee dunzo. Goodson dunzo.

Correction, McGee is hurt. With the punishment he has taken and
stayed in, his shoulder--- the one he had surgery on ---must be in bad
shape.

2 picks, a 2 TDs, and McGee is riding the wood. Johnson has (I think)
his 1st 1st half TD.

1st offensive series: bad. Goodson tacked behind the line, McGee hit
a few times, a fumble, that crappy wide receiver screen that has never
ever worked, and a punt. Didn't see the game last week but I bet it
looked like this.

In a few hours we will see how well Shermi was able to get his players to "flush it out."  Judging by the comments

"It was real frustrating actually." - Mike Goodson
"It's extremely disappointing. It hurts." - Stephen McGee

this one may clog on the way down.

While those quotes are discuraging, the real slap-in-the-face comes from New Mexico head coach Rocky Long when he said, "I don't know if A&M has more athletic ability than TCU."  F you Rocky.

"The bottom line is we should not be losing to Arkansas State." -$Bill

The men's basketball schedule has finally dropped. The Big 12
published the conference schedule months ago, and we knew some game
dates from our opponents schedules, so there were just a few pieces of
the puzzle missing.

Non-confernce highlights are: Arizona on 12/5, @ Alabama on 12/13, and
LSU in Houston on 12/20. Depending on how the brackets shake out, we
could play Illinois on 11/29 at the Padre Island tourney.

As pointed out by an anonymous poster, cheer up, A&M is a basketball school and we landed a blue chip. He may be still be in diapers, but Jamal Branch is the in Rivals top ten list for the 2011 recruiting class (thats right, he can't even drive yet). Best of all he is not a home opener loss.


Here is a video of the kid:

I like stats. In a win or loss, there should be some story in the numbers. Blowouts are the best. When you have more points then they had yards; they had more turnovers then first downs; you get the point. 14-18 is not a blowout, but there is still a story: melt-down.

I think our defense did well. You would have liked them to not allow the 80-yard, 4:51 minute, go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth, but other than that, this was better than we have seen. We kept ASU out of the endzone, even on short fields; got two turnovers; and stoped them on downs once. The story here, all of ASU's points came off our turn-overs and missed field goals.

The offense, wow did they start good. Out of the gate: 69 yards TD; 57 yards missed field goals, shake it off; 77 hards TD; halftime! Then the wheels fall off.

The best news you can muster up about the second half was we punted twice. All other drives ended in turnovers or missed field goals. We had a GREAT drive to start the second quarter: 12 plays, 77 yards, 5:14 minutes, TD. Now compare that one drive to the third and fourth quarter.

One drive:	12 plays	77 yards	5:14 minutes	7 points
Third quarter:	14 plays	36 yards	8:08 minutes	2 punts, 2 turnovers
Difference	+2 plays	-41 yards	+2:54 mintues
Fourth quarter:	16 plays	87 yards	5:44 minutes	1 missed field goal, 2 turnovers
Difference	+4 plays	+10 yards	+0:30 minutes

I think this shows that we can play well, we just don't.