CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Four => SEC => Topic started by: Gigem on December 16, 2025, 04:01:38 PM
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So, A&M playing Miami in it's first CFP game. I think we're very evenly matched, and I like our odds with the game being at home.
I'm excited about this game not just because of our potential playoff run, but how well we have done (overall) under Elko. Last year it seemed like we were turning a corner, and then we laid an egg in November, but we still finished with 8 wins, and came tantalizingly close to 9/10 wins. OT loss vs Auburn, and then a late collapse against USC in the bowl game. One of the things I've harped on on this board and others is how A&M has not had two *successful seasons in a row since the early 90's.
Successful means either conference champions, or 10+ wins. You may be able to call 97/97 successful, because in 97 we reached the Big 12 CCG, but we got bodied by Nebraksa when they were peak NU, and then lost the bowl game to an also very good UCLA and Cade McNown. 1998 we obviously won the Big 12, but in 1999 we took a step back, and then it was pretty much the Mack and Stoops show for a decade plus.
So all that being said, 8-5 last year, 11-1 this year with the chance to win 12 or more is a wonderful year in my book. I'm not sure who all is returning in '26, and frankly with the NIL and portal and all the noise I don't think anybody knows, even the players yet. But I like the direction we're trending, and if Elko can maintain momentum in '26 and beyond it will be the first time in 3 decades we've had real sustained success.
I have to temper myself because the schedule is very tough , and success may not be measured in W/L. Also, we will have new OC/DC among other staff changes. But Alabama and Georgia have the same issues year over year.
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Yup, TAMU and Miami are pretty evenly matched.
Just comparing it to the Aggie-Texas game, I think Miami is a little better along both lines, which is going to be a matchup problem for the Ags. And Miami's rushing defense is better than Texas' and I expect that to be a challenge as well.
But TAMU plays very well at times, and the game's at home. I think that gives A&M a slight edge. I think the Ags should win a close one but wouldn't be surprised if it goes the other way.
As for next season, the Ags' schedule is going to be tougher. I think 8-4/9-3 is a reasonable expectation. With the 2025 Aggie schedule as it was, I don't think it's realistic to extrapolate into 2026 from there.
And although it's true that Alabama and Georgia have the same issues of reloading year after year and always seem to manage them, I don't think A&M is on that level yet. I'm not being overly critical, because despite back-to-back trips to the playoffs' Final 4, Texas is clearly not on that level either. This season was a clear step backward for the Longhorns, and given the increased difficulty of the schedule, I expect something similar for A&M next year. I could certainly be surprised, though.
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Well, to be clear, NOBODY is on the same level as Georgia and Alabama over the last ~10-15 years. So I don't expect us to be there either, but I think we (or any program really) can approach that level of consistency year over year.
What I'm really saying is that we all deal with the same issues. Talent leaving, coaches leaving, tough schedules, injuries, constant distractions. The good programs adapt and overcome, the others swing up and down with the tides. Which is why I said I had to temper my expectations for '26 not in terms of W/L but more on how we stack up and match up. Anytime you play LSU, Florida, Texas, Mizzouri, USCe, Arkansas and win all but 1 I'd call that a successful year. Next year we get to play @LSU for the 2nd year in a row, and @ Bama. and to finish the season we get @OU and Texas. I made a back of the napkin guess a few days ago, I think we can be on par with some of these teams, and would take help to win a couple.
Nobody knows yet how OU will shake out next year, or if Bama is really sustaining under KDB, or if UTenn will be able to bounce back from a disappointing '25. 8 wins is pretty much our default as it's often joked about, so if we can just squeak by 1-2 more games we're knocking on the CFP and 10 wins again, and that would be a true measure of success to me. I'm not yet ready to declare Elko some kind of football god but I'm pleased with what he's done so far.
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It's hard to get a handle on how good Miami actually is because as weak as A&M's schedule was (supposedly) I think Miami's is weaker. We both played and Beat ND, they lost to Louisville and SMU. They trounced Pitt, outside of that I'm not really sure who they played that I would consider a quality opponent. USF doesn't count. Same thing with Notre Dame.
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it is going to be increasingly difficult to replicate elite results yr to yr due to the portal. who has depth? it's a relative question but the answer is no one has what they used to. optimistically it could make the playoff increasingly entertaining once they fix this james madison nonsense.
how much better would ole miss/notre dame & oregon/texas be than what we're getting this week? those would be great games. instead we have two turds.
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it is going to be increasingly difficult to replicate elite results yr to yr due to the portal. who has depth? it's a relative question but the answer is no one has what they used to. optimistically it could make the playoff increasingly entertaining once they fix this james madison nonsense.
how much better would ole miss/notre dame & oregon/texas be than what we're getting this week? those would be great games. instead we have two turds.
One thing I need to clarify is that I'm not looking for "elite results" year over year. I mean, yeah, I'd like to go 16-0 or whatever the number is these days to win a CFP/NC, but what I'm saying is that we can be a consistent 9/10/11/12 game winner year over year. You know what has kept A&M from being much more consistent in the W column? Losing games to Miss State or Ole Miss before Kiffin got there Not losing to Alabama or LSU when they were winning the MNC. Losing to the 2nd tier teams that we're clearly above in terms of program level. When you don't do that, you've got a consistent 7/8 win team, and that's the kind of consistency nobody wants.
With the portal I think you're simply going to see a few teams not at the top replace some of the ones who are consistently at the top. Not sure yet how that will shake out, but hello Indiana, and Texas Tech. And Maybe A&M. The big question is will you see Alabama/Georgia/Ohio State fall out of that top spot?
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i u/s you - i'm just talking about the landscape moreover as opposed to pushing back necessarily on your expectations/hopes.
i think it will be interesting to see if any of these schools develop nil fatigue at some point.
as for this game texas clearly (to me) gelled the last half of the season offensively. they worked vandy & the georgia game was misleading if you didn't watch it. that turned on a wonderfully timed onside kick. uga deserves credit but in no way are they winning 35-10 in a rematch. i say all that to say by the time they got to atm they were playing at an elite level imo & had them at home. thinking about that result & miami losing to turds like louisville & smu i just have a hard time believing they're going to go on the road & win at atm. feels like a 30-27 type game to me.
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i u/s you - i'm just talking about the landscape moreover as opposed to pushing back necessarily on your expectations/hopes.
i think it will be interesting to see if any of these schools develop nil fatigue at some point.
as for this game texas clearly (to me) gelled the last half of the season offensively. they worked vandy & the georgia game was misleading if you didn't watch it. that turned on a wonderfully timed onside kick. uga deserves credit but in no way are they winning 35-10 in a rematch. i say all that to say by the time they got to atm they were playing at an elite level imo & had them at home. thinking about that result & miami losing to turds like louisville & smu i just have a hard time believing they're going to go on the road & win at atm. feels like a 30-27 type game to me.
I felt at the time of the Texas game, and I still feel that way now, that A&M and Texas were very evenly matched. It was a 10 point game that could have went either way. I felt like the home crowd energized the team after the half, and they were able to open up their run game. It’s hard to say what a rematch between UGa and Texas would have been, but they beat them 2x last year, once in OT.
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. . . thinking about that result & miami losing to turds like louisville & smu i just have a hard time believing they're going to go on the road & win at atm. feels like a 30-27 type game to me.
30-27 is an either-team-could-have-won-it score. So, how hard could it be to predict that Miami would be the team that scores the 30 points?
I'm not tooting Miami's horn, BTW. I root against the Canes at every opportunity.
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I mean, I'll agree that Texas and Texas A&M were fairly evenly matched for their game, this season. I do believe the Ags probably would have won in College Station.
But I won't agree that the programs are currently on the same level. Texas made the playoffs the past two years, and in 2025 Texas played 5 Top 15 teams and beat 3 of them even during a down season. Sure the loss to Florida was bad and can't be ignored, but neither can the wins over Top 10 teams.
I expect Texas to be significantly improved next year, against a schedule that's probably a little easier than last year's if only because Georgia isn't on it.
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I mean, I'll agree that Texas and Texas A&M were fairly evenly matched for their game, this season. I do believe the Ags probably would have won in College Station.
But I won't agree that the programs are currently on the same level. Texas made the playoffs the past two years, and in 2025 Texas played 5 Top 15 teams and beat 3 of them even during a down season. Sure the loss to Florida was bad and can't be ignored, but neither can the wins over Top 10 teams.
I expect Texas to be significantly improved next year, against a schedule that's probably a little easier than last year's if only because Georgia isn't on it.
Who said they were on the same level ? Clearly, they are not, at least not yet.
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Well okay then.
I thought we were gonna argue about something. I guess we're not gonna argue about something.
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Irregardlessly, I'll be pulling for the Ags on Saturday, albeit quietly and alone on the back patio, whilst my i s c & a aggie wife hosts several of her Aggie family and friends at our house.
My bourbon stores are stocked, we've also got plenty of egg nog, so I should be able to manage okay.
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Well okay then.
I thought we were gonna argue about something. I guess we're not gonna argue about something.
I would almost say that A&M has the same "potential" to be on the same level as Texas.
To me, this has always been the extremely frustrating part of being an Aggie Fan. You can compare almost any metric there is....facilities, money, fan support, location. No offense to Brad, but you probably accept at some point that a school like Purdue just simply isn't on the same level as say Ohio State or Michigan. Not in terms of fan support, stadium size, location, budget, etc. The best you can hope for is a 7ish win season, not many 3-5 win seasons, and maybe every 7-8 years a 9 win season, and once or twice a decade upset Ohio State or Michigan. We've bee over this scenario many times, as Brad often states, all of the reasons that made 'tweener' programs like Purdue fun have all but evaporated.
But A&M, is arguably a top 10 program in any conceivable metric. Stadium size, fan support, money, facilities, location, recruiting. Some of those metrics we're in the top 5, and some we're in the top 2. Depends on how you calculate.
Results wise? We're no better, or possibly worse, than say...Ole Miss...or even Purdue.
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That’s one take on it.
https://twitter.com/dhsportsrelated/status/2002479668503417338?s=61
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Bull malarkey.
11-2 is a great season, even if the schedule was weak and there were no wins over top ten teams, or whatever. 11-2 firmly separates you from the mediocres who have no hope of going 11-2, regardless of whatever it means about how close you are or aren't to Georgia or Ohio State or whatever.
If people can't find some joy in 11-2 seasons, their fandom is doomed.
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I think losing the last two is a damper. Many UGA fans view last season as a near disaster after winning the SEC.
Meanwhile, ND is 10-2, but they won 10 straight after two losses, which somehow would feel better I think, then they get left out and took their toys and went home, much to the chagrin of nearly no one.
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That’s one take on it.
https://twitter.com/dhsportsrelated/status/2002479668503417338?s=61
That was a Bo Schembechler season like every other year for him.
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I was thinking about Tech fans, 8-0 start, 1-4 finish.
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Damn. Turns out Miami was pretty good.
https://twitter.com/willcurrys/status/2009629622749602024?s=46&t=EHozF964Pc_xZmTZKPCcEA
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High rises on North Gate. This is next to the Dixie Chicken.
https://twitter.com/KBTXRusty/status/2009710515493449929?s=20
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I was there just last weekend, that part of Northgate looks do different even compared to just a few years ago.
And, my daughter's dorm is dangerously close to the Chicken... :'(
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my daughter's dorm is dangerously close to the Chicken... :'(
That's bad?
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High rises on North Gate. This is next to the Dixie Chicken.
https://twitter.com/KBTXRusty/status/2009710515493449929?s=20
I wonder how much I'd recognize there now. I haven't worked in College Station since 2011, and I might not have been there at all since then....can't remember.
Back then I knew how to get around the major roads and knew where the main highways entering and exiting were, and where they went. I usually stayed at the Marriott on University. Except for one summer when I sub-leased my cousin's apartment, who had bailed on the university. I'm not sure I would recognize much there now.
I sometimes get confused in Austin, when I go, and there was a time when I thought that could never happen.
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You'd probably recognize pretty much everything except Northgate. Maybe some of the stuff just east of campus. The west and south haven't changed much in decades.
Bryan on the other hand has a pretty nice little revitalized downtown area going on. Some cool bars and restaurants, a whiskey distillery, outdoor live music venues. It wasn't a bad way to spend a Friday night when we went last weekend.
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Ya know, I never did much in Bryan. Back in '05/'06 when I was there, and then briefly returned in '11, I didn't know of much worth getting out for there, and also, it just seemed......unsafe, somehow. Sketchy.
Maybe I wouldn't notice what's changed in Bryan, because I hardly ever went there.
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Anyway, back on track re: Texas A&M
They've beaten us silly in the second halves of the past two years, turning games LSU either looked mildly dominant at times, or at least competitive at other times, into embarrassing affairs where we don't score after the half.....or get first downs.....and their QB plows through the defense like they're ghosts.
Conditioning, mental toughness, physical toughness, figuring out our tendencies, some combination of all of the above.....I don't know, but they've thoroughly whipped us in the second half twice in a row, to the point it looked like we quit.
I'm on record lamenting that A&M got our long-time S&C coach, I said he would make a difference, and he has. But Brian Kelly's teams were just soft in general, and the A&M games are probably the quintessential examples of that. A quick check reveals Kelly lost to A&M 3 out of 4 times. I don't know if we can win this year, but I want to see some fight and some anger. I want it to look like we didn't obviously check out after realizing that we can't win for some unknown reason. When LSU felt robbed in 2018, they came back in 2019 and let the Aggies know you're going to pay what you owe us this year and for last year. It was 100% attitude, all hustle, all effort. Even when they ended the game in the first quarter, they didn't quit. Win or lose, I want to see that.
You spent upwards of $40 mil on this roster. Play the damn Ags like Fighting Tigers.
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That's bad?
Well it might be for some folks, but my daughter is a saintly choir girl. She doesn't drink and really none of her friends do, either. Or any other stuff. That could change in college but I don't think she'll ever be much of a partier.
My son, on the other hand, really likes to try all the things. He's a good kid in general but he is also a hot mess sometimes.
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Anyway, we're looking at going to a few different games this year in CS. Might do the Kentucky game, the Tennessee game, and the Texas game.
I'm also going to the UT-Ohio State game and Texas-OU. It's amazing how much time we now have in our schedule with marching band out of the picture!
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I gotta say I'm looking forward to football season, even the Ag games I'll be going to. And it's only partly because I'll get to see my little girl that I'm missing a bunch. :)
I think I've been sleeping on Texas A&M and Elko a bit. I haven't wanted to admit it, but they're pretty good. They've got some grit. Their season is going to be fun to watch and I'm hopeful the Horns can keep up their end of the bargain and make T+1 another meaningful game.
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That's bad?
Well it might be for some folks, but my daughter is a saintly choir girl. She doesn't drink and really none of her friends do, either. Or any other stuff. That could change in college but I don't think she'll ever be much of a partier.
I see. I was thinking the Dixie Chicken was a restaurant.
Clearly I did not hit the bars there much myself when I was there. Actually, I can only remember going to a bar once. Some place right off campus, can't remember what it was called.
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The Chicken has food, good burgers. But it's really more of a beer-drinking pool-playing bar.
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I wish I could find my original post for a season prediction but here is my updated projection.
(https://i.imgur.com/WBGD0CS.png)
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I don’t see any chance of beating Alabama, Tennessee, OU, or Texas.
Mizzou could be a toss up, but it’s an away game. I give them a slight edge.
South Carolina could be a toss up, but I kinda think Beamer may be on his way out by then. I’m not really sure about them.
I have us losing the final 3 to cap a bad season.
Sucking sucks.
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That was a rough loss yesterday no doubt.
But there's no way I see 7 losses for the Ags. Y'all are gonna win some of those you're calling tossups or outright losses. There's lots of football left and for me our game against y'all at Kyle Field on T+1 still looks scary AF.
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That was a rough loss yesterday no doubt.
But there's no way I see 7 losses for the Ags. Y'all are gonna win some of those you're calling tossups or outright losses. There's lots of football left and for me our game against y'all at Kyle Field on T+1 still looks scary AF.
Dude.
We lost to Kentucky. At home.
Check that. We got WHIPPED.
By KENTUCKY !
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Yep. It’s definitely shaping up to be a Not So Special Season. NSSS™️.
In Fact It’s Downright Bad. Or, NSSS-IFIDB™️.
I stand by my season prediction from last week.
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Ooof now I'm thinking you might be right.
I'm going to the Arkansas game this Saturday to see my daughter, maybe I can bring some good luck. If the Ags lose to the pigs, whoa nellie.
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Ooof now I'm thinking you might be right.
I'm going to the Arkansas game this Saturday to see my daughter, maybe I can bring some good luck. If the Ags lose to the pigs, whoa nellie.
I started to point out that Arkansas is one of the worst teams in the SEC and that we could still probably win, but then it dawned on me that A&M is also one of the worst teams in the SEC. Looking at Arkansas schedule, they have a tough slate, A&M, Tennessee, Missouri, Auburn, Texas, and LSU. The only "winnable" games on the schedule are A&M, Vandy, and South Carolina. They're 2-2 just like us, with a loss vs Utah and Georgia.
We just got pasted by Kentucky, at home, followed by LSU on the road. We're genuinely bad on offense, and also somehow really bad or maybe just not good on defense. Not sure how that happens when you have a $30 MM roster.
Marcel Reed is so much worse this year it's comical. Not that he was ever bad per se, maybe just uneven from game to game.
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I've been a big fan and proponent of Marcel Reed and felt spotty o-line play was the main thing that was holding him back. Now I just don't know.
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It’s definitely some o-line issues, but he had multiple opportunities to hit open receivers and just couldn’t do it. He flushes out of the pocket when he doesn’t need to, he misses open receivers. Last night the LSU defender fell down on goal to go and he missed a wide open guy.
The other weird thing is that he just doesn’t run that well. It’s like you expect your not great at throwing QBs to at least be good runners, but he’s just not.
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He certainly plowed through, over, and around LSU the last two years. 170 yards rushing and 5 rush TDs vs. us in the previous two meetings.
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A&M's poor start to the season is validating the initial hesitations I had with all the hype over hiring Mike Elko.
Yes, he's a no nonsense Xs & Os guy, which is the change of coaching personality due after Jimbimbo, but other than upsetting Clemson in a high profile Labor Day opener in 2023, what else did Elko do on the field that warranted lofting him into a higher stakes gig? That Duke team finished the season 7-5 and A&M promptly hired him.
My biggest question with Elko was: What was/is the long term plan on offense? Marcel Reed is playing increasingly worse, posting a 31 QBR Vs LSU, as he lead an offense that managed less than 200 total yards in Baton Rouge. All of which is an ugly sign.
At this point Mike Elko is the SEC's version of Georgia Tech's Brent Key. A similar Xs & Os former lineman who at first got the Yellow Jackets on the right track, before a number of cracks appeared this season.
Good news for A&M is that I don't think their remaining schedule is as bad as it looks. The next three games are winnable (Arkansas, @Missouri, Citadel). And even as the mid-season schedule toughens w/ @Alabama & @South Carolina, one of those two are winnable. Of the last three opponents, @Oklahoma is winnable and the two harder of the last three (Tennessee & Texas) are played in College Station. However, validating my optimism will demand a noticeably improved offense.
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I'm not sure how much to read into into A&M's last two games. Mind you, I'm not saying everything's fine in College Station, I'm saying I don't know to what extent the real problems in those games go.
I'm still not sure what LSU is, but potentially the defense is really, really good. It might not be, and I'm not holding my breath, especially with the mounting injuries, but they have clamped down on bad teams in ways our greatest vintage defenses couldn't even do. And if you're a believer in getting what's coming, i.e. Ole Miss spitting razors when LSU came to town, then it has to be granted that A&M was walking into a pit of fire breathing dragons, as LSU surely didn't forget the embarrassment the Aggies put them through last year. Point being, without knowing exactly how good LSU really is, I'm not sure how bad this really was for the Ags. It was bad, but how bad?
Kentucky is potentially more of a red flag because they got blown out by Alabama. OTOH, Kentucky can be a pain in the ass, they certainly beat our tails last time we played them. But then OTOH from that, the game was at Kyle Field, so....what's up with that. There really was just that third quarter that A&M got dominated, the rest of the way it was either even or A&M controlling the 4th quarter. The question is why that 3rd quarter happened.
The third quarter was bad for A&M in the LSU game as well. Now, LSU has dominated all 3rd quarters so far, so you've got one team with a Q3 trend (LSU), and possibly another team beginning to show a Q3 trend (A&M). What is going on at halftime, and what can be done about it, I am not sure.
The thing that concerns me most about the Aggies is that I can't shake the feeling that this is a pretty mid LSU team. A team that you shouldn't feel too bad about losing to in a hostile environment, but a team that should cause concern if they blow you out. Maybe I'm wrong. But it feels like one of those Brian Kelly defenses that looks other-worldly good against bad competition but can't keep up against great offenses the way an actually great defense should. And the offense seems have big problems in run blocking and elite talent at receiver. They don't inspire me to believe we'll be scoring a ton against, say, Texas. In other words, if they beat you....eh. If they blow you out.....something might be up and it's not good.
They've got an opportunity for a get-right game against Arkansas, but then @Mizzou is no gimme and should be telling about what's coming the rest of the way. It'll be the midway point, and if A&M hasn't fixed whatever is ailing them by then, it probably won't be fixed this season.
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https://twitter.com/kyleumlang/status/2105671765041053764?s=46&t=EHozF964Pc_xZmTZKPCcEA
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Man Kyle loves to give it to the Ags doesn't he?
Really fun time in CS on Saturday. Weather was great all day for tailgating, then it poured rain about 45 minutes before kickoff so we just stayed in the VIP lounge across the street in the MSC and drank from the open bar. Rain moved out right at kickoff, we had an easy time getting to our seats and missed about the first ten minutes. Saw the second score and all scores thereafter.
Some very nice pig fans right in front of us, they were pretty fiery early on but much less so later in the game. Their Miller Lites were going down quicker by the quarter. :86:
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Man Kyle loves to give it to the Ags doesn't he?
Really fun time in CS on Saturday. Weather was great all day for tailgating, then it poured rain about 45 minutes before kickoff so we just stayed in the VIP lounge across the street in the MSC and drank from the open bar. Rain moved out right at kickoff, we had an easy time getting to our seats and missed about the first ten minutes. Saw the second score and all scores thereafter.
Some very nice pig fans right in front of us, they were pretty fiery early on but much less so later in the game. Their Miller Lites were going down quicker by the quarter. :86:
https://twitter.com/rcb05/status/2105687493727355366?s=20
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Should be an interesting game in Missouri this weekend. Really not sure what to make of both the Tigers and the Ags headed into this matchup.
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https://twitter.com/rcb05/status/2105735412815904901?s=20
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Data analysis!
Not just good for businesses!
Good for jabbing your rivals too!
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Not sure what to say about Dennis Franchione passing. He was our coach for 5 years. One of the worst we’ve ever had.
RIP I guess.
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Should be an interesting game in Missouri this weekend. Really not sure what to make of both the Tigers and the Ags headed into this matchup.
To post @OrangeAfroMan (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=58) 's reaction to Florida getting blown out @ Missouri last Saturday:
The sports media embarrasses itself for clicks and eyeballs.
They all agree Ole Miss will have a hangover after the Kiffin Bowl.
Ole Miss has a hangover after the Kiffin Bowl. Florida happens to be the opponent.
They all jump on the Florida bandwagon, saying the Gators are a playoff team, etc.
By this understood reasoning, Missouri should be primed by overpraise for a loss Vs Texas A&M? Though it should help Missouri that they are at home.
Back to my long term concerns w/ Elko @ A&M -- Manny Diaz currently has Duke off to a 4-0 start. This after opening his tenure with 9-4 and 9-5 seasons. Maybe the winning Elko did at Duke in his two seasons (9-4 & 7-5) really wasn't that hard and shouldn't've been made into such a selling point? "Anyone who can win at Duke can win anywhere!" All of Duke's recent coaches have consistently enough posted winning seasons. And perhaps we make Duke out to be such a football backwater because they are always viewed in contrast with their top basketball program.
A&M hired a guy in large part because he won @ Duke, which shouldn't be a distinction if other coaches have won @ Duke too. A&M's iffy offense is still a worry, nevertheless, I'm picking A&M to upset Missouri this weekend.
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Well as I recall the Ags' administration liked Elko when he was a DC in College Station as well. They had some familiarity with him. So that probably factored in.
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we're not the 14th best team in the country, that's for sure. but so it goes after a performance like that.
it will be interesting to see if we deal with praise any better than fla did. if we don't we'll lose. if we do, it's a game we can win. i expect a competitive game....idk atm handled us easily the past two yrs but we have a qb & we didn't in either of those losses.
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To post @OrangeAfroMan (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=58) 's reaction to Florida getting blown out @ Missouri last Saturday:
By this understood reasoning, Missouri should be primed by overpraise for a loss Vs Texas A&M? Though it should help Missouri that they are at home.
Huh?
I don't see the situations similarly at all. Mizzou isn't undefeated. ESPN and the talking heads haven't fawned over them for a week. They didn't win a game that had a widely-discussed reason to win vs a higher-ranked opponent. Missouri wasn't the media's darling. The story is that Florida wasn't all that. Florida isn't a playoff team. Florida isn't "back."
It sounds kind of rude, but Mizzou probably can't be in such a position because they're Mizzou. IF they were undefeated and IF they were a front-page story for a week and THEN lost to A&M, THEN you would have a similarity.
But you don't.