Brian T. Smith
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/author/brian-t-smith/
COLLEGE STATION - Aggies joke.
How do you silence 105,733 mostly in maroon and send a significant portion sadly streaming for the exits while the most important game of the year at Kyle Field is still going on?
Alabama
Or Nick Saban
Or three Kyle Allen pick-sixes.
Any of the answers is right.
Texas A&M in the big, bad SEC without Johnny Football is not. At least when the Crimson Tide roll in, painfully reminding the yelling faithful what the mini-NFL is really about.
Ever since Manziel started partying in the pros, the Aggies have been abused and owned by Saban. It was a 59-0 humiliation last season away from the comforts of College Station. It was No. 10 Tide 41, No. 9 A&M 23 on Saturday at home, with the swaying chants dying out just in time for Allen's third interception of the day. It's now been Alabama 100, Aggies 23 in less than a year, leaving A&M still looking a little lost when the SEC's elite rises up.
"Rolllllll Tide!" shouted a standing section of crimson and white, as once-packed stands emptied out of kids in maroon and stalled traffic was the only thing left to defeat.
"Hey, Aggies, we just beat the (heck) out of you!" they shouted, as a grass-stained Derrick Henry and his 236 rushing yards sprinted toward the tunnel, trailing a smiling and waving Saban into the light.
Texas A&M is still 5-1 overall, 2-1 in the SEC West and didn't suffer its first defeat until mid-October. But coach Kevin Sumlin also is just 15-12 against the conference since the Aggies officially left the Big 12 in 2012, while the signature SEC wins that define seasons haven't arrived since Manziel left.
Saturday was a simple proof. If A&M downed Alabama - at the big Field, with obsessed fans parking miles away just to soak in a sold-out stadium - the Aggies' 2015 season was suddenly for real. But if Sumlin fell again to Saban, the echoes of 2014 would begin to ring, with another 5-0 start looking flimsy as the big names punched back.
A&M failed Saturday. Sumlin knew it and accepted the fact.
'Lessons to be learned'
"Mistakes against quality teams like that are amplified. … There are a lot of lessons to be learned there for players and coaches alike," he said.
While the Big 12's Baylor and TCU flirt with the top spot in college football via weekly offensive explosions and Sumlin's old school in Houston continues to regain relevance via 6-0, the Aggies are stuck somewhere between very good and not great. They also still haven't figured out what to do with Manziel's old spot.
After trading out true freshman Kyler Murray and Allen during a convincing 38-17 season-opening victory against then-No. 15 Arizona State, Sumlin smartly stuck by Allen the next four games. The sophomore QB's numbers were strong entering Saturday: 64 percent passing for 1,274 yards, 13 touchdowns and just two picks. Murray, meanwhile, had thrown the ball just 18 times since the Sun Devils, was allowed only to run the ball against Arkansas and didn't take the field during a 30-17 victory over then-No. 21 Mississippi State in A&M's previous game.
But Alabama messed it all up again.
'Some kind of record'
Allen threw two TDs to the Tide before the first half was even complete, then sent the Aggies screamers fleeing with his third wrong-way touchdown with 5 minutes, 18 seconds left in the semi-blowout. Sumlin answered by inserting Murray with 1:04 left in the first half and twice during the second. The feet-first, decision-making second backup QB replied with two rushes for -10 yards and a critical interception to end the third quarter, setting up an Alabama field goal that stretched the Tide's lead to 34-20.
"The four interceptions were huge. … Three scores on defense is unprecedented and probably some kind of record," Saban said.
It was definitely bad football.
When Allen was on, he was sharp, averaging 13.1 yards per completion and throwing for 263 total yards. But the sophomore - who's faced two QB battles in two seasons - was absolutely un-Manziel-like too often, taking five sacks, gifting Saban's defense three long TDs (93, 55, 33 yards) and appearing shaken by the size of Saturdays' game instead of buoyed by it.
"We were not very good at that position," Sumlin said. "We had three pick-sixes. … You can't play the way we did (Saturday), giving away 21 points against a good football team and expect to win."
As the sun set on an emptied-out Kyle Field and the Tide returned to Alabama with 100-23 the last two years in the book, the Aggies' Julien Obioha said A&M only has one option with five games left, including four against the SEC.
Win out.
It sounds drastic. But the senior defensive lineman lived through 2014, when the Aggies watched 5-0 fade to 8-5.
No. 13 Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., is next week. No. 6 LSU in Baton Rouge, La., closes out the year. If A&M wants to be better than good in the SEC, it must start beating the best.
That's what Alabama does. That's how Saban made his name.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/author/brian-t-smith/
COLLEGE STATION - Aggies joke.
How do you silence 105,733 mostly in maroon and send a significant portion sadly streaming for the exits while the most important game of the year at Kyle Field is still going on?
Alabama
Or Nick Saban
Or three Kyle Allen pick-sixes.
Any of the answers is right.
Texas A&M in the big, bad SEC without Johnny Football is not. At least when the Crimson Tide roll in, painfully reminding the yelling faithful what the mini-NFL is really about.
Ever since Manziel started partying in the pros, the Aggies have been abused and owned by Saban. It was a 59-0 humiliation last season away from the comforts of College Station. It was No. 10 Tide 41, No. 9 A&M 23 on Saturday at home, with the swaying chants dying out just in time for Allen's third interception of the day. It's now been Alabama 100, Aggies 23 in less than a year, leaving A&M still looking a little lost when the SEC's elite rises up.
"Rolllllll Tide!" shouted a standing section of crimson and white, as once-packed stands emptied out of kids in maroon and stalled traffic was the only thing left to defeat.
"Hey, Aggies, we just beat the (heck) out of you!" they shouted, as a grass-stained Derrick Henry and his 236 rushing yards sprinted toward the tunnel, trailing a smiling and waving Saban into the light.
Texas A&M is still 5-1 overall, 2-1 in the SEC West and didn't suffer its first defeat until mid-October. But coach Kevin Sumlin also is just 15-12 against the conference since the Aggies officially left the Big 12 in 2012, while the signature SEC wins that define seasons haven't arrived since Manziel left.
Saturday was a simple proof. If A&M downed Alabama - at the big Field, with obsessed fans parking miles away just to soak in a sold-out stadium - the Aggies' 2015 season was suddenly for real. But if Sumlin fell again to Saban, the echoes of 2014 would begin to ring, with another 5-0 start looking flimsy as the big names punched back.
A&M failed Saturday. Sumlin knew it and accepted the fact.
'Lessons to be learned'
"Mistakes against quality teams like that are amplified. … There are a lot of lessons to be learned there for players and coaches alike," he said.
While the Big 12's Baylor and TCU flirt with the top spot in college football via weekly offensive explosions and Sumlin's old school in Houston continues to regain relevance via 6-0, the Aggies are stuck somewhere between very good and not great. They also still haven't figured out what to do with Manziel's old spot.
After trading out true freshman Kyler Murray and Allen during a convincing 38-17 season-opening victory against then-No. 15 Arizona State, Sumlin smartly stuck by Allen the next four games. The sophomore QB's numbers were strong entering Saturday: 64 percent passing for 1,274 yards, 13 touchdowns and just two picks. Murray, meanwhile, had thrown the ball just 18 times since the Sun Devils, was allowed only to run the ball against Arkansas and didn't take the field during a 30-17 victory over then-No. 21 Mississippi State in A&M's previous game.
But Alabama messed it all up again.
'Some kind of record'
Allen threw two TDs to the Tide before the first half was even complete, then sent the Aggies screamers fleeing with his third wrong-way touchdown with 5 minutes, 18 seconds left in the semi-blowout. Sumlin answered by inserting Murray with 1:04 left in the first half and twice during the second. The feet-first, decision-making second backup QB replied with two rushes for -10 yards and a critical interception to end the third quarter, setting up an Alabama field goal that stretched the Tide's lead to 34-20.
"The four interceptions were huge. … Three scores on defense is unprecedented and probably some kind of record," Saban said.
It was definitely bad football.
When Allen was on, he was sharp, averaging 13.1 yards per completion and throwing for 263 total yards. But the sophomore - who's faced two QB battles in two seasons - was absolutely un-Manziel-like too often, taking five sacks, gifting Saban's defense three long TDs (93, 55, 33 yards) and appearing shaken by the size of Saturdays' game instead of buoyed by it.
"We were not very good at that position," Sumlin said. "We had three pick-sixes. … You can't play the way we did (Saturday), giving away 21 points against a good football team and expect to win."
As the sun set on an emptied-out Kyle Field and the Tide returned to Alabama with 100-23 the last two years in the book, the Aggies' Julien Obioha said A&M only has one option with five games left, including four against the SEC.
Win out.
It sounds drastic. But the senior defensive lineman lived through 2014, when the Aggies watched 5-0 fade to 8-5.
No. 13 Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., is next week. No. 6 LSU in Baton Rouge, La., closes out the year. If A&M wants to be better than good in the SEC, it must start beating the best.
That's what Alabama does. That's how Saban made his name.
