Texas A&M & Baseball In No Particular Order: 2005 Aggie Football Season Preview

Thursday August 31st, 2005

TAMABINPO's 2005 Aggie Football Preview

To the rest of us, it’s just college football. To Texas A&M, it’s a way of life
--ESPN Sidelines circa 2001

Welcome one and all.
Most of you have heard me say (or read me say) that I didn't follow football at all until I stepped foot onto campus at A&M. The only two non-Westfield HS games (Go Mustangs!) that I had been to were both Rice Owls games back when I was in middle school and the only two Aggie Football games I had seen on TV were the '99 texas game (which is what sealed the deal in my collegiate decision process) and the '99 Alamo Bowl. In fact, I have yet to attend an NFL game even though I've lived my entire non-undergrad life in an NFL city (Ok, to be exact there were a few years between the Oilers and the Texans).
Despite my non-football background, every subsequent summer I get a stronger itch for Aggie football to start. To be quite honest, it's now surpassed the excitement level I feel when MLB or even Aggie baseball starts up in the spring. It was as if I had a blood transfusion when I signed up for my classes during freshman orientation.
I have missed only one home game since the start of the 2000 season and have road tripped to several away games. I just can't explain the passion that I have towards Aggie Football but it is amazing....and I can say that even after a huge portion of my experience coincided with one of the worst 4 year stretches of Ag football in recent memory (2000-2003).
I do need to warn you that while I have become obsessed with the college game I don't know a whole bunch about the Xs & Os of football, nor claim to, but I will give you my best analysis from one Aggie fan's stand point. In other words, I am not a professional scout or a team reporter but I, like thousands of other Aggies, live and die with Aggie football each and every Saturday (and random Thursday nights).
Schedule
Coming into 2005 A&M is getting more media attention than I've ever experienced while I've been here. We certainly took our licks in 2003 but recovered nicely in 2004 against the #3 toughest schedule in the nation. I like to think about it this way....we lost 5 games and 3 of those were against BCS bound teams and another was to Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl (and they're a consensus Top 4 team going into this season). I chalk the Baylor game up to whatever causes Haley's Comet to occur, the sky to be blue, and t-sips to be weird.
This season our schedule eases up slightly, but only because Florida State decided to back out of our deal leaving us scrambling to find a replacement (SMU). I'm still mad about those cowards for that.

2005 Fightin' Texas Aggie Schedule

Date Opponent Time TV
09/03 @Clemson 7:00pm ABC
09/17 SMU 11:30am FSN
09/24 Texas State TBA TBA
10/01 Baylor TBA TBA
10/08 @Colorado TBA TBA
10/15 Oklahoma State TBA TBA
10/22 @Kansas State TBA TBA
10/29 Iowa State TBA TBA
11/05 @texas tech TBA TBA
11/12 @Oklahoma TBA TBA
11/25 texas 11:00am ABC
Starting the season on the road at Death Valley is going to be tough but if we can get through that we should be 4-0 going into Colorado, which will be our next significant test. Oklahoma State & Kansas State are both down this year and ISU isn't any better than they were last year when we throttled them at their place. The big test is that final 3 game stretch.....@texas tech, @OU, and hosting texas. I think it is certainly possible to come out of those 3 games 2-1 so you can see why many have us targeted as the national black horse.
If I had to put a "Biggest game" label on any single game I'd say it's the texas tech game at Lubbock. Obviously, winning at Clemson & at Colorado are very important and the texas game is huge and the OU game is huge but a win at Jones Stadium would be such a big boost for the team going into the final two games that I think College Station would just about explode.
If you had to pin me down with a realistic regular season W-L record that I would have to put money on, I'd go with 8-3....losing one of Clemson/CU & two of the final 3....although 9-2 is certainly within reach.
The road schedule is going to be the key for the Ags.....win on the road and we're going to a big bowl game.
Offense
The offense should be exciting to watch. The only players we are losing are WR Terrence Murphy, OL Geoff Hangartner, & FB Keith Joseph.

TEAM STATISTICS TA
--------------------------------------------
SCORING....................... 341
Points Per Game............. 28.4 (43)
RUSHING YARDAGE............... 2007
Average Per Game............ 167.2 (44)
TDs Rushing................. 24
PASSING YARDAGE............... 3134
Average Per Game............ 261.2 (23)
TDs Passing................. 18
TOTAL OFFENSE................. 5141
Average Per Game............ 428.4 (20)
TURNOVERS..................... 13
Fumbles/Lost................ 18/9
Interceptions............... 4

SCORE BY QUARTERS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total
-------------------- --- --- --- --- ---- ---
Texas A&M........... 70 99 46 109 17 - 341

Reggi....ooops....Quarterbacks

thanks to Randy03 from TexAgs.com
#1 Reggie McNeal. It is quite certain that Reggie is the explanation point on the "low digit" offensive theme we seem to have going (I'll explain in a minute).
Going into 2004 Reggie was all potential and was basically living off of the 2002 upset of OU. There were even internet whispers that true freshman, Stephen McGee, would take over the QB roll before the season's end. Last season during my preview I wrote the following:

Reggie's freshman victory over #1 OU

Aggie fans across the nation hope that Reggie McNeal finally becomes the complete package that he was advertised as when he came to A&M as one of our greatest recruits ever. Thus far in his career he has been extremely inconsistent, with the high being his freshman season upset over #1 Oklahoma.
....
I've always thought that Reggie has tremendous potential but he hasn't put it all together after his first 2 seasons. He has had a tendency in the past to throw behind receivers or even hit them in the back of the helmet, so hopefully during his injury down time he's been able to work on his timing and reading the defense. Coach Fran has said good things about his progress mentally, but I can't imagine a coach saying the opposite about his starting QB.
On the other hand, Reggie is definitely one of our guys that I would classify as a "playmaker". I think that in order for us to win we have our playmakers get as many touches with the football as possible because anything can happen when they're involved....

Well, Reggie did every single thing I hoped he would. He was the only QB in the nation to pass for >220 yd/g & rush for 50 yd/g, finishing 7th in total offense. He was also tied with #1 overall draft pick, Utah's Alex Smith, & Bowling Green's Omar Jacobs as the only QBs to throw for >2,500 yards with only 4 INTs. He also finished as the 3rd best rushing QB in the nation and he out threw each of the other two by more than 500 yards. He finished the season as a semi-finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award.
Passing
G/GS Att Comp Pct Yds TD Int Effic
12/12 344 200 58.14 2791 14 4 137.40

Rushing
Att Gain Loss Yds Avg Long TD
151 932 214 718 4.75 62 8
He is the top true dual-threat QB in the nation and has been placed on the Maxwell Award Watch List for the upcoming season.
Reggie is also assaulting the A&M record books....

Career Passing Single Season Passing
============== =====================
1. Corey Pullig, '92-'95 6,846 1. Reggie, 2004 2,791
2. Kevin Murray, '83-'86 6,506 2. Mark Farris, 2000 2,551
3. Ed Hargett, '66-'68 5,379
4. Reggie, '02- 5,029

QB Career Rushing Single Season QB Rushing
================= ========================
1. B.Richardson, '87-'91* 2,095 1. Reggie, 2004 718
2. Reggie, '02- 1,225 2. B.Richardson, 1991 670

Career Total Offense Single Season Total Offense
==================== ===========================
1. Corey Pullig, '92-'95 6,888 1. Reggie, 2004 2,986
2. Kevin Murray, '83-'85 6,455 2. Mark Farris, 2000 2,667
3. Reggie, '02- 6,254

Career Passing TDs Single Season Passing TDs
================== =========================
1. Kevin Murray, '83-'86 48 1. Dustin Long, 2002 19
2. Corey Pullig, '92-'95 47 2. Gary Kubiak, 1982 19
3. Edd Hargett, '66-'68 40 3. Corey Pullig, 1993 17
4. Gary Kubiak, '79-'82 31 4. Kevin Murray, 1986 17
5. Reggie, '02- 28 5. Edd Hargett, 1968 16
6. Reggie, 2004 14

*Bucky did not play in 1990
Basically, Reggie's 2004 season was the single greatest season by a QB in A&M history and he is well on his way to leaving here as the greatest QB ever.
Just looking at Reggie you can see a significant physical change as he has filled out. We all know that he has spent over 230 hours in workouts, has done almost 2,000 speed and agility drills, and completed over 17,000 reps in the weight room....that helps a lot. You can see the difference here or by looking at the picture of him in the '02 OU game and the "bust shot" of him at the top of the section.
What is even more astonishing than his physical progression is the actual progression of his game. AlalogyAg (from over at TexAgs.com) took a look at that progression (I put it into chart form so it reads easier):

Turnover Ratio (Throws+Runs/Turnovers):
========================================
Touches INTS FMBS Ratio
Freshman 82 3 1 1:20
Sophomore 348 7 6 1:27
Junior 495 4 2 1:82

Sack Ratio (Sacks/Att):
============================
Att Sacks Ratio
Freshman 45 6 1:7
Sophomore 221 22 1:10
Junior 344 23 1:15

Interception Ratio (Int/Att):
=============================
Att Int Ratio
Freshman 45 3 1:15
Sophomore 221 7 1:30
Junior 344 4 1:86

I think it's safe to say that there won't be such a huge improvement from his Jr to Sr season as there was between his So to Jr, but if he can just maintain the same ratios as he had last year we will be in GREAT shape.
I suppose I should mention our QBs not named Reggie.
Junior #19 Ty Branyon is a former walk-on who played very well in the few opportunities he had in 2004 although he just doesn't look like a DI athlete when he's out there....more robotic.
RS-F #15 Stephen McGee is the future for us when Reggie's eligibility comes to an end. He graduated high school a semester early so he has been with the program for two summers, two springs, and a fall before his 4 years of eligibility even start. Coach Fran doesn’t have an official #2 & #3....he's going to play each in different situations (probably McGee in blowout situations and Branyon in important game situations). That isn't official either.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

5/8th of the Aggie's Receiving Attack (L-R: Taylor, Carter, Franks, Mobley, & Schroeder)
Losing T-Murph sucks but entering the 2005 season we could have one of the most plentiful (and underrated) stable of WRs in the nation....#7 Jason Carter, #8 Kerry Franks, #14 Chad Schroeder, #9 DeQawn Mobley, #2 Earvin Taylor, #6 Pierre Brown....as a group an almost perfect combination of speed, sure hands, chain movers, and play makers. I wouldn't say that we have a single superstar wideout in the bunch but this group epitomizes the philosophy, the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.
It's also exciting to think that Carter, Schroeder, Brown were all prep QBs....We've already seen Carter & Schroeder both get into the action on trick plays.
I do have some bad news though. Just last week I had to delete an entire paragraph of this preview regarding how I thought senior #17 L'Tydric Riley was going to have a big breakout season because he tore his ACL in his left knee during practice. Riley was our 3rd down go-to-guy with the big soft hands and it's a big loss that would be a HUGE loss if we didn't have the good depth at WR. It could be a blessing in disguise down the road considering he had his redshirt almost inexplicably pulled during his freshman season so he could record 1 reception. RS-F #4 Keith Dickerson suffered the same fate as Riley going down in mid-August with a torn ACL in his right knee.
I now need to mention another youngster who will more likely contribute after the summer injuries....true freshman #5 Howard Morrow, who by choosing to wear #5 is almost a default favorite player of mine. The rumors are swirling regarding whether we red-shirt Morrow or not....my stance on it is if he will help us win in 2005 then he should plays in 2005....especially with the losses of Riley & Dickerson. Feel free to feel differently.
Mobley will be our go-to guy this year picking up T-Murph's receptions from last year and I think that Taylor will be important in moving the chains for us with his sure hands. Schroeder can flat out fly on the deep routes as does Franks and they provide a little fun. Schroeder had 4 receptions in 2004 for 135 yards and 2 TDs (both with him streaking down the field), missing a third by mere inches on a hailmary that would have won the OU game....he also threw for a TD. Jason Carter is the wild card of the bunch....thankfully, he is back for his fourth season after coming to A&M as a partial qualifier. He is certainly a playmaker but he just hasn't had that big breakout season that I've been expecting the last two seasons. I love JC regardless....he is always the first one into the end zone to congratulate a teammate even if he was on the sidelines for that play and he was the one quoted as repeating the line, "Aggies never quit" during the horrible 2003 Nebraska game during the horrible 2003 season.
What is almost more exciting than our WR bunch is our new tight end, #3 Martellus Bennett. 'Tellus was named the #1 recruit in the state of Texas and the #1 TE in the nation for good reason....the boy is 6'7" and 248 lbs. It is going to be awesome to watch defenses try and find someone to defend that size and even if they can defend him it's going to open up opportunities for Reggie to find one of those many WRs.
Coach Fran has made some adjustments, including more 2 and 3 TE sets, to not only get Martellus involved in the offense but increase the roles of #88 Boone Stutz, #81 Joey Thomas, #87 Quinlin Germany, & RS-F #86 Amos Gbunblee when they lineup at TE.
Running Backs

Junior tailback Courtney Lewis
Our rushing game is led by junior #25 Courtney Lewis, although Reggie was right on his heels last season. Courtney took an ever-so-slight step backwards last year after an impressive Freshman All-American season in 2003.
C-Lew GP Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G
==================================================
2003 12 186 1070 46 1024 5.5 12 86 85.3
2004 11 175 814 72 742 4.2 9 44 67.5
After the fact it became known that C-Lew played most of the season injured which led to the decrease in his numbers. Courtney is fully healthy again and I expect another big season out of #25.
#24 Chris Alexander will step fulltime into the fullback role now that Chief Joseph graduated. I really like Chris and while I'm not expecting big numbers, he is a very productive player when he doesn't have the ball in his hands.
#21 Brandon Leone has moved from defensive back to tailback this offseason and is said to be our #2 on the depth chart. He played RB in high school so it isn't a completely new position for him. He did sustain an injury during summer practice (I've read it was to his hamstring) and he should miss a couple games at the beginning of the year.
Speaking of HS RBs I need to mention our true freshman RB/FB, #11 Jorvorskie Lane (make sure you get that spelling correct -- there is no "a" in Jorvorskie). Lane is pretty much a physical carbon copy of my boy, Ja'Mar Toombs coming into school as a 5'11" 235 lb., nationally recruited, freshman tailback/fullback. I can only hope he makes some better decisions than Toombs. I expect to see Lane get some playing time this year.
His actual ability aside, I love the fact that you can substitute Jorvorskie Lane for Bill Brasky and the skits still sound mythical.
Offensive Line
The Oline is our biggest concern on the offensive side of the ball. They played well for most of the season but we were physically mismatched against our top opponent's Dlines (Utah, texas, Tennessee).
We return 4 of our starters (#75 Jami Hightower, #64 Kirk Elder, #76 Aldo De La Garza, & #51 Chris Yoder), losing only Hangartner, with a couple of younger guys vying for a starting job over the incumbent (#71 Yemi Babaloa, #70 Cody Wallace). From what I've read, Wallace has the nod over Yoder at the moment but he or Yoder could take Aldo's spot if Aldo slips up. I've also read that #54 Corey Clark is expected to get the first shot at replacing Hangartner as the strong tackle.

Overall
All I can say to our defensive opponents is, "Watch out for the low digits!" #1, #2, #3, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9,, #11,& #14.....plus #24 & #25."

TAMABINPO's 2005 Aggie Football Preview Part II

We're Back with Part II....
Special Teams
Special teams are probably the most overlooked part of the game by casual fans. I'm not sure I understand this because field position is so important to a team's success. Just think back to 2003 when we couldn't cleanly catch a punt, let-alone return one.
Well, in 2004 we really didn't play all that great either. The only team in the nation that was worse than us returning kicks was Eastern Michigan. On top of that, while our punt returning did improve we were still 97th nationally.
               RET YDS   AVG (rnk)
Punt Returning  21 135  6.43  (97)
Kick Returning  31 486 15.68 (116)
Unfortunately, the only two guys who returned punts for us last year (Erik Mayes returned 20 & T-Murph had one) are gone.....not that they were spectacular but it would be nice to at least have some experience. Tydrick Riley was supposed to fill the role until his knee injury as was Bryant Singleton who didn't qualify academically this year so now I believe it will be baseball phenom #5 Jordan Chambless. I only hope he doesn't hurt his right arm.
On the other side of special teams, we will have a new punter taking over the job. It will be either true freshman #44 Justin Brantly or #27 RS-F Richie Bean.
Net Punting     Punt  Yds  Avg  Ret Ryds NetAvg (Rnk)
2004 Ags         66  2469 37.41  27  230  33.92  (84)
Punting was not an especially strong point for us last season.
Now to the kicking game.
Todd Pegram will be our senior kicker. Todd is a solid kicker but certainly not a Mike Nugent.
      FGM-FGA  PCT  01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 Lg Blk
2004   12-13  92.3   1-1   3-3   6-7   2-2  44  0
2003   17-22  77.3   0-0   6-6   9-13  2-3  42  1
2002   12-21  57.1   1-1   4-5   4-6   3-9  43  0

    PATm PATa  PCT
2004  37   42  88.1
2003  32   34  94.1
2002  32   33  97.0
As you can see Todd is money inside the 30 but struggles from 30-39 yards. You can see that we aren't letting Todd kick the long FGs (if you just said he was 2-for-3 from 40-49 in 2002 then his FG% would jump to 73%).
AnalogyAg tackled the job of looking at the affect Pegram's leg had on our 2004 squad. He found that we were only faced with a 4th down situation where a 40-50 yard FG would be necessary....we kicked it twice and made them both. The other two were 4th and 1 where we went for it but failed to convert (one was on the 32 yd line and the other was on the 26). Basically, Pegram not being able to kick the ball a mile was not a big factor for us last year.
Defense
This year is very different from last year. In our first game against Utah we started only 4 defensive players who had more than 7 previous starts....3 had never started a game. 11 defensive players made their first DI appearance in that game.
This year we are returning every starter minus our two cornerbacks and our DE.
TEAM STATISTICS                         OPP
-------------------------------------------
SCORING.......................          291
 Points Per Game.............         24.2
RUSHING YARDAGE...............         1710
 Average Per Game............        142.5
 TDs Rushing.................           13
PASSING YARDAGE...............         2931
 Average Per Game............        244.2
 TDs Passing.................           24
TOTAL OFFENSE.................         4641
 Average Per Game............        386.8
TURNOVERS.....................           21  
 Fumbles/Rec.................         16/9
 Interceptions...............           13 

SCORE BY QUARTERS     1st  2nd  3rd  4th  OT     Total
--------------------  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---      ---
Opponents...........   47   87   63   87    8      292
Defensive Line
I'm excited about our DLine. We have #97 Johnny Jolly & #85 Red Bryant as our starting tackles with #89 Jason Jack & #92 Chris Harrington as our starting ends. Also, RS-F #49 Cyril Obiozor will back up Harrington after being named to the 2nd Team Redshirt Freshman All-American team by CollegeFootballNews.com.
Bryant & Jack were both Freshman All-Americans following their 2004 campaigns and Chris Harrington was on the depth chart behind NFL-bound Mike Montgomery although he was a part of the rotation seeing action in all 12 games. Jolly was named to 2nd team All Big XII and will be the senior leader of the line.
I'm expecting big things from this group and I don't think they'll let me down.
Linebackers
We are returning all of our LBing crew. They aren't a unit that reminds us of the days of the Blitz Brothers but they are a veteran group. As it stands right now according to our depth chart #31 Archie McDaniel will start at rover, #10 Justin Warren will start at MLB and #57 Lee Foliaki will start at SLB. Backing them up will be #29 Stephen Hodge, #42 Nurahda Manning, & #43 Renuel Greene, respectively. Only Warren, a junior, and Hodge, a sophomore, are not seniors.
Ag LB Leader, Justin Warren
Justin Warren is going to be a star. Not only does he look like a LBer should but he makes the plays. He can also play strongside or a rover when we play out of nickel packages.
Warren was interviewed for Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine and had a couple of quotes that Ags have to love reading:
"I've studied the history of the great linebackers who were here before me," Warren said. "There have been guys like Quentin Coryatt, Dat Nguyen, Aaron Wallace, and the list goes on. They played the game with passion, and the Wrecking Crew was built around them. I hope one day I can be mentioned somewhere down in the same paragraph with those guys."
....
"Sure, I want to see the defensive ranking improve," Warren said. "But I also want to see the style and energy improve. It would definitely be nice to get the Wrecking Crew title back, and it would be even better to play this year the way that some of the great A&M defenses have in the past. When our fans watch our defense, we want them to experience a trip back in time."

Here is an article from the BCS Eagle on Justin. I really like #10.
Defensive Backs

Jaxson Appel
Our safeties are solid, if not great. Preseason All-American, #19 Jaxson Appel, is cemented as our FS and #28 Japhus Brown, a Freshman All-American a year ago, is our starting SS. I'm not worried about these guys. Jaxson has led the Ags in tackles in each of the last two seasons and if he turns the trick again then he will be one of three Ag defenders in Aggie football history joining Dat Nguyen and Ed Simonini. Obviously that would leave him as the only DB to do such. #5 Jordan Chambless & #18 Melvin Bullitt will back-up our starters.
Our cornerbacks are the unit of our defense that scares me. Byron Jones and Jonte Buhl both graduated and Erik Mayes, who would be a sophomore, is not returning after a very solid RS-F season.
Coach Fran has named #20 Brock Newton & #23 Ronald Jones as our starters for Clemson because they are the only two CBs we have that have played a DI game. I remember not being too excited when they entered the games last year but they could very well have improved since the Cotton Bowl.
#4 Danny Gorrer was named to the 1st team Redshirt Freshman All-American team by CollegeFootballNews.com, which is great but he has still never played a DI snap. I have no doubt that will be a stud but inexperience there could be dangerous. #13 Marquis Carpenter is a SO-TR who will see a large portion of playing time this year.
Due to the lack of depth we have five true freshman vying for time [Arkeith Brown, Chevar Bryson, Alton Dixon, Jordan Peterson, & former Westfield HS WHS kid Devin Gregg]- Fran has said that one of those 5 will definitely play this year and 2 others might play with the others RSing.

Clemson Preview

As it stands right now, I don't have the time to put together a big Clemson preview. I had collected some quotes, links and pictures over the last few weeks to help me do this so I'm just going to share a couple of them with you.

Mr. Jad Dean (note he will wear #7 for 2005)

Fall camp has taken its toll on Jad Dean's right leg. Dean, the Tigers' starting place-kicker, said his leg has been sore this week after 21 practices.
"Right now is when it gets a little tough, because the whole right side of my leg is sore," he said. "I've been kicking every single day for 21/2 straight weeks out here in the heat, not to mention doing conditioning.
The rest of my body isn't tired, but my right leg takes all the toll out there."
After being criticized by Bowden the first week of camp, Dean went on to make eight of 10 kicks in the Tigers' three scrimmages. Dean, who was 12 of 15 on field goals in 2004, said he'll try to rest his leg between now and the Sept. 3 opener against Texas A&M.
"I'm trying to limit my kicks, and hopefully I'll get my leg back before Texas A&M," he said. "Right now it doesn't have as much pop in it as it usually would."
LINK

I just thought the picture of that guy was kinda funny looking.....

Bowden named 12 players when asked how many freshmen could play against A&M: receivers Tyler Grisham and Rendrick Taylor, tailback James Davis, cornerbacks Haydrian Lewis and McElrathbey, linebackers Antonio Clay and Josh Miller, safety Sadat Chambers, offensive tackle Cory Lambert, center Barry Humphries, defensive end Phillip Merling, and defensive tackle Jock McKissic.
LINK

Hopefully Rendrick Taylor isn't representative of what all the Clemson freshmen look like....this guy is huge....
Rendrick Taylor, true freshman WR, 6'2", 215 lbs.

Just wanted to remind Clemson QB, Charlie Whitehurst, of his previous meeting with then freshman Chris Harrington, of his 5 sacks and of his 3 INTs.
Gametime is 7pm on ABC! Gig'em Ags & BTHO Clemson! WHOOP!