Is A&M in 2013 the Arky of 2012?

WylieTexasTider

All-American
Sep 24, 2006
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Alright, my wife started in last week e-mailing some crap from CBS sports that aTm was the clear cut #1 heading into next season. It go me thinking about how we heard Arky was going to be THE TEAM to challenge LSU & UA for top dog in the SEC this past season.

Now, I don't forsee Sumlin laying down a Hog while getting his knob shifted by a young co-ed but, I do see similarities between on-field talent... Arky the stud QB, stub RB coming off of injury, & an O-line that was to be above average. The receivers are young but, Tyler is such a good QB he will make average look all-pro. The defense was "supposed" to at least imitate an SEC defense.. Unless they were trying to imitate Auburn or ND in the BCS game, they failed...

Fast forward to aTm in 2013. Heisman QB, pre-season All American, some stupidly think may leave aTm after this year which he can since he is a RS Soph. Solid RB at starter with minimal experienced depth, an O-line losing its Center and All American LT, a receiving corp losing 3 of its top 4. Yes, Mike Evans is a stud but, if he has below average SEC receivers with him, he will be contained by most SEC defenses. The aTm defense will be a step below this season losing 4 of their front 7 and 1/2 of its secondary.

IMO Alabama and LSU will beat aTm. I think teams will be more apt to try (a big job), to keep Manziel in the pocket and make him throw the ball. Not having his experienced Sr Center and LT and minimal RB depth along with inexperienced receivers will IMO lead to teams being able to shut down the running game and Manziel scrambling relative to this season. If that is the case, Manziel's arm is not good enough to stake the offense upon. (Especially since they may have to out score teams this year. Yes, they did that last year but, the 24 points per game they allowed last year will be hard to duplicate, that number can easily jump to 27-30 points.)

Unless the O-Line is able to replace the C & LT, and some receivers step up, I see them losing 3-4 games in the SEC. (Should they drop a game @ Arky or Ole Miss that could easily spiral to a 5 loss team...)
 

AlexD

1st Team
Jun 19, 2009
794
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Could be but I doubt it. I don't think they are comparable. JM can throw the ball well. The D is already better than Ark ever had. But I do hope you are right.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
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Doubt it. Arkansas had a lot of external issues. They may or may not be as good but it will mostly be due to talent loss.
 

selmaborntidefan

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Mar 31, 2000
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I doubt it will be THAT big an impolosion, but if they start believing what they read on the Net or what that fool Brando says, they'll be like USC last year.


However - have any of you actually LOOKED at their schedule? If they beat us their only real obstacle is LSU. They have the most carefully crafted schedule you'll ever see:

Saturday, Aug. 31 vs. Rice Kyle Field
Saturday, Sept. 7 vs. Sam Houston State Kyle Field
Saturday, Sept. 14 vs. *Alabama Kyle Field
Saturday, Sept. 21 vs. SMU Kyle Field
Saturday, Sept. 28 at *Arkansas Fayetteville, AR
Saturday, Oct. 5 Open date
Saturday, Oct. 12 at *Ole Miss Oxford, MS
Saturday, Oct. 19 vs. *Auburn Kyle Field
Saturday, Oct. 26 vs. *Vanderbilt Kyle Field
Saturday, Nov. 2 Open date
Saturday, Nov. 9 vs. *Mississippi State Kyle Field
Saturday, Nov. 16 vs. New Mexico Kyle Field
Saturday, Nov. 23 at *LSU Baton Rouge, LA
Saturday, Nov. 30 at *Missouri Columbia, MO

In the first six weeks they have FOUR HOME GAMES and a bye week. They don't play CONSECUTIVE ROAD GAMES in CONSECUTIVE WEEKS until the final two weeeks of the year - and one of those is Missouri, so who cares?


Now - the flip side is they play BOTH Alabama AND LSU when those two are coming off bye weeks. I figure they're gambling on catching us in September, before we hit our stride. But LSU in Baton Rouge with an LSU off week is probably a loss.



They might ought to go look at our record in September. Our last September loss was so long ago that almost nobody had even heard of the name Barack Obama (2007 in OT against UGA).
 

RammerJammer15

All-American
Sep 9, 2012
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Arkansas had to go through a coach firing and a hiring or a coach with a 10 month contract, so unless something crazy happens down there, they should be fine. I say 11-1, 10-2 type season for them next year. Still won't beat Bama though.
 
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Quicksilver

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Mar 13, 2010
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I'm with you in one respect and that is regarding the motivation and general intent of the writers at CBS Sports (and fill in the blank with any number of other sports news outlets, such as SI and Sporting News). In order to cater (pander?) to their non-SEC and/or Alabama-hating readership, they feel impelled - regardless of facts - to plug in any team not called the University of Alabama as the preseason favorite, just to kindle a flicker of hope in the great fly-switching herd that the ogre, Saban, and Alabama will finally be slayed in advance of the national championship game. This is why LSU was the preseason number one to start 2011 and why USC was the preseason number one to start 2012, and it is why T A&M has been anointed as the preseason favorite (at least per Dennis Dodd) for 2013. The haters are just voting their hopes, again. :smile:
 

ccc2259

All-American
Oct 29, 2010
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I can certainly see JM having a sophomore slump because everybody they play knows what to expect this year. Every opponent will be geared toward containing him. He's one of those players you can't stop, so the question will be how well do opponents contain him. Primary difference between A&M 2013 and Arky 2012 is the coaching.....Sumlin is a good coach....Smith was an idiot. They have 8 home games next year, with the only REAL road game in Baton Rouge. They're capable of winning 1 of the 2 games against Bama/LSU. I'm expecting a similar 11-2 record, perhaps even 12-1.
 

92tide

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i think it will be interesting to see how they deal with the hype. this is the first off season in a long while that anyone outside of texas has cared about or paid any attention to a and m.

i think they lose to us, LSU and possibly ole miss (shoot out)
 

TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
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I hesitate to predict a collapse, just because of their losses on the OL. We were counted out last season because of our huge losses on defense. I don't know how well they're stocked. I do know they're well coached...
 

CoolBreeze

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Sep 18, 2002
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Nah, I don't see this at all. A&M will have a good team although they best be prepared to get everyone's best shot this year. They will indeed be taken down in week three though.
 

GrayTide

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Don't see it happening with that schedule. Two potential losses, us and LSU and possibly somebody sneaks up on them. I am not putting an automatic W for us just yet.
 

selmaborntidefan

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I have gone on the record (and got pilloried for it) that Manziel is another one of those flash and dash players who IF YOU EVER LAY A HIT ON HIM is frightented. Go back and watch our game with him. He was razzle-dazzle, sandlot ballplayer - then we hit him on back to back plays when trailing 20-0. As someone noted on that game thread or right afterward - go look at his stats BEFORE the hit and then after the hit.

Look at what he did:

FIRST AGGIE POSSESSION, A/M TD
Rush: 35 yards, 1 for 3 for 6 yards

SECOND POSSESSION, A/M TD
2 for 2, 42 yards, TD, no rushes (this was the short field on McCarron's first pick in a year)

THIRD POSSESSION, A/M TD
Rush: 39 yards, 6 for 7 for 23 yards (yes - six completions for 23 yards)

First three possessions:
Rush: 74 yards
Pass: 9 for 12 for 71 yards


REST OF THE GAME:
Rush: 18 yards in 45:41
Pass: 15 of 19 for 182 yards in 45:41


I don't consider those later stats to be particularly dazzling. Those were after he got hit twice on the third drive. There was a play in the third quarter (early on) where he had nothing downfield but he kept staying desperately behind the line of scrimmage - that's a guy who has been hit hard and doesn't want to get hit again. Same thing happened with Mallett in 2010 although he obviously wasn't as fast.

And folks - you know if a simpleton like me saw it, Smart and Saban are figuring if they drill the guy early next year it will change the whole game.
 

MightyWingman

1st Team
Jun 9, 2010
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Unless the O-Line is able to replace the C & LT, and some receivers step up, I see them losing 3-4 games in the SEC. (Should they drop a game @ Arky or Ole Miss that could easily spiral to a 5 loss team...)
Our RT Jake Matthews is moving to LT, our C will be his brother Mike (Sophomore), one of our Guards Cedric Ogbuehi will be sliding over to RT and we have about 8 quality players that can plug his spot at Guard. As far as our WR's are concerned, we'll be fine. We have solid depth at that spot and some incredible recruits coming in.

Our DLine was decimated because of graduations and Damontre leaving a year early, but that was supposed to be our weak spot last year. Overall, our D wasn't that great last year and won't be for at least 1-2 more seasons. Basically, Mark Snyder our DC did an incredible job with the talent he was given, I hope he can do it again. With that being said, I think the only games we really have to worry about are Bama and L$U, maybe Ole Miss.
 
They won't be as bad as Arky was this year, but they won't win the west either. aTm is a fad that's passing. They got hot and beat us when they shouldn't have. They were not the best team that night but somehow won. They will lose 4 or more games next season because everyone will catch up with what they are doing. Bama is only getting better. Plus, they are enemy #1 for next season!


Sent from Jay's iPhone via Tapatalk
 

AlexD

1st Team
Jun 19, 2009
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I think we should have learned last year not to doubt Texas ATM am anyone who is probably is just hoping they were just a flash and done. But they improved all year and had a heck of a bowl game so I think they will be pretty good and will finish in the top 3 of the west.
 

CHATTBRIT

Hall of Fame
Dec 3, 2003
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I like our chances against A&M in College Station because it is the second game of the season. Yes, we play Va Tech in Atlanta but they are currently weaker than usual. Even if they do improve I don't see them nearly as good as LSU. A&M won't get Saban twice.
 

selmaborntidefan

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Mar 31, 2000
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Our RT Jake Matthews is moving to LT, our C will be his brother Mike (Sophomore), one of our Guards Cedric Ogbuehi will be sliding over to RT and we have about 8 quality players that can plug his spot at Guard. As far as our WR's are concerned, we'll be fine. We have solid depth at that spot and some incredible recruits coming in.

Our DLine was decimated because of graduations and Damontre leaving a year early, but that was supposed to be our weak spot last year. Overall, our D wasn't that great last year and won't be for at least 1-2 more seasons. Basically, Mark Snyder our DC did an incredible job with the talent he was given, I hope he can do it again. With that being said, I think the only games we really have to worry about are Bama and L$U, maybe Ole Miss.
You're probably right.
 

texasaggie84

BamaNation Citizen
Dec 28, 2012
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0
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Danville, CA
A&M is far superior to Arky 2012. Our O-line will be fine and maybe even better. Manziel can throw as well as any QB in the nation whether in the pocket or on the run. Our RBs will be the best we have had in years. It will be tough to beat Bama but I believe we will beat LSU.
 

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