Tomorrow is Halloween, which retailers apparently consider a holiday for shopping purposes and which I hate with a passion. In the spirit of ghosts, monsters, and haunted houses, the Red Raiders are at Kyle Field today to play TAMU. Tech is 4-3, same as the Aggies, and both lost to Oklahoma State by similar scores. Tech also lost to the longhorns and to the last team to beat the longhorns, Iowa State. At the time, their loss to ISU was believed to be a stunning upset, but Iowa State is much tougher than everyone thought in August.
Back when TAMU was busy running Franchione off, there were deep thinkers in the Aggie community who hoped Tommy Tuberville would replace him. That didn't happen, and they got Mike Sherman instead. Tuberville ended up at Texas Tech, and today the Aggies get a closer look at the guy many of them wanted. Based on their records, Tuberville is a better overall coach at the college level than Sherman, but he also has more experience as a collegiate head coach, so maybe it's an unfair comparison.
Texas Tech has been an Aggie nemesis for years, but the best win the Aggies have achieved under Sherman came last year against the Red Raiders in Lubbock. We'll have to see if that was the start of a new A&M tradition or not.
In Austin, the team leading the Big 12 South takes on one of the division's also-rans. Baylor, standing tall at 6-2, tries to join the list of teams that have crapped on the 4-3 longhorns this season, but is an eight-point underdog. Baylor built its record against a slate of cupcakes and weak sisters, and the one good team they played, TCU, gave them a merciless beating (45-10). The Bears also lost to Texas Tech in a closer defeat. If the Aggies beat Tech, and Baylor beats Texas, does that mean the Aggies will beat Texas ? Probably not, but it'll give the chatroom people something to ponder if that's how it works out today.
The 2:30 television game is Missouri at Nebraska, and that one should establish the order of supremacy in the Big 12 North. Missouri is on a roll right now, after knocking the Sooners off their perch atop the BCS standings.
Added 6:50 pm: Maybe the secret to success for TAMU is to decline all invitations to televise their games. This afternoon they thumped Texas Tech (45-27) with no networks in sight. It's the story of my life that the Aggies finally play a game I would've liked to watch, and it's not on the tube. The Aggies must've gotten sloppy late, because when I was driving around listening on the car radio, they were ahead 38-14 early in the 4th quarter. Anyway, they move up to 5-3, with Baylor, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas still on the stove. Of those, Baylor looks like the key to a 6-6 record, but this season has been so unpredictable, nothing can be taken for granted. Maybe today's win was a breakthrough game for TAMU, since they've apparently switched to a new quarterback. That would be nice.
Nebraska won't be an easy win. In the first quarter against Missouri, the huskers were stomping them the way a naughty child stomps a cat's tail. Missouri came back in the last three quarters, but still lost 31-17. The jury is still out on Texas; they're tied 3-3 with Baylor as this is being typed.
Added 10:45 pm: Speaking of Halloween horror shows, Baylor has upset the once-mighty longhorns, their first win against Texas U this century. In Austin, 30-22. Texas falls to 4-4, and I'm wondering how in God's name they beat Nebraska. This has been one strange football season so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment