Grizbacker1
Well-known member
Nice little piece on the team from the dark side. I think the Giant will be the one doing the killing tomorrow though.
Aggies open season against giant-killer Montana State
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Texas A&M has a matchup with Miami at the Orange Bowl in three weeks before facing a Big 12 slate with imposing road trips to Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Nebraska, not to mention the season finale against Texas.
If there's a breather anywhere on A&M's schedule, it figures to be Saturday's opener against Montana State of the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA.
Or is it?
The Bobcats have a knack for scaring -- even beating -- Big 12 teams. They led Oklahoma State in Stillwater two years ago before the Cowboys won 15-10. In last year's opener, Montana State pulled off one of the season's biggest upsets, beating Colorado 19-10 in Boulder.
Aggies coach Dennis Franchione, who coached in the lower division at Texas State when it was known as Southwest Texas in the early 1990s, has warned the Aggies not to take this one lightly.
"You know, I-AA schools get guys drafted all the time and sign NFL contracts," he said. "A good I-AA program, they have 63 scholarships, they can break them up. If they've really done a good job of evaluating, they're going to have 22 guys, a starting offense and starting defense that I'd probably like to have a lot. Any Division I team would."
A rare summertime coaching change at Montana State adds to the intrigue. Rob Ash was hired in June to replace Mike Kramer, who was fired after five current and former players were arrested within a year, most on drug charges.
Franchione and his staff have been studying tape of Drake, where Ash coached from 1989-2006.
"We're probably going into this game about as blind on our opponent as you could go into it," Franchione said.
But the Aggies are going into it loaded on offense. Coming off the best record (9-4) in four seasons under Franchione, A&M returns nine starters from an offense that averaged 397 yards and 28 points per game.
"We have a lot of weapons," said quarterback Stephen McGee, who completed a school-record 62 percent of his passes for 2,295 yards with only two interceptions in 2006. "I'm excited to see what kind of a team we're going to be."
McGee tore a muscle in his throwing arm early in preseason camp last year, but he's had no physical setbacks this year. He'll also start the season with one of the nation's most unique running back tandems in sophomore speedster Mike Goodson and junior basher Jorvorskie Lane.
The 6-foot, 192-pound Goodson led A&M with 847 rushing yards and led the Big 12 at 6.7 yards per carry last season, while Lane (6-foot, 274 pounds) tied an Aggies record with 19 rushing touchdowns, most of them bruising, straight-ahead runs.
Goodson fumbled too often and blew some blocking assignments early last season, common traits of a freshman. McGee said Goodson has worked out the kinks and is positioned for a breakout season.
"He's still the exciting, electrifying, extremely talented player he's always been," McGee said. "He's going to continue to get more mature in the offense, and because of that, you'll see that he'll become a better overall back."
Defensive coordinator Gary Darnell promises more wrinkles in the second year of a 4-2-5 alignment after the Aggies ranked 46th nationally last season at 323 yards per game.
"We can pull the trigger in a lot more different ways than we could this time a year ago," Darnell said. "It's a process. And all these guys who were here a year ago, they're here now, and you can see the process taking place."
The process has been turned upside down at Montana State, where Ash scrambled to squeeze an offseason of preparations into August practices.
"The first week was unlike anything I've been through because we had so much to learn," he said. "Nobody had any idea what the schemes were, the vocabulary, anything. The first week was painful and difficult for everybody, but the second week was extremely rewarding. We had nine practices in six days, and at that point, I could see things starting to click."
Aggies open season against giant-killer Montana State
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Texas A&M has a matchup with Miami at the Orange Bowl in three weeks before facing a Big 12 slate with imposing road trips to Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Nebraska, not to mention the season finale against Texas.
If there's a breather anywhere on A&M's schedule, it figures to be Saturday's opener against Montana State of the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA.
Or is it?
The Bobcats have a knack for scaring -- even beating -- Big 12 teams. They led Oklahoma State in Stillwater two years ago before the Cowboys won 15-10. In last year's opener, Montana State pulled off one of the season's biggest upsets, beating Colorado 19-10 in Boulder.
Aggies coach Dennis Franchione, who coached in the lower division at Texas State when it was known as Southwest Texas in the early 1990s, has warned the Aggies not to take this one lightly.
"You know, I-AA schools get guys drafted all the time and sign NFL contracts," he said. "A good I-AA program, they have 63 scholarships, they can break them up. If they've really done a good job of evaluating, they're going to have 22 guys, a starting offense and starting defense that I'd probably like to have a lot. Any Division I team would."
A rare summertime coaching change at Montana State adds to the intrigue. Rob Ash was hired in June to replace Mike Kramer, who was fired after five current and former players were arrested within a year, most on drug charges.
Franchione and his staff have been studying tape of Drake, where Ash coached from 1989-2006.
"We're probably going into this game about as blind on our opponent as you could go into it," Franchione said.
But the Aggies are going into it loaded on offense. Coming off the best record (9-4) in four seasons under Franchione, A&M returns nine starters from an offense that averaged 397 yards and 28 points per game.
"We have a lot of weapons," said quarterback Stephen McGee, who completed a school-record 62 percent of his passes for 2,295 yards with only two interceptions in 2006. "I'm excited to see what kind of a team we're going to be."
McGee tore a muscle in his throwing arm early in preseason camp last year, but he's had no physical setbacks this year. He'll also start the season with one of the nation's most unique running back tandems in sophomore speedster Mike Goodson and junior basher Jorvorskie Lane.
The 6-foot, 192-pound Goodson led A&M with 847 rushing yards and led the Big 12 at 6.7 yards per carry last season, while Lane (6-foot, 274 pounds) tied an Aggies record with 19 rushing touchdowns, most of them bruising, straight-ahead runs.
Goodson fumbled too often and blew some blocking assignments early last season, common traits of a freshman. McGee said Goodson has worked out the kinks and is positioned for a breakout season.
"He's still the exciting, electrifying, extremely talented player he's always been," McGee said. "He's going to continue to get more mature in the offense, and because of that, you'll see that he'll become a better overall back."
Defensive coordinator Gary Darnell promises more wrinkles in the second year of a 4-2-5 alignment after the Aggies ranked 46th nationally last season at 323 yards per game.
"We can pull the trigger in a lot more different ways than we could this time a year ago," Darnell said. "It's a process. And all these guys who were here a year ago, they're here now, and you can see the process taking place."
The process has been turned upside down at Montana State, where Ash scrambled to squeeze an offseason of preparations into August practices.
"The first week was unlike anything I've been through because we had so much to learn," he said. "Nobody had any idea what the schemes were, the vocabulary, anything. The first week was painful and difficult for everybody, but the second week was extremely rewarding. We had nine practices in six days, and at that point, I could see things starting to click."
