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Longhornfrenzy

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Everything posted by Longhornfrenzy

  1. Billy Liucci Segment 1 (00:00:00 - 11:54:14) "Fog" is a good word. When the season ends in a loss, it sucks, but everything is magnified by a million. I heard one of you, David or Olin, say this is what Aggies were afraid of when Texas joined the SEC. That is a big part of the problem. As stupid as I think the little brother thing is, that is where it comes from. When I got to Texas A&M, they were routinely beating Texas. It was not far removed from Jackie Sherrill's time, who established that, and R.C. Slocum was obviously still here. I remember when A&M lost to Texas in 1995. I didn't realize A&M could lose to Texas. That is when it shifted. Dennis Franchione, ironically, beat them twice. Mike Sherman beat them once. There was a mindset that A&M wouldn't lose, and they were the tone-setter. That started to change with Mack Brown and Ricky Williams. This rivalry is always about physicality and going out and taking it. One team played for 60 minutes like they were the aggressor and took control of the lines of scrimmage. The Aggies were too late to that party. They got into the fistfight too late. A&M produced a couple of massive plays, but they couldn't get enough. Throughout the Aggies' time in the SEC without Texas, A&M would have really controlled and run the rivalry. People say the records aren't that different. A&M was far more physical and better on the lines of scrimmage. The draft picks told the tale. The Aggies had playmakers on offense under Kevin Sumlin. That is a period when you weren’t playing them. When I looked at Texas' players on the lines of scrimmage, they looked like all the other top-end SEC teams we have played over the years. They have not looked like that leading into the run-up to the SEC. The gap between Texas and Oklahoma was noticeably different. Oklahoma seemed to be getting smaller, while Texas was getting bigger and bigger. Texas has always had the skill players and athletes. Texas won the physical battle. You saw that on Saturday. A&M has to get back to winning the physical battle. Not just to beat Texas but to compete in the SEC. South Carolina got you on that front. The Aggies and LSU both need to address those issues. Auburn did not beat you physically. Georgia would have gotten you there. Tennessee would be problematic. The Aggies are a little light up the middle on defense. They don't have an anchor in there. The linebackers are undersized. Other teams saw that and went after it. If there was a lesson from the game this weekend, it’s that the more physical team would win. When Vince Young played the Aggies in Austin, the Aggies led at halftime. They fed the ball to Cedric Benson for the entire second half to beat A&M. A year later, Vince barely got by the Aggies. When A&M won 12-7 down there, it was because of the physicality on the lines of scrimmage. Texas could not convert on fourth-and-1. They flipped the script here on Saturday. That goal-line play at the end of the game on Saturday was indicative of the entire game. The more physical team won that play and the game. That is the painful lesson you go into the offseason with. I was demolished on social media this weekend. We all have to hear it, just like Texas fans would have had to hear it if A&M had won. You don't want to lose to them ever. You had a 13-year headstart and are at your place. The Aggies had a direct say in who went to the SEC Championship Game. It is year four under Steve Sarkisian and year one and game No. 12 under Mike Elko. There is a massive difference there. No one wants to hear that we are calling year one “progress.” I get why. You lost the last three SEC games, and the defense couldn't stop anybody. There are questions about the direction of the offense. They need to figure out why they can't get a yard when you need it. Why don't you kick those if you're not picking it up and not built to do it yet? I like Elko thinking that if his team can get a yard, he will try and get it. It is the Dan Campbell mentality to a degree. The short-yardage woes played a huge factor in the South Carolina and Texas losses. It will be interesting moving forward as Elko builds this program. It will be interesting to see if this game on Saturday is a sign of things to come or if we will look back and go, "Remember when they couldn't even get a yard?" You can't sit here and go through another year where this is costing you games. You better fix that part of it. Elko is not scared to lose to Texas. He would be the first to tell you we are trying to get out of that mindset around here. To do that, he knows he must have a team to get that yard. Do you kick it now and go for it later when you are more equipped, or do you try to get it now because you should? Turns out you weren't good enough to get it. One day, you better be good enough to do that. Segment 2 (11:54:15 - 13:05:16) I dont think there's anything untrue about the quote, "This season doesn't feel any different than the 1998 season and every other season in the last 10 years." You look at first-year coaches, and this is very similar to Jimbo Fisher's first season. The difference is that you beat LSU at the end but lost to Texas. This Texas team is much like the Clemson team you lost to earlier in the season. Couple of top-10 teams this season. This year felt different for a lot of it because of that start. It left a sour taste, not just the Texas game but losing those last three. I was corrected on the site, and if they had beaten Auburn, they would've been in Atlanta. In hindsight, that one hurts me more than any of them. Segment 4 (15:42:22 - 25:08:29) Everything about this season has been tough to analyze and break down, even as the Aggies were winning to get 7-1. You knew Notre Dame would have staying power. You couldn't feel great about it because you should have won that game. You were so concerned with the way Conner Weigman played. You beat the brakes off Missouri, but they had been untested. Missouri turned out to be alright. They weren't one of the best teams in the country, but you still beat a top-10 team at home and looked really good in doing it. Even then, you looked at the end of the schedule and would not have been OK with 0-3. Hell no. I wanted to see A&M go 2-1 in those last three. Had they done that in any fashion, they would be in Atlanta. Individually, you knew each of those games would be difficult. You knew that the Aggies weren't that much better than Arkansas. You knew Missouri was not elite. You knew the game against LSU had much to do with the quarterback change. LSU leaned into too many excuses. The Aggie defense was dominant. Le’Veon Moss and Amari Daniels imposed their will against that defense. LSU was trying to excuse it because of the quarterback change, but there were other issues that led to the Tigers losing that game. Watching this season up until South Carolina, you knew A&M was still a part of a pack of teams. They had continued to figure out ways to win. They had shown so much toughness and grit. They were embracing the grind of these football games. They were figuring out ways to win. That impressed me in the first year of a new head coach. They weren't taking the field with an overwhelming talent edge against these teams. Just like Alabama, Ole Miss and Tennessee, they could not survive an off Saturday. You knew that off Saturday was about to come. The off Saturday came at South Carolina. There are a million ways that the Auburn game goes. I'll cling to the fact that you can't start down 21-0 on the road. The Aggies ran into a better team against Texas. We said all week that they would have to play mistake-free football and take advantage of their chances. They did not do that soon enough. I see why people are torn about how this season went. The Aggies were 7-1 and 5-0 in the SEC, but they finished 0-3 in conference play. You can look at it through the lens of a missed opportunity. The football gods kept handing the Aggies opportunities, but they were not easy opportunities. Alabama and Ole Miss losing handed you another chance against Texas to get to Atlanta. You created your opportunities within the Texas game alone. They forced a fumble against Quinn Ewers, tipped a pass that caused a pick-six and blocked a punt. They created those opportunities, but they could not capitalize. 8-4 records can look different. It would look and feel different if you had started 0-3 in the SEC, won five in a row and beat Texas. People come here and say we are too worried about Texas. My ass. If you work or compete here and don't have a burning desire to beat anything in burnt orange, then maybe this isn't the place for you. That is your arch-rival. It is like Michigan-Ohio State and Alabama-Auburn. You can understand that and still understand that they are not the end-all-be-all of the season. Texas has an elite athletic department. They are back to being a top-five football program. You will always have to earn it against them. The game against them is bigger than just one game. Had the Aggies beaten Auburn, you are playing Texas again for the SEC Championship. Everyone would be excited and looking for revenge. It would be a million times more fun than where we are, but every question about next year and this program would still be here. They would not have all gone away because of one play against Auburn. The way the season is viewed and felt would be completely different. It does not change what the Aggies can or can't accomplish in 2025 or under Elko. It could have changed if the Aggies had beaten Texas in Atlanta. Segment 5 (25:08:30 - 27:42:28) A&M had key injuries, particularly in the backfield. They were pretty healthy otherwise. The injury to Moss changed a lot. Everyone is talking about Collin Klein, and I wouldn't say I liked the fourth-down play. I saw so much creativity throughout the season from him. Also, you look at how Moss could get that yard. They were finding ways to score and get yards through the season. You forced them. If you could have avoided the mistakes and made one or two more plays, that game at least is very interesting, and you let the 12th Man become a factor. Segment 6 (27:42:29 - 34:56:27) Signing day is getting interesting quickly. We could have some interesting news today. This class is starting to look good. The finish of the 2025 class could shock some folks around the SEC and the country. The 2026 class we know is off to a sensational start. I am personally most excited about the transfer portal, which opens on Dec. 9. I think this is where cElko will thrive. I will be honest about which losses you should be worried about and which you shouldn't. That won't be 100 percent accurate, but it will be close. I will tell you when keeping someone is a big deal. I would have said that about Daniels last year. That dude did everything he could. Without him, I don't know what we would have done in the running game. The running game was OK against South Carolina and pretty good against Auburn. There are guys that you get in the portal, like Cashius Howell and Ar’maj Reed-Adams, that you don't throw a party for, but they end up being good contributors. Tre Watson and BJ Mayes are examples. There will be a lot of those. Last year, Elko and the part of his staff that was here by that point had less than a month to work with the portal. They had very little chance there but still did an excellent job. This time around, they have been here the whole time. This time around is when we see some pretty damn exciting additions. Last year, the only transfers who moved the needle were Nic Scourton, Dezz Ricks and Will Lee III to some degree. Scourton was the Big Ten sacks leader, and Ricks is a former five-star. You will see a lot more of that this year. That is what I am most excited about. I am also excited to see which guys pass up the NFL. I don't mean guys who could go early. I mean those who will go in the third or later rounds. Come back for your senior year. Edgerrin Cooper, Jake Matthews, Cedric Ogbuehi and Germain Ifedi all did that and benefitted. There will likely be several Aggie players that the staff would want back that will be in that boat. They will have a tough decision. It would be wise for some of them to come back. We will see if Elko and NIL can convince them of that. To me, this is a fun time. It is not fun not to be playing this weekend, and it is not fun to have gone through these last three SEC games. This is a lot of fun because it shapes our excitement level going into next season, and we will spend much of the offseason talking about it.
  2. Roma you're the real hero for untangling that cluster fuck
  3. Muff Chin Segment 1 (00:00:00 - 12:01:17) No matter how much we yell and scream as fans, it will not change anything. We have been perfectly critical of the performance. Something needs to be stated about the comeback and the fight they showed. There is no excuse for digging a 21-point hole. That is how the game was lost. You have so much in front of you. It happens in this conference. It is a unique and weird year in the league. More importantly, it is a unique year for Texas A&M. This Auburn game is very important. It dramatically changes how Mike Elko's first season is perceived. Losing to Auburn had a big effect on this season. Being 9-2 going into the Texas game would feel much different than all the recent seasons. You can recalibrate expectations. As the stakes went up, you said they needed to win at Auburn and South Carolina. They certainly don't need to lose to both and give up 80 points. They don't need to fall down, 21-0. They are better than that. Don't tell me that Texas A&M has backed its way into this situation because Alabama and Ole Miss lost. In some ways, yes, but they have played seven games that have put them in this position. It's fine to say that the Aggies haven't faced a schedule as tough as Alabama or Georgia. They have played a schedule equally as hard as Texas and Tennessee. They played a schedule that isn't much easier than Ole Miss. Everyone got stung one way or the other. Texas A&M was stung by Auburn. A 5-1 SEC team should not lose to a 1-5 SEC team. Neither should Alabama, which was stung by Vanderbilt and a really bad Oklahoma team. Ole Miss was stung by Kentucky and Florida. Tennessee was stung in Fayetteville. Texas A&M can't back its way into the SEC Championship or the College Football Playoff. Now, they have to win. That is why this Auburn game is so costly. If Texas A&M were to beat Texas and make the playoffs, it would be a wildly successful first season under Elko. If you had beaten Auburn and Texas, you would be in the College Football Playoff. A week ago, we were wondering what would happen to a 10-3 Texas A&M. With what happened to all the other teams this weekend, Texas A&M at 10-3 with a win over Texas and being the only 7-1 SEC team would 100 percent be in the College Football Playoff. A 10-3 team in this scenario gets in. That is off the table now. People will argue with me. They will protect the SEC Championship loser, but there is a limit. A fourth loss of the season crosses that limit. Texas A&M's playoff starts now. You have a home game against the No. 3 seed. If you win that, you get to play Georgia in their backyard. This is the playoffs. I have difficulty thinking that the playoffs outside the final four would be this exciting. You are playing Texas and then would get a crack at Georgia for an SEC Championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Taking the field at Atlanta would be the pinnacle of modern A&M football up to this point. What stands in your way is your hated rival that you have not played in thirteen years. They are coming in just as hungry to beat you as you are to beat them. This is going to be good old-fashioned Lone Star hate. It is a damn good football team that is in your way. They have great players at most positions on the field. They still haven't played anyone with an offense yet. This Texas A&M offense has struggled against lesser defenses than Texas'. It is an elite defense led by high-level draft picks. It is an offense with future NFL picks at every position. It is tough, but the only thing standing in the way. Segment 2 (12:01:18 - 16:20:13) A&M is "average," but one of only three teams that have a chance to play for an SEC Championship? They will exceed what people who have nothing to do with A&M expected. They didn't bungle jack crap with the quarterback situation. They picked the right guy. Your guy got hurt, came back from an injury, played poorly, got hurt again, then lost it. They didn't bungle it. Marcel Reed's progression has been perfect. He got his feet wet, showed a lot, and is a much better quarterback now. I agree Bryce Anderson has to improve at making open-field stops. I've been saying that a lot. That was one of my main concerns. I don't know the difference between us saying this guy needs to get a lot better at this, or if they can't get it done, they need to find a formula that works vs. saying this guy can't tackle this guy in the open field. You don't have to do that. If you listen, you can hear the criticisms. We're not talking in some secret code. If you want to cry and moan all week and think that A&M can't beat Texas, then that's fine. The oddsmakers will agree with you. I think you're a damn fool if you don't think that A&M can beat Texas. Throughout 11 games, Texas has been a slightly better team than A&M. Has A&M had a tougher path? Yes. Both teams had a decent schedule so far. Through that many games? Yes. Is the gap that wide? No. Segment 3 (16:20:14 - 32:26:28) They did put pressure on the passer against South Carolina, and they missed tackles, so that's still the same problem. They were putting pressure on LaNorris Sellers. I was disappointed with the defensive front the past two weeks in general. I think we talked about that plenty. I think the receivers have improved as the season has gone on. A couple of guys like Jabre Barber and Noah Thomas had strong games. Mike Elko is as honest and a straight shooter of a coach as you get there. I don't get what the athletic department is supposed to do. Post self-loathing tweets after losses? Is that what you want? I would put the way we cover this team against anything, anywhere, ever. We've been doing it for 20-plus years, and it's only improving. If you're going to send in texts like that, I don't give a damn what you think other than you gave me some good content today. It won't change anything we do, whether we listen or not. You can text in if they lose to Texas. I think it will be a hell of a game, and I expect them to play a lot better. I was so pissed watching that game the other night. Not getting stops, not getting that fourth down stop, and having a great chance to win that game in OT. I was pissed. As mad as a sports fan can be, I also big picture understand whats going on here. Should they have won that game? Yes. You should have won that game. I did not feel that way against South Carolina. They should have won this game. Elko knows it. The team knows it. We know it. Everyone knows it. How costly is it? We'll find out after next Saturday. If they win Saturday, it won't cost you a spot at the SEC Championship. If they win Saturday, it is costly if you lose to Georgia. In year one, you've got to give this coach, his staff, and even his players a bit of grace in your expectations. The guy that is coming in here next Saturday that everyone's kissing his ass went 5-7 in the Big 12 in year one. The guy in Tuscaloosa who inherited the greatest culture ever has won four SEC games. With the greatest program they've ever purchased, Lane Kiffin has lost three games. Tennessee was 7-6 in year one. I can give you a million examples. Brian Kelly was amazing in year one, but they were 9-3 and lost to an unranked A&M in year one. Mike Elko has the chance to do the same thing. What has Brian Kelly done in year three? He's lost more games than Mike Elko, and he's had three years to build that thing. It's hard. It's not easy to do. The fact is that A&M has been very relevant through 11 games. They beat two top-ten teams at home. Auburn is a bad loss. Alabama has two bad losses. Ole Miss has two bad losses. A&M started the season with College GameDay, and they will end it with College GameDay. If you get to Atlanta in year one, it is a breakthrough for a season, with the sky being the limit. I'm fired up. This game has my full attention now. If A&M can beat Texas, they can fire up Elko's quote from last week. Nothing else matters this week. We talked about how impressive Mike Elko was in the portal last year. BJ Mayes, Scooby WIlliams, Nic Scourton, Cyrus Allen, Jabre Barber and Ar'Maj Reed-Adams... To do that in a condensed window as a new coach and not having certain position coaches, what can they do in the portal this time? I think they're going to kill it in the portal this time. The point is this portal and the ability to keep guys; I think Aggie fans will be in for a couple of surprises in terms of guys who they think will go to the NFL and will stay. Segment 4 (32:26:29 - 38:39:27) It was the first time that Texas A&M got caught up in the madness. The score of the South Carolina game may have been shocking around the SEC. It was a lot more competitive than the score. Texas A&M got beat up that night. Anyone who knew anything knew South Carolina was a tough hurdle for Texas A&M. People thought the same thing about Auburn. The difference between South Carolina and Auburn is that South Carolina is a real team this year. Auburn is a talented and dangerous team. Statistically, they were better offensively than Texas A&M. They have one of the league's leading rushers. They had a bunch of close losses where they turned the ball over. I thought somebody would get home between Nic Scourton, Shemar Stewart and Shemar Turner. There will be a fumble or a tipped ball interception. In fifteen plays, you couldn't do it. Auburn has made that mistake all year. That was the only thing keeping them from having a better record. It was a road game at night. Texas A&M had not been dominant. Le'Veon Moss was a big part of why the Aggies had been pulling away from teams. All of those things were tied into why that spread was what it was. At the end of the day, that is not South Carolina. This Auburn team will likely not qualify for a bowl, but they could give Alabama all they can handle. Segment 5 (38:39:28 - 48:04:21) I thought it was insane that Auburn and South Carolina were not called for holding all games. Yet, they called holding on A&M, which was on Shane Calhoun. I get that it's a hold, but I watched Auburn's final drive, and he was held down and spun around. Otherwise, he gets a sack. To go back and forth like that, you just can't. To go eight quarters, South Carolina kicked A&M's butts. They also held the everliving, you-know-what out of Nic Scourton in that game. For it not to be called once in either game is wild. Maybe they need to sell it more, or maybe they're getting themselves locked up more than they should. I'm sure it's a combination of both, but there's no way in hell. You got to get at Quinn Ewers. You've got to get after him. One poster of a quarter million said they want to see A&M hurt Ewers. Nobody thinks that way. Everybody in football wants to see your defense play physically and get after the quarterback. That's football. You want your guys to punish the other team physically. It's SEC football. To cry because one guy took it too far on Twitter/X, and no one agrees... No one wants to see A&M headhunting for Ewers and vice versa. Stop being so soft. Amari Daniels is a passionate player. 27 for 91 doesn't move the needle in yards per attempt, but that was a really good Auburn defense. It might have been the third-best defense in the SEC in total yards. A&M put up 31 points in regulation. Reed had some really nice numbers. They moved the ball throughout the game and killed themselves early when they should have had 10 or 14 points and ended up with none. They moved the ball pretty steadily against a really good SEC defense. Segment 6 (48:04:22 - 55:06:24) The Auburn loss the other night was the same-old Texas A&M. This season is not that. They have a chance to prove that this weekend. I don't know when Texas A&M last beat three top-ten teams at home in the same season. Rarely has the schedule provided the opportunity for that. There wasn't an opportunity to do that for most of the Southwest Conference years. One year in the Big 12, the Aggies beat two top-ten teams, Oklahoma and Nebraska. People wrote this team off after Notre Dame. My optimism took a hit. I knew it was game one in season one. The other night was tried and true Texas A&M. Get your hopes up and lose a game you shouldn't. On a scale of terrible to elite, Texas A&M has rarely been up to very good. They have rarely been able to say that this is a top-tier SEC team and a title contender. It has been twice, or at most three times. In the Big 12, they could only say it in 1997-98. It has been rare. When that is the case, you are going to have games like this. You can't just flip a light switch of a football program overnight. They went on the road and lost a game they needed to win. It may be hard to replicate this defensive line depth. Mike Elko can put together a group of NFL defensive linemen and depth. He did that the first time around here. He didn't walk into a roster littered with NFL guys, except for the defensive line. I love what they are doing with Terry Bussey. I said they would use more empty and put him in motion. That helps Reed have some room to operate but also gets Bussey reps running the ball without turning him into a running back. I disagree with the notion that we had beaten Auburn and Texas and lost the SEC Championship game. We would have been left out of the College Football Playoffs. I would have agreed with that a week ago. We would now be in the playoffs at 10-3. To start Saturday, the Aggies were in a must-win three-in-a-row situation to get to the playoffs, in my opinion. A 10-3 Texas A&M would have been left out. They wouldn't have gotten in over a 10-2 Texas team or an 11-1 Indiana team. They would have been left out for Ole Miss and Alabama, too. As it turns out, thanks to Oklahoma and Florida, the Aggies did not need to win three in a row. They need to win two in a row against Texas and Georgia. They only need to beat No. 3 Texas and the SEC juggernaut Georgia Bulldogs led by Kirby Smart
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