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2 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

The TexAgs Thread

image.png

I think this is kind of interesting. Two viewpoints are laid out. I'm not being ironic or absurd for once.

image.png

What do we think about the Aggies advancing their program? Seriously.

I tend to agree with Sunray Ag. But maybe I'm underrating their record and playoff appearance. I think beating ND and LSU merely showed that they can win an away game. I'll ignore the controversial hold against ND. I don't think that moves the needle at all to anyone who isn't an Aggie. LSU sucked, but it was a big victory margin.

The playoff is expanded, but they would have made them anyway. I don't think there is any anticipation of them being a constant presence in the playoffs from here on out.

On the other hand, I'm not exactly neutral or any kind of a football genius. I don't think the A&M program can be considered advanced until they actually consistently achieve something that turns heads. Had they crushed us or Miami, I think they could say they're program has advanced as that would be a real improvement over last year instead of just sort of an improvement.

Any opinions? Let's try to take a sober look at the Texas A&M University Fightin' Texas Aggies.

This will probably die quickly as do any thread I ever start. Humiliating, to tell you the truth.

I respectfully invite @aggie08 @956 Worldwide & any other regular Aggie posters here to share their opinions. They're smart guys.

It’s not realistic to talk about any program taking a step forward or backward until portal dust settles at this point. No one will know if you’re this year’s Indiana or this year’s ASU.

A few things that IMO are indisputable:

  • We haven’t won 10 plus games in over a decade and son getting to 11 is an important milestone.

  • The SEC schedule shook out very favorably for us, although most pundits thought it was going to be very challenging when the season kicked off.

  • It is very hard in college football to simply win all your games against teams that you have more talent than; and that’s been especially true for A&M. We did not suffer a genuine upset much less more than one, which has not been true for years.

  • Under Elko, A&M has demonstrated intelligent and impactful use of the portal which is key for any team looking to win big.

  • The players on the roster next year will match up decently against any team in the SEC.

  • Elko got outcoached by Sark again and also we had a second year in a row where Reed devolved over home stretch of a season. The Klein replacement is going to be a key test.

  • For a guy who preaches culture and disciplined football, he put a team on the field that drew tons of truly stupid penalties, idiot special teams, and undisciplined play on both sides of the ball.

Bottom line: A set of ingredients are there for A&M to regularly contend for the CFP under the current and planned future formats. If Elko can simply continue avoiding the usual 1-2 bad upsets past Aggie teams were always good for, he is already down the road of getting there.

It remains to be seen if he can elevate those ingredients beyond that, or even recreate this season’s real successes. All of us have had experience really nailing a dish and never doing it again. IMO he is on far better footing than Jimbo or Sumlin.

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22 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It’s not realistic to talk about any program taking a step forward or backward until portal dust settles at this point. No one will know if you’re this year’s Indiana or this year’s ASU.

A few things that IMO are indisputable:

  • We haven’t won 10 plus games in over a decade and son getting to 11 is an important milestone.

  • The SEC schedule shook out very favorably for us, although most pundits thought it was going to be very challenging when the season kicked off.

  • It is very hard in college football to simply win all your games against teams that you have more talent than; and that’s been especially true for A&M. We did not suffer a genuine upset much less more than one, which has not been true for years.

  • Under Elko, A&M has demonstrated intelligent and impactful use of the portal which is key for any team looking to win big.

  • The players on the roster next year will match up decently against any team in the SEC.

  • Elko got outcoached by Sark again and also we had a second year in a row where Reed devolved over home stretch of a season. The Klein replacement is going to be a key test.

  • For a guy who preaches culture and disciplined football, he put a team on the field that drew tons of truly stupid penalties, idiot special teams, and undisciplined play on both sides of the ball.

Bottom line: A set of ingredients are there for A&M to regularly contend for the CFP under the current and planned future formats. If Elko can simply continue avoiding the usual 1-2 bad upsets past Aggie teams were always good for, he is already down the road of getting there.

It remains to be seen if he can elevate those ingredients beyond that, or even recreate this season’s real successes. All of us have had experience really nailing a dish and never doing it again. IMO he is on far better footing than Jimbo or Sumlin.

I mean I hate to say this as a person that defended the KY and MSU wins as part of the playoff debate, that they were not as relevant as the wins vs the good teams. You guys almost had that loss this season to SC, I think the key difference is that it was late in the season and future losses did prove it was a rabbit out of your hat moment, a completely magical unreality. And it really was a loss.

Edited by linux

2 minutes ago, linux said:

I mean I hate to say this as a person that defended the KY and MSU wins as part of the playoff debate, that they were not as relevant as the wins vs the good teams. You guys almost had that loss this season to SC, I think the key difference is that it was late in the season and future losses did prove it was a rabbit out of your hat moment, a completely magical unreality. And it really was a loss.

No, losses are losses and wins are wins. Almost doesn’t count for anything either way— whether it’s an almost win or not. Georgia had that insane come from 17 points down behind 8 OT win against Georgia Tech. Many such cases.

There were multiple almost catches and almost plays in the Miami game. If Rueben Owen’s hangs on to a clear catch it’s in OT. But he didn’t and it’s a loss, period.

Very good teams have some wins that they “shouldn’t” have had. Only a very few great teams clearly beat everyone up.

3 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

No, losses are losses and wins are wins. Almost doesn’t count for anything either way— whether it’s an almost win or not. Georgia had that insane come from 17 points down behind 8 OT win against Georgia Tech. Many such cases.

There were multiple almost catches and almost plays in the Miami game. If Rueben Owen’s hangs on to a clear catch it’s in OT. But he didn’t and it’s a loss, period.

Very good teams have some wins that they “shouldn’t” have had. Only a very few great teams clearly beat everyone up.

"W are W" is not true when it comes with determining the health of a program.

4 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It is very hard in college football to simply win all your games against teams that you have more talent than; and that’s been especially true for A&M. We did not suffer a genuine upset much less more than one, which has not been true for years.

Absolutely true. It is a point in favor of suggesting A&M is making progress.

Thanks for your other points as well.

8 hours ago, linux said:

"W are W" is not true when it comes with determining the health of a program.

Looking at single games (and really even single seasons) is never an intelligent way of judging the health of a program because very good to great programs will always have WTF games where they lose or look terrible in a win; and programs that are truly on the ropes pull off really great games all the time. This is doubly true in the SEC where nearly every roster is loaded with future NFL players and even sub-.500 teams are capable of playing like the blue chips they are.

Kirby Smart delivered a L to a USCe team that went 4-8 under Muschamp in his fourth year (later lost to LSU in the SECCG). That game said very little about the health of either USCe or UGA as programs. At the time UGA fans were beginning to worry that Kirby was the next Richt, though (basically mirror images through four seasons) and games like that were a big reason why.

The games at UK and MSU likewise say very little about the overall health and trajectory of either UT, MSU, or UK. You recognized this in your own post, and then came up with a reason why this sort of thing was really important for the team you don’t like but is not important for the team you cheer for. It’s kind of like when your first instinct on a test is correct but you talk yourself into a wrong answer.

A&M avoided true upsets this year and was in a position to win every game they played in. Going from 8 to 11 wins is important and while some luck is involved it is not completely sufficient. That is a a change in trajectory while at the same time ugly familiar habits still popped up, especially down the stretch. That— along with things like recruiting success, and assistant decisions—of where a program is heading as well as the types of things that can really derail or stall it.

Next year looks to be a much harder schedule but that is not guaranteed, new assistants will be calling plays, and the OL is going to need retooling. A 10 win regular season will be an indicator that the Elko plan is in a good place although fans will be furious.

15 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

the Elko plan

Is that the opposite of Atkins? Sorry, couldn't resist.

I agree that the single-game outliers like SoCar aren't necessarily indicative of the health of the Ags' program.

But the whole-season schedule against the very weakest teams in the SEC aside from UT, plus a win against an always-overrated Notre Dame, were quite obviously fool's gold. I had zero worries that Texas might lose to A&M, in Austin, in the final game of the season.

Next year the schedule is almost certainly going to be tougher for the Ags, and ten wins for A&M looks highly unlikely to me.

What's with all this sane and rational discussion? Am I still on Surly? Have I witnessed the Joining?

Edited by Horndog

Just now, Bevo&Pevo said:

If Aggy plays our schedule this year, what's their record?

At least 3 losses - Ohio State, Vanderbilt and Georgia

I guess they lose to themselves at the end of the year too?

Edited by Js1

1 hour ago, utee94 said:

Next year the schedule is almost certainly going to be tougher for the Ags, and ten wins for A&M looks highly unlikely to me.

Episode 2 Whatever GIF

17 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

The TexAgs Thread

image.png

I think this is kind of interesting. Two viewpoints are laid out. I'm not being ironic or absurd for once.

image.png

What do we think about the Aggies advancing their program? Seriously.

I tend to agree with Sunray Ag. But maybe I'm underrating their record and playoff appearance. I think beating ND and LSU merely showed that they can win an away game. I'll ignore the controversial hold against ND. I don't think that moves the needle at all to anyone who isn't an Aggie. LSU sucked, but it was a big victory margin.

The playoff is expanded, but they would have made them anyway. I don't think there is any anticipation of them being a constant presence in the playoffs from here on out.

On the other hand, I'm not exactly neutral or any kind of a football genius. I don't think the A&M program can be considered advanced until they actually consistently achieve something that turns heads. Had they crushed us or Miami, I think they could say they're program has advanced as that would be a real improvement over last year instead of just sort of an improvement.

Any opinions? Let's try to take a sober look at the Texas A&M University Fightin' Texas Aggies.

This will probably die quickly as do any thread I ever start. Humiliating, to tell you the truth.

I respectfully invite @aggie08 @956 Worldwide & any other regular Aggie posters here to share their opinions. They're smart guys.

As a Texas fan, I absolutely agree with the poster saying being 0-5 in big games that lead to a CCG appearance or playoffs is a bad sign.

If I were an Aggie fan, I'd absolutely be happy with a 11-2 playoff season(even if I know it was built on the weakest conference schedule possible and a bit of luck)

I'd also know that they're losing a ton, and they realistically, need to upgrade there once and future "Heisman" Candidate if they want to get better.

The schedule next year is MUCH tougher and they're more likely to drop back to 8-4 than win 10 games again.

25 minutes ago, Bevo&Pevo said:

If Aggy plays our schedule this year, what's their record?

8-4, without being snarky.

OSU, Georgia, Vandy, and us. And don't forget OU on a neutral field...they probably win if Mateer is hurt, but that defense at OU was legit.

54 minutes ago, utee94 said:

I agree that the single-game outliers like SoCar aren't necessarily indicative of the health of the Ags' program.

But the whole-season schedule against the very weakest teams in the SEC aside from UT, plus a win against an always-overrated Notre Dame, were quite obviously fool's gold. I had zero worries that Texas might lose to A&M, in Austin, in the final game of the season.

Next year the schedule is almost certainly going to be tougher for the Ags, and ten wins for A&M looks highly unlikely to me.ty

A&M went from one of the most efficient red zone teams in the nation through most of the season to shit over the SCAR—UT—Miami games. There were 9 red zone trips over those three that ended in turnovers or missed/blocked field goals. That is the type of shit that both loses games on the scoreboard and takes away a team’s will to fight.

Some of that was WTF and others worrying signs:

  • No idea what happened with Bond, who was reliable previously, this year. Clearly the shuffle attempt on “who has the hot leg” was a disaster for both kickers. It’s inexcusable in 2025 not to have a solid kicker on a P5 roster; I don’t know if Bond got the yips or someone messed him up. Elko needs to look at ST as an area of focus.

  • Losing the crutch of Leveon Moss messed with both Marcel and Klein. It made Klein too enamored with his own cleverness and in turn put more pressure on Marcel, who is very good with guardrails but terrible without them. With Moss, they had the confidence to feed him at least twice in scoring position. Without him Klein got antsy and tried stupid shit after the first punch-in try failed. It’s a question to see how the next OC handles that; I think Reed is who he is. Someone needs to get Owens to a sports movement clinician because I’ve never seen someone fall forward into green grass as much as him, it’s like anti-vulnerability to contact.

10 wins is (likely) going to be harder than 11 this year but not impossible— LSU with a first year HC. Alabama is not a juggernaut under Kalen. UTe is beatable, Venables is also not a genius. These are hard but not completely daunting games and getting two wins of those four needs to happen. It will show whether the program is getting better in the hard ways, because the low-hanging fruit is gone. And he needs to beat UT at Kyle in year three to have me bought in. Like I said, time to do the hard stuff to make me believe.

Regardless of next season's results, it's gonna be virtually impossible to duplicate this year's coaster climb and incredible drop and crushing of all hopes& dreams.

They'll do it again, for sure, but not likely with the same range.

16 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Losing the crutch of Leveon Moss messed with both Marcel and Klein.

He was impressive up to the injury. I felt that had he come back at full strength against us, it would be a big factor. I don't know if the Miami game proves me wrong or merely that he wasn't fully recovered. I don't know if the injury in that game was a re-injury or something new.

40 minutes ago, Drew said:

OSU, Georgia, Vandy, and us. And don't forget OU on a neutral field...they probably win if Mateer is hurt, but that defense at OU was legit.

They were certainly above average, but if you take out Kent State, Illinois State, and Temple (those teams averaged 130 yards/game) its middle of the road. Teams like Alabama, Tennessee, ole miss, and Texas to an extent did what they wanted to.

If you win, you get to keep playing...and they lost a home playoff game.

I guess they forgot about that part.

Edited by Iceman

On 12/29/2025 at 7:21 AM, Fuck Tim Beck said:

I would have guessed sheep fisting.

That's not a ring.... that's a watch

aggy couldn't score a touchdown in the biggest game at pyle in history because the world hates them

from the inside, from the outside, etc.

4 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

These are hard but not completely daunting games

Jurassic Park Sunset GIF by Attractions Magazine

Speaking of people who pay good money for roller coasters, where the heck is your ag compatriate @bizzle ?

5 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

He was impressive up to the injury. I felt that had he come back at full strength against us, it would be a big factor. I don't know if the Miami game proves me wrong or merely that he wasn't fully recovered. I don't know if the injury in that game was a re-injury or something new.

He’s a really good back who has a seriously violent running style, and he wasn’t even as much of a workhorse this year. They tried to protect him more, it didn’t work out. I also think with his absence we leaned a bit too much on RB by committee and I never saw a rusher have time to establish a rhythm and sync with the OL.

In addition to the aforementioned red zone issues, there were quite a few inopportune short 3-5 play drives at times when A&M needed to settle Marcel down and let the defense sit a bit in the last three games. Again a spot we missed the ability to hand off twice and be confident we’d get 6-8 yards. No coincidence last year’s total collapse happened after he went down.

I’d like to see them settle on a back who will get fed next year between Owens, Morrow, and Edwards. Edwards has it in him to be a Moss-like back.

6 hours ago, Iceman said:

Regardless of next season's results, it's gonna be virtually impossible to duplicate this year's coaster climb and incredible drop and crushing of all hopes& dreams.

They'll do it again, for sure, but not likely with the same range.

I can't tell you how aggy will fuck up next year, only that they will fuck up. Their inability to win clutch games is as certain as Elko packing on another couple hundred lbs in the off-season. The only certainty is Texas going into Kyle and physically dominating those bitch-made losers yet again.

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