Texas A&M Once Again Proving It's More Style Than Substance

For the past few years, the flair for the dramatic that Johnny Football, Kenny Trill and the rest of the Texas A&M Aggies possess have made them one of the most popular college football teams. 

But Saturday's loss to Ole Miss proved one inevitable fact that fans in College Station don't want to admit—this team isn't built to be a legitimate contender for an SEC title. 

This year, Kenny Hill was the darling of college football—another young quarterback taking the wild and unpredictable college football landscape by storm. 

Before Hill was the flashier, far more controversial Johnny Manziel. A Heisman winner as a freshman, the guy that flashed money signs anytime the ball bounced his way defined the new world order of Saturdays. 

But he didn't leave Texas A&M—something he once tweeted that he couldn't wait to do—as an SEC champion. Nor did the Aggies gunslinger ever take the 12th Man to the promised land of a BCS bowl. 

This season, Hill, the heir to Manziel's throne, had the Aggies looking like early season playoff contenders after a Week 1 throttling of South Carolina. Plenty of analysts were pegging Hill as the Heisman favorite, and to his own credit, he had earned that distinction. 

However, the same bug that always seems to bite Kevin Sumlin teams bit hard over the last two weeks. 

After winning their first four games by an average of 43.5 points, the Aggies were pushed to the limit two weeks ago against Arkansas, winning 35-28 in overtime. 

Then, the state of Mississippi proved over the last two weeks that they are the kings of college football in 2014, not Texas or Alabama. The only constant between both Ole Miss and Mississippi State these past two weeks?

Wins over the Aggies. 

At times, Texas A&M's flashy offense has found success against the traditional powerhouses of the SEC. There was Manziel's freshman year victory over Alabama as a prime example.  

But as history tells almost any team that employs the no-huddle, there will be Saturdays where it doesn't work. And those days equate to losses. The Aggies lost to Ole Miss, and Bo Wallace isn't anywhere near the type of quarterback that Hill is. 

The Aggies have also never been known to field a strong defense that can hold its own against top competition. Last year's loss to Alabama, where Manziel arguably had his best game of the year, proved just that although the A&M offense did all it could, the defense simply couldn't get enough stops. 

Offenses will win you games, but defenses will bring you championships. 

Both Mississippi teams, plus the Crimson Tide, have control of their own destiny in the SEC. With two losses and a matchup to the Tide coming up next, Texas A&M could very well end up on the outside looking in at the playoffs before we even hit November. 

"

Texas A&M finished 3rd in the West in 2012, 4th in 2013 and will probably finish 5th this year. So... time to work on Sumlin's next raise.

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) October 12, 2014"

College Station likes to claim it owns the state of Texas with the recent downturn in Austin. But clearly, Waco is the site of the new throne in the Lone Star State. The Aggies have proven instead that they're the dukes of Texas.