Texas A&M Football 2010: Back From the Dead?

It’s been four long years for Aggie nation.  Four years since the team last posted their last winning record of 7-6 in ’07.  And it seems like an eternity since the glory days of the wrecking crew and annual top 20 rankings.

R.C. Slocum…where are you.

Since the brain trust at A&M fired Slocum, who was the most successful coach in the schools history , it’s been hard times down in Aggieland.  Aggie fans endured five years of mediocrity with Coach Dennis Franchione.  Coach Fran, who has a great head of executive hair but never really caught on with A&M nation, finished 32-28 during his tenure and a paltry 19-21 in the Big 12.  Ouch!

It hasn't gotten any better the last two years under Mike Sherman.  The Aggies have gone 10-15, and a putrid 5-11 in the Big 12.  With the scheduling of three patsies to start the season off in ’09, Sherman was able to squeeze out a bowl bid.  Still, the team finished 6-7.  Ouch, ouch!

So, tell me again…why did they get rid of Slocum? 

In his 14 years at the helm, R.C. had  the most wins of any Aggie coach, a .727 winning percentage, 4 conference championships, ten top 20 finishes (including three in the top ten), and never had a losing season.  While his bowl record was less than stellar at 3-8, he did get them there…with regularity.  Since he’s been gone, the program is 36-37 overall, 21-27 in the Big 12, and 0-4 in bowls.  Ouch, ouch, ouch!

Well whoooop, gig em.  Hope springs eternal in the breast of an Aggie, so let’s take an early look at the team’s prospects for the upcoming 2010 season.   I'm thinking that this is the year that things will turn around.

The 2009 Aggies were good news, bad news.  The good news is that they had the most prolific offense in the Big 12.  The bad news is that they also had, by far, the worst defense.  Being an optimistic kind of guy, I’ll look at the offense for 2010 first.

A&M returns eight starters from an offense that was second in the big 12 in total yards and third in scoring in 2009.  This includes six skill position players.

Leading the way is Senior Quarterback Jerrod Johnson. He led the Big 12 in total offense last year with 3,579 passing yards and another 506 rushing, and had 30 TD passes against only eight interceptions. 

Johnson spread the ball around passing last year, and should continue to do the same.  He will have a talented receiving corps returning with Sophomore Jeff Fuller (41 receptions, 568 yards, 7 TDs) and Sophomore Uzoma Nwachukwu (40 receptions, 708 yards, 6 TDs).  Senior Kenny Brown is a good blocker and possession receiver at tight end. 

The running game also looks solid.  Christine Michael (844 yards, 10 TDs) and Cyrus Gray (757 yards, 5 TDs) give the Aggies and inside and outside threat, and Bradley Stephens is also expected to get a fair amount of carries. 

The one spot on Offense the Aggies will need to shore up is their line.  Only 2 starters, guards Evan Eike and Patrick Lewis, return.   The Aggies do, however, have a very talented, fast and strong group of players waiting in the wings.  Junior Danny Baker and Sophomore Stephen Barrera the appear to have the inside track at the tackle positions. At center, Junior Joe Villavisencio appears to have an inside track unless the Aggies decide to move Lewis over from Guard, in which case a battle for an open spot may develop in spring practice. 

Overall, if A&M can fill a few  holes on their line, their offense looks primed to take off.  They start their season with three cupcake games, so that should also allow the unit time to jell and get their timing down.  They then play Arkansas in game four and then enter their Big 12 schedule.

Now the bad news. 

Wrecking Crew would be an appropriate phrase for what the opponents did to the Aggies defense in '09.  The squad finished last in total defense, last in passing defense, and second to last in rushing defense in the Big 12 last year, surrendering a league worst 436 points.

The team returns, however, nine starters from the unit, who certainly should improve with experience. 

New defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, who had success building Air Force’s defense, will also be moving to a 3-4 alignment to take advantage of the team personnel, including defensive end Von Miller.  Miller led the nation with 17 sacks last year.  DeRuyter is obviously hoping that in the 3-4 he can take advantage of Millers speed around the end to insert him into more scenarios and create some havoc.

Given the youth of the Aggies in '09, an extra year on the weight bench should also help them increase their competitiveness.  At times in 2009 they were simply out muscled .  In particular, they need their defensive line to produce in both stopping the run and putting pressure on the opposing quarterback in passing situations.  Despite Millers sacks, it seemed like opposing passers had all day to find a target last year.

Net, the Aggies need to do some heavy work in the weight room to build strength up front, and utilize the 3-4 scheme being inserted to create some mismatches.

Special teams were also nothing to write home about for the Aggies last year.  Once again, the relative youth of their players may have played into this, in both physical and mental lapses.  Kicker Randy Bullock returns, but the rest of the positions appear to be up for grabs during spring football.

So the prognosis? 

The offense should produce at a very high level.  If the defense matures and improves to at least middle of the Big 12 pack, I expect we will be looking at a big season for A&M in 2010.  With all those starters returning, it would indeed be a surprise not to see them make some strideswith that defense.  So I'm predicting a season with nine or more wins. 

Not a moment too soon.