Football hosts Pigskin Palooza for students

By Cody Lillich | MAROON WEEKLY

Texas A&M Students will get the chance to be up close with their the football team Thursday as a part of the team’s first-ever Pigskin Palooza at Kyle Field.

Students can watch team practice beginning at 4p.m. and also enjoy other fun activities, food and chances to enter prize drawings. During the practice, students are encouraged to line up along the track surrounding the field.

Coach Mike Sherman said after practice the team will hold drawings for various prizes such as bench passes for home games, a white throwback helmet, and a personalized 12th Man jersey.

Also after the practice, players will break off into groups and allow current A&M students to practice their skills in what the team is calling the College Football Experience.

“This is similar to the Youth Experience we had earlier in the spring with the youngsters in the community,” Sherman said. “The students can do various drills with our position groups, maybe catch passes from Jerrod Johnson, throw TD passes to E.Z. (Uzoma Nwachukwu) or Jeff Fuller or do some drills with Von Miller coming off of the edge as a blitzing linebacker.”

Gates will open at 3:30p.m. on Thursday, with the first 250 to show their Student ID getting a free food coupon. Food and drinks will be discounted on sale for all other attendees to the event.

]]> http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/football-hosts-pigskin-palooza-for-students/feed/ 0 http://maroonweekly.com/2010/02/from-the-sidelines-7/ http://maroonweekly.com/2010/02/from-the-sidelines-7/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:17:17 +0000 Maroon Weekly http://maroonweekly.com/?p=1164

By Turner Dawson

The Texas A&M football team put up quite a fight in the Lone Star Showdown at Kyle Field, but came up just short of ruining the Texas Longhorns National Title hopes. It was a game full of big plays and missed opportunities for the Aggies but I find it hard to be too upset when I expected this one to not even be close.

Aggie QB Jerrod Johnson finally had his coming out party on national television as he completed 26 of 33 passes for 342 yards and four touchdowns with another 97 yards on the ground.

He was absolutely sensational and made some huge plays in crucial situations. Johnson has been great in the games not on television this season, but has struggled once the cameras showed up. But he saved his best game of the season for the biggest stage of the season.

Johnson was certainly helped by the superb performance by wide receiver Jeff Fuller who made some incredible catches. I would love to see the kind of numbers Jeff Fuller would put up if he could have been healthy the entire season. The fact that he is doing the things that he is doing after breaking his leg earlier in the season just makes it more impressive. Fuller finished the night with 6 catches for 132 yards and three big touchdowns.

Christine Michael also had a very nice performance as the freshman phenom ran for 83 yards on 19 carries for a steady 4.4 yard per carry average and one touchdown against one of the top run defenses in the entire country.

I for one was stunned that the Aggies managed 190 yards on the ground in this game. Texas’ front seven is about as good as they come, but give a lot of credit to the A&M offensive line for getting some push and creating some running lanes. That group has really come together and done a solid job the second half of the season.

The story of this night was the lack of anything resembling a defense on the part of the Aggies. The Texas Longhorns were three yards away from gaining 600 yards. That is simply inexcusable. It’s incredibly discouraging when players are put in positions to succeed, the coaches do their job, but the players are unable to make the play.

In the secondary, the Aggies only really have one cornerback. Terrance Frederick is a very good corner and we are fortunate to have him. Justin McQueen is a hard working guy and he gave it his all in this game but the Longhorns offense targeted him in this game. Almost every big passing play involved McQueen getting beat.

Kyle Mangan is a young player that has the potential to be a good player; He’s a great kid and works his tail off and hopefully another season in the strength and conditioning program pays off but his performance the last couple of weeks has left something to be desired.

Ultimately, it is the coaches’ job to put the players in a position to succeed and make plays. That’s what Joe Kines did and the players didn’t make the plays. At a certain point, it’s no longer about X’s and O’s, it all comes down to the Jimmy’s and Joe’s. Aggie defenders have to start making some plays.  This Aggie defense only has about 4 or 5 players that would start for other teams in the Big 12 and only one, Von Miller, that would start for a team like Texas.

Texas did everything they could to give A&M this game and the Aggies did everything they could to give it right back.

Matt Moss had a pass almost hit him in the face, he dropped it. Von Miller had a ball that hit him in the hands, he dropped it. The Aggies were inside the five and Jerrod throws an interception in the end zone. Christine Michael fumbles the ball at a crucial point in the game. And on special teams, Randy Bullock misses a chip shot to seal the win for Texas.

It was a bunch of mistakes piled on top of another that ultimately cost the Aggies. It has been the same story all season. The Aggies are so close to turning the corner but mistakes cost them. A lot of that can be attributed to the youth of this team so I will choose to look at this positively and see the signs of progress this season and hope that with experience, some of these mistakes will cease.

The good news is that the Aggies are 6-6, just like I predicted, and are bowl eligible. At the time this article is being written, it is unknown which bowl game they will be playing in but my money is on the Texas Bowl against Navy.

If the Aggies can win their bowl game and get to 7-6 on the season, I would absolutely consider this season a success and would be a believer that this program is headed in the right direction. Mike Sherman currently has a national top ten recruiting class coming off of a 4-8 season. If Sherman can hold that together and build off of this season, the Aggies should be on their way to winning these types of games.

Uzoma “EZ” Nwachukwu – EZ has been fairly quiet over the last few games. After a tremendous start to his rookie season, defenses have locked him down fairly well. Look for EZ to break out again against Baylor. The Aggies have a lot to prove and will be looking for big plays against a reeling Baylor defense.

Trent Hunter – Hunter has been putting up big numbers and big hits. Hunter will be key this week as the Aggies look to become bowl eligible. If Hunter along with Von Miller and Matt Featherston can shut down a mediocre Bears offense the Aggies should win big at home.

Justin McQueen – McQueen has been playing in the place of injured Dustin Harris. McQueen has stepped in a done a decent job of locking up the corner in the Aggie secondary. It will be critical for McQueen to hold his own this week so that the safeties can stay at home against the Baylor running game.

Randy Bullock – Bullock has had an ok year. But it is time for him to shine at home. Bullock will need to pin the bears deep on kickoffs to allow the defense some room to work. Look for Bullock to return home with a renewed intensity.

By Turner Dawson

65-10. What else can you say. The Aggies traveled to Norman, Okla, to face the struggling Oklahoma Sooners and the Aggies played doctor as best they could. The Aggies struggled in every aspect of the game and once again made a struggling offense look like a bunch of All-Americans.

Offensively, the Aggies were a mess all night long. Jerrod Johnson had another poor performance as he finished the game 12 of 33 passing the ball for 115 yards and one touchdown with one interception. In his defense, he was running for his life for much of the game, but he made some very poor throws when he did have time and had open receivers. You would expect more out of a quarterback that is leading the conference in yards per game.

On the ground, the Aggies were completely outmatched. The offensive line got manhandled by a much more physically imposing Oklahoma front seven. The Aggies finished the game with a whopping 59 yards per carry with a 1.6 yard per carry average. This had nothing to do with coaching or scheming. The Aggies just got physically dominated play in and play out.

Cyrus Gray only got six carries but he ran for 26 yards on those carries. Christine Michael on the other hand got 14 carries for 25 yards. He also fumbled on the opening Aggie drive which resulted in a touchdown return. Aside from the fumble by Michael, it’s hard to put the lack of production on the running backs. I thought they ran hard, they just didn’t have anywhere to go.

Jeff Fuller looked the closest to being back to the player he was at the beginning of the season in this game. Jerrod looked for him often and he finished the game with five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. He really showed the kind of ability he has with the touchdown that he scored on a fade route in the first half. If the Aggies could ever put things together on defense and the offensive line, Fuller could be a very valuable player.

Defensively, the Aggies continue to search for some sort of answer as to how to stop anybody. It’s not an issue of stopping the run or the pass at this point, because they don’t do either. This bend and break defense is becoming a serious issue.

Landry Jones has had a lot of struggles this year as a red shirt freshman quarterback but the Aggies once again showed their knack for making average to bad quarterbacks look like Heisman candidates. Most of the quarterbacks the Aggies have faced this year have had their best games of the season against the Aggies. In this case, the Aggies gave up 392 yards passing by Jones with five touchdowns. It has become almost comical how many blown coverages and missed tackles this team can fit into one game.

Von Miller was shut out in sacks in this game which is something that has become extremely rare. The nation’s leading sacker wasn’t able to get to the quarterback all night long and we saw the results of that. This defense is bad with Von producing and it’s awful without that.

Just like the struggles against the pass, the Aggies weren’t so hot against the run either. The Sooners racked up 248 yards rushing with a 5.5 yard per carry average. The Aggie defensive front is so undersized and outmatched against virtually every Big 12 team. A&M isn’t just getting beat in the trenches, they are being abused.

I’m not really sure what this team can do in order to salvage this season, and it’s hard to blame the coaches in this case. Jon Kines is one of the most respected defensive coordinators in the country. He didn’t suddenly forget how to coach. At some point the players have to make plays. The same could be said of Mike Sherman.

If the Aggies can’t beat Baylor, there are going to be a lot of unhappy Aggies. If the Aggies can beat Baylor and then win a bad bowl game, then there might be some holding out hope that we are improving. But if the Aggies go 5-7 this year, Mike Sherman is going to lose the support of a lot of fans.

By Turner Dawson

The Texas A&M football team will play host to the Baylor Bears at Kyle Field. Both teams come into the game following embarrassing losses to Big 12 South opponents and are looking to rebound in what will be the battle for last place in the division. Baylor comes in with a record of 4-6 (1-4) while the Aggies are 5-5 (2-4) and desperately needing to win this game to become bowl eligible.

Jerrod Johnson has been very up and down this season. He has racked up some huge numbers against some bad teams and had some very poor games against good teams. I expect that he will play well against Baylor as they have struggled this year defensively. If Jerrod can have a big game, the Aggies will be in very good position to win this game.

On the ground, the Aggies really need to get back on track. They ran the ball very well against Texas Tech and Iowa State and really struggled against Colorado and Oklahoma. Baylor has allowed opposing offenses to average 4.2 yards per carry on the ground this season. I expect that the Aggies will find some success on the ground in this game. Look for Cyrus Gray to get more than the six carries he got against OU.

Baylor’s offense has been struggling since star quarterback Robert Griffin went down with a knee injury for the season. Nick Florence has done his best to replace him but he simply is not as talented as Griffin. Florence has only 6 touchdown passes this season and seven interceptions. Nonetheless, I expect him to have his best game of the season. Baylor has some talented receivers so don’t be surprised to see the Bears throw the ball all over the field on the Aggies.

On the ground the Bears have had almost no running game. The Bears leading rusher is Jay Finley with 274 yards for the entire season. They are only averaging 102 yards per carry. Then again, Colorado was averaging 80 per game coming into their matchup with the Aggies, and they proceeded to rack up more than double that. So I imagine Baylor will be at least moderately successful on the ground.

The Bears are a team that the Aggies absolutely should and must beat. This is the Aggies last real opportunity to get to the six win mark and become bowl eligible. Let’s be honest, the Aggies don’t have much of a chance against Texas. If the Aggies lose this game, I don’t think Kyle Field will see more than 75,000 fans at the Texas game. But I do expect the Aggies to get back on track and win this game, 38-24.

Photo c/o Glen Johnson/TAMU Athletics

In Texas, high school football only comes second to…well nothing.  And college football does not differ greatly. So when it came to picking only one of three sports to pursue a collegiate path in, it was not a surprise that Kyle Mangan picked football.

The sophomore sports management major grew up in Brenham, Texas, so Texas A&M has always been close to home.

“Watching Aggie football when I was little helped me decide pretty early what I wanted to do when I got older,” Mangan said. “It’s a special place and a very special thing to be a part of; it’s a dream come true.”

Mangan played a total of three sports at the varsity level in high school, therefore never going through a true off-season of any kind. Even though being a multi-sport athlete helped him with mental toughness, he was not quite at the physical level his coaches wanted him to be at when he came to A&M. So like many players in this position, he was redshirted his freshman year, something that only made him more of an asset to the roster.

“I have gotten bigger, faster, and stronger since I first got here and I owe that to red-shirting. I would say the impact it had on this season and the rest of my career has been huge,” he said.

Mangan has definitely been a huge impact in A&M’s defensive backfield this season. The redshirt freshman has started over half the games this season and leads the team in assisted tackles with 26 and ranks sixth in solo tackles with 21. Even with his success in his first year of playing, Mangan still believes tackling is where his game needs to improve the most.

“It’s much different tackling at the high school level where you are bigger than everyone and at the collegiate level where most of the people you are tackling are your size,” Mangan said.

He also leads the team in broken up passes with a total of seven and has had one interception for 23 yards on the return. His passion for the sport is eminent every time he steps on the field, and he is the type of player everyone loves to see make plays. His successful season so far is only the beginning of a promising future at A&M.

“I think the most important thing for me to do is stay dedicated, work twice as hard to get where I want to be and where this team needs me to be,” Mangan said.

Mangan’s older brother, Wes Mangan, plays football for McNeese State in Louisiana along with their stepbrother, Mase Duge. The three grew up playing sports together along with some of their lifelong best friends. Even with only a year and half under his belt, Mangan relates the family feeling to his teammates now.

“There are a bunch of good guys in our locker room and we have a lot of fun together. I would say I view all those guys as family,” Mangan said.

The Aggies came out strong with three home victories at the beginning of this season. With a tough loss to Oklahoma State in their conference opener, fans started to worry that the season was on a downhill turn. The unexpected, but great win against Texas Tech, turned spirits back up, but a one-point loss to Colorado, brought the 12th Man back down. Many were left wondering what A&M needed to do to come out on top in the last few games of the season.

“Without a doubt the most important thing to do in order to come out on top in those games is finishing,” Mangan said. “Going all the way back to the spring our motto has been, ‘start fast, finish strong’ and in those close ones, we did not finish.”

In the past, A&M has struggled against the main powerhouses of the Big 12 Conference, but they always bring their A-game on Thanksgiving weekend. An entire season can be saved with a win against the Longhorns from Austin. This year is no different. With the 10-year anniversary of the fall of Bonfire, a bowl bid on the line, and a home game on the schedule, A&M has no reason not to be fired up for this year’s Lonestar Showdown.

“We need to have a good, crisp week of practice and stay focused. Next, we have to show up on Thursday night fired up and ready to play passionate football,” Mangan said. “And last but certainly not least, we have to have the 12th Man show up and support us like always, because nobody shows up and pushes us around in our own house.”

The Texas A&M football team will travel to Norman, Okla. to take on the Oklahoma Sooners this Saturday. Both teams are coming off of tough losses to teams they should have beaten.

Aggie QB Jerrod Johnson will be looking to rebound from an up and down performance last week, but he will be going against one of the best defenses in the country. The Sooners defense is holding opposing offenses to just 12 points per game and 197 passing yards per game.

Johnson and his receivers will need to be in sync in this game and the offensive line will need to step up to give Jerrod some time. I expect the Oklahoma front seven to harass Johnson all night long and make it very difficult to move the ball through the air.

The Sooners are even better against the run as they are allowing only 80 yards rushing per game. The Aggies are going to have a very hard time getting any kind of movement against this Oklahoma front seven. I don’t see any way that the Aggies will be able to get a consistent ground game going in this game. They will have to continue to run the ball in order to keep the Sooner defense honest, but they’re only chance to pick up many yards will be if there is a breakdown in the defense and one of our running backs breaks a long run.

Offensively, the Sooners have struggled mightily this season. After losing Heisman winner Sam Bradford and All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham for the season, the Sooners have found it very difficult to find an identity on offense.

QB Landry Jones has done an adequate job replacing Bradford as the starter but he is only averaging 207 yards passing per game. Look for the Sooners to still have some success against this young Aggie secondary that seems dependable for at least three blown coverage’s per game.

The Sooner running game has been rather difficult to figure out. Chris Brown and Demarco Murray are extremely dangerous runners, but the Sooners are only averaging 146 yards rushing per game. But I expect the Sooners to have a big day rushing the ball in this game. The Aggies have the worst rush defense in the Big 12 and don’t appear able to stop anybody on the ground. The defensive line is too small and the linebackers can’t tackle. Look for Murray and Brown to have big days in this one.

Oklahoma is certainly beatable this year as they come in a disappointing 5-4 on the season. But the Sooners are still a much more athletic team than the Aggies and will likely dominate physically, especially in the trenches. I expect the Aggies to lose this game and drop to 5-5 on the season in a 38-17 loss.

The Texas A&M football team continues to make me scratch my head as they lost on the road this past weekend in Boulder against the Colorado Buffaloes. The Aggies played well enough to win but managed to find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in a way that only the Aggies can.

The offense had one of their worst performances of the season as they were held to only 374 yards of total offense. The Aggies seemed to be out of sync in every aspect the entire game.

After two straight weeks of dominant performances on the ground, the Aggies managed just 132 yards on the ground in this game with just a 3.9 yard per carry average.

Christine Michael got more work in this game as he carried the ball 16 times for 74 yards and a touchdown for a 4.6 yard per carry average. Michael was effective in this game, but Cyrus Gray did not have much success and Jerrod Johnson never did seem to get going through the air or on the ground.

Johnson finished 20 for 36 passing the ball for 242 yards and a touchdown and one interception. Those aren’t awful numbers but Jerrod had a number of missed opportunities. Multiple times he had open receivers that he under threw. On the final offensive play of the game for the Aggies, Jerrod had pressure in his face and greatly under threw an open receiver and the result was an interception.

Early in the season, when the offense had struggles, it was because the offensive line either didn’t open up holes or couldn’t protect the quarterback. But I have to put this performance on the skill players. They have been great most of the season, but they had some opportunities to make some plays in this game and they didn’t make them.

Uzoma Nwachukwu has been an absolute stud all season but there were multiple occasions where they gave him man-to-man press coverage and dared him to make a play and he didn’t. That’s the time when, as a receiver, you are drooling at the opportunity to make a big play. But he failed to make the play several times in this game.

Johnson has been running for his life for much of the season but that was not the case in this game. Certainly there were times here and there when he got a little pressure, but most of the time he had all day to throw the football. And he missed several open receivers. I expect that the Aggies will bounce back from this because they are capable of making those plays, they just didn’t do it in this game when they needed to.

Defensively, the Aggies were a little bit of a mess. They played well in spurts and they forced some turnovers, but I don’t think I have ever seen worse open field tackling than what was on display in this game.

Kyle Mangan got absolutely abused on multiple occasions. He is solid at covering the throwing lanes but he has a very hard time taking proper angles and making plays in the open field. The problem is that his backup, Michael Hodges, struggles even more. The Aggies desperately need to find a middle linebacker.

It was extremely aggravating to watch Colorado quarterback Tyler Hansen scramble all over the field like he was Vince Young when he is far from it. The Aggies seem to have a tendency to make very mediocre quarterbacks look like Heisman candidates.

The Aggies gave up 437 yards to an offense that has struggled mightily to find any kind of success all season long. They allowed the Buffaloes to convert on 50% of their third downs and had some critical breakdowns at some crucial times. The number of missed tackles and blown coverage’s was absolutely stunning.

Bottom line is that this was a game the Aggies had to win. Colorado is a bad football team that had no business being in the game against A&M, even in the current state of the Aggie program. The Aggies now need to find a way to pickup at least one win in their next three games against Oklahoma, Baylor, and Texas to become bowl eligible.

I said before the season started that with this young team we were going to be excited and frustrated all season long. We are seeing the future of this team grow up before our eyes. But if the Aggies don’t get to a bowl game this season after going 4-8 last year, many Aggie fans are going to find it very difficult to continue to support this current coaching staff.