How They Got Here

Texas A&M

Nov 18, 2012; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A

If anyone knew what to expect from the Aggies first journey through the SEC, they probably should have played the lottery or planned a trip to Vegas.  The 2011 squad went 7-6 in the Big 12, fired their coach, and had to replace a first round draft pick at QB.  All A&M did was finish 10-2, 6-2 in the SEC, knock off the top ranked Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, feature the first ever freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, and all with a new coach.  Things did not start out so rosy in the nations best league though, as Florida came into Kyle Field in what ended up as the season opener for the Aggies, and won 20-17, behind a 2nd half comeback.  If you paid attention at all to the 2011 season, that 2nd half collapse wasn’t exactly confidence inspiring.  Instead, Manziel and new coach Kevin Sumlin rallied the troops for 5 straight wins, before falling at home, to 6th ranked LSU.  A&M was at 5-2, and staring 3 consecutive road trips (Auburn, #15 Mississippi State, and #1 Alabama) in the face.  All they did was outscore those 3 teams 130-58, and go 3-0, capped with the thrilling 29-24 upset against the top ranked Crimson Tide.

Oklahoma

Dec 30, 2011; Tempe, AZ, USA; Oklahoma Sooners cheerleader before the game against Iowa Hawkeyes during the 2011 Insight Bowl at the Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Hilderbrand-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma entered the season as Oklahoma always enters the season, a top 5 team, loads of talent, and national title expectations.  The Sooners have been good for at least one shocking defeat in recent seasons, and it looked like that was the case again after they fell to then 15th ranked Kansas State in their 3rd game. The Wildcats, of course, would go on to finish 11-1 with a Big 12 title, and only an upset loss at Baylor away from playing for the national championship on Monday.  The Sooners would win their next 3 handily, setting up a prime time clash with Notre Dame in Norman.  The game was much closer than the 30-13 final, as the Irish scored twice late, but Sooner fans were once again left wondering what might have been.  Oklahoma wrapped up the year with 5 straight wins, including a thrilling 50-49 win at West Virginia, and a 51-48 OT win in the Bedlam game against rival Oklahoma State.

Key Matchups

Offense vs. Defense

Dec 01, 2012; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Landry Jones (12) throws during the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Oklahoma won 24-17. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

If that doesn’t get your pulse racing, I don’t know what will!  But you have the 3rd and 10th offenses in both yardage and scoring, facing off against two pretty talented defenses.  It’s hard to compare stats with Oklahoma in the high flying Big 12, and the Aggies in the more defensive minded SEC, but make no mistake, both defenses are good, and they will be challenged.  Both teams put up over 500 yards total, over 300 yards through the air, and A&M goes for over 200 a game on the ground.  They key for both will of course be shutting down the prolific quarterbacks, and making both offenses find other ways to beat you.  Whoever does that, has the edge.

Johnny Football vs. The Heisman Hangover

Oct 20, 2012; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A

If you’ve followed college football for any amount of time, you are hopefully quite aware of the lack of success Heisman Trophy winners have been known to have after winning the award.  Whether it’s the month long hype machine, the buffets, or just the fact that everyone gets geared up to play the top player in the country*, the fact is the Heisman holder suffers.  Manziel has been in the spotlight as much as any winner in recent memory.  Heck, he made national news for sitting courtside for a Mavericks game last month.  But the freshman will have the stay level headed on the big stage as Oklahoma will certainly be gunning for him.  Don’t forget his offensive coordinator (Kliff Kingsbury) won’t be with him after taking the job at Texas Tech in December.

Prediction

Points.  Lots of points. Manziel has managed the expectations like a freshman that doesn’t know any better, and I don’t expect the Heisman hangover to really be much of a distraction for him. Oklahoma lost to the 2 best teams on their schedule, and the common theme was they shut down the Sooners high powered offense.  I think the Aggies do just enough to slow down Landry Jones, and pull out a close one.

Oklahoma 35

Texas A&M 38

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The Big 10 is in Bad Shape

Dec 3, 2011; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Bret Bielema hoists the Big Ten Championship trophy after defeating the Michigan State Spartans at Lucas Oil Stadium. Wisconsin won 42-39. Mandatory credit: Michael Hickey-USA TODAY Sports

OK, this is nothing new, but as I look through the conference’s slate of 7 bowl games, I don’t see much good news for the league.  It’s certainly worth mentioning that the best team in the league, Ohio State, is stuck at home due to the sins of coaches and players past, and we all know about Penn State’s situation.  In a season that the Big 10 would have sent 9 teams bowling, and likely only 1 to the BCS, they have instead ended up with an 8-5 Rose Bowl representative, and just about every other school playing up a rung or two on the Big 10 bowl ladder.  Minnesota and Purdue appear to be utterly outclassed by Texas Tech and Oklahoma State respectively.  Given Nebraska’s performance, or lack thereof, against Wisconsin’s running game, I can only imagine Bo Pelini wakes up in the middle of the night, terrified of what Todd Gurley from Georgia is going to do to his defense.  I think Wisconsin can keep it close with Stanford, but I just don’t think they’re good enough to pull it out. Michigan will need to do something no one did this year, find a way to slow down Jadaveon Clowney.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sparty and Northwestern get wins, but I’m also not betting on it.  Bottom line, expect more of the same from the Big 10 in the next few days.

I have a friend, Frank Ahrenhold, who played defensive tackle for Penn State from 1968 to 1972 and who has one of the two game balls given out after one of Penn State’s most iconic victories: the 30-6 stomping of Texas in the 1972 Cotton Bowl. This was the game that showed the country how to stop the wishbone and that brought Penn State, once and for all, into the national discussion.

I recently talked to Frank about that game, and other things about Penn State, and I’d like to share what he said.

It’s a well known story. Penn State was undefeated in 1968 and finished second in the national polls. The next season, Penn State went undefeated again and, after Richard Nixon declared Texas the national champion on a visit to Texas, the Nittany Lions were voted second in the polls again.

“We had the ’68 and ’69 teams that ran off 22 games in a row,” Ahrenhold said, “a couple Orange Bowl victories, and we finished #2 in the polls both years. And then we came to sort of a down year, after Mike Reid and Steve Smear and all of those guys graduated. We lost three games that season, and I think we were offered the Liberty Bowl or something like that, and we just said the heck with it and passed on it.

“So anyway, people were saying that we were just another flash in the pan. You know, another eastern school who made a little bit of noise and then at the end of the day just kind of disappeared into the background. But I came in with a talented recruiting class. I came in with guys like Franco Harris, Lydell Mitchell, Gary Grey, Dick Joyner, just big time Pennsylvania kids, big 33 kids, solid recruiting class. We were chaffing a little about the fact that people were dismissing us. So we saw our chance to make some noise in the 1971 season, and we came into that year with a chip on our shoulder and I think the staff did, too.

“We started off strong, too, and just kept on going. We went into Syracuse, who was supposed to be the team to beat in the east, and just crushed them. I don’t think they got a first down until the second half. We ran off the rest of them until we went to Tennessee, and I don’t know, that was one of those games where we couldn’t get out of our own way–we fumbled three punts and stuff like that–and ended up losing the game. And it was just so disheartening.

“But it was our only loss, and then we were offered a shot at the Cotton Bowl. And for all of us guys on that team, that meant a lot because we all felt that we got snubbed when Texas got that championship and we thought this was our chance at retribution. We saw an opportunity to shut some people up, to be honest with you. We had a good team and we knew we did.”

“It was also Texas, so it was payback time. We had a chance to beat a big-time southern school on their own turf, and do it convincingly.”

So the stage was set to face the Longhorns and their wishbone offense, which had yet to be even slowed down. The Lions, however, had a plan. “We knew we had to get them going sideways,” Ahrenhold said. “We were an eight-man front, basically a stack-eight. The only two down linemen we ever played were the two defensive tackles. So our job was just create havoc. Get on their guards and drive them into the backfield, and have the linebackers just scrape off that. So basically, we dared their five offensive linemen to block our four, and we didn’t think there was a team in the country who could do that.

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