Texas A&M Tidbits

By John Onan  |   Friday, November 11, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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As the Texas A&M Aggies travel to Norman to face the Oklahoma Sooners with their post-season aspirations likely on the line, here's a few notes heading into this big match-up:

Quarterback Reggie McNeal knows that with his position comes praise when things are going well, along with probably too much of the blame when they aren't. He says he's focused on the final two regular season games, and isn't concerning himself with all the water cooler talk surrounding the team's problems.

While McNeal is being low key, his top receiver Jason Carter, has come to teammates' defense, saying that many of the problems have been beyond McNeal's control. He pointed out that the unit has been hit hard by injuries, even before the season kicked off. Key parts of the offense such as Chad Schroeder, L'Tydrick Riley and Earvin Taylor have all been lost for the season and starting tailback Courtney Lewis missed nearly three games due to a high ankle sprain.

The most memorable game of McNeal's career may have been one he didn't even start, as he came off the bench as a freshman to lead Texas A&M over then-top ranked Oklahoma 30-26 in 2002. If he can pull the same trick this year, it may be less-memorable, but will clinch a bowl birth and assure we get to see this talented signal-caller play one more time in an Aggies uniform.

Saturday's game with the Sooners will be especially interesting when Oklahoma's freshman quarterback Rhett Bomar, who has struggled, facing an Aggies secondary that is the worst in the Big 12. Will these two sides cancel out each other, making Adrian Peterson versus the Texas A&M rush defense the deciding factor?

With the Aggies having to face Texas and Oklahoma late in the season in coach Dennis Franchione's three years at the helm, his club has compiled a 1-6 record in November.
Though he and athletic director Bill Byrne has expressed their displeasure to the Big 12 about this arrangement, it won't really matter who they're playing unless the team gets better on the field.
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