Aggies hope to spoil Longhorns BCS hopes

Texas A&M looks to upset rival Texas

The Texas A&M Aggies and the Texas Longhorn meet Thursday for the State Farm Lone Star Showdown.

The Aggies (4-7, 2-5 Big 12) will face the Longhorns (10-1, 6-1) for more than just bragging rights this time.

Everyone who has grown up and lives in Texas understands how important this game is to both squads.

Texas, however, is playing for all the marbles. Head Coach Mack Brown’s Longhorns play their last home game, where he lost to the Aggies two years ago. Brown must protect his second place position in the BCS to have any hope for a Big 12 South Division championship. The Longhorns are locked into a statistical tie with Texas Tech and Oklahoma. The tie breaker could be the BCS position.

The Aggies and first-year Head Coach Mike Sherman are playing only for pride. This season could not have come to an end soon enough for Sherman. He has hit bottom. The Aggies will ride into Austin and Darrell Royal Memorial Stadium with a two-game losing streak, having given up 107 points to Oklahoma and Baylor.

Rumors last week swirled around Aggie Defensive Coach Joe Kines. His defense has been crushed. Kines is currently ranked 113 th among the NCAA 119-team BCS division.

Kines at the weekly news conference denied that he was leaving but admitted that he hadn’t done a very good job coaching.

The offense has been disappointing, too. The Aggies started the season with one of the most experienced backfields in the Big 12. On paper, that is. It hasn’t worked out that way. A&M currently is ranked 110th in rushing. Fullback Jorvoskie Lane, tailback Michael Goodson, and senior quarterback Stephen McGee have missed playing time rehabbing for injuries.

The odds makers have made Texas a 35-point favorite. This is the kind of game that records and point spreads don’t matter. The Aggies have beaten the odds the past two years.

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Brown desperately needs style points to justify his BCS ranking and get into the Big 12 championship. He must hold onto second place in the BCS to get into the championship. The Aggies could deal the Longhorn a fatal blow just by making it close.

The game will be the 117th game in the rivalry which began in 1894. It is the third longest rivalry in college football. Texas leads the series, 73-36-5.

The game kicks off at 7 p.m. in Austin. It will be televised nationally on ESPN. It can be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio.

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By Jay Goode
Big 12 Fans Texas A&M Correspondent

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