(SEC) The Aggies play on a grass field at Kyle Field (seats 82,600)
- Kevin Sumlin is in his 1st year as head coach at Texas A&M. Sumlin comes over from Houston, where his prolific offense made them dominant in Conference USA. He returns to the Aggies after serving as assistant head coach at Texas A&M for two years (under R.C. Slocum). Following that and immediately prior to his position at Houston, he was offensive coordinator for five years at Oklahoma (under Bob Stoops). Sumlin was Houston’s first black head coach, is also the first black coach at Texas A&M.
- Looking at Houston for the past four years under Sumlin, their passing offense dominated and led to their having the #1 or #2 ranked offense in three of his four seasons. However, while Sumlin was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, the rushing offense was significantly stronger, which suggests that he gears his offense to his team’s talents. But with A&M it’s not certain what this offense’s talent truly is. Before Sherman got there, they were a dominating rushing team. Under Sherman the teeter-totter flipped and rushing yards fell dramatically, while the passing offense thrived. And while 2011 both passing and rushing were pretty strong statistically, their record suffered.
Head Coach Kevin Sumlin
- Mike Sherman was fired as head coach after just one winning season (*technically) in his four years. (*The bowl game last year, which came after his dismissal, actually put the Aggies at 7-6 for the season.) Even though they ended the season with a 33-22 win against Northwestern in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, Texas A&M ends the year with a very disappointing finish compared to the top ten ranking that they began the season with. Now A&M is hoping that Sherman is looking for a new job because until he finds one, they will have to pay him $150,000 a month through March 2015.
- How did Texas A&M lose in 2011? Texas A&M wasted double-digit halftime leads in its first three losses in 2011 (Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Missouri). In 4 of the 5 losses, they lost either in overtime or by 4 or less points in regulation. And they lost the big rivalry game against Texas, which ends the 118-year rivalry until at least 2018 due to A&M’s move to the SEC and Texas’s booked non-conference schedule until then.
- The passing offense at A&M has been pretty strong over the past few years, but they’ve consistently had experienced starters at quarterback. That changes in 2012 with the most experienced QB being sophomore Jameill Showers, who has a meager five (5) career passing attempts.
- Running Back Christine Michael has three solid years of running back experience, but won’t have the benefit of the leading rusher for the past two years in Cyrus Gray. Michael actually led the team in rushing yards in 2009 though.
- In 2011 the offensive line was filled with talent and they had 9 of their top 10 back. It made a difference as they rushed for almost 200 yards per game and averaged over 5 yards per carry. And in terms of passing plays when they needed to protect their quarterback and block against the pass rush, they allowed the 4th fewest sacks in the nation. Their total of 9 sacks allowed was a huge improvement compared to 2010 when they allowed 37 sacks.
- Part of why the offensive numbers have been so prolific was the number of offensive plays that were run. They had over 1000 in offensive plays in each of the past three seasons. That is something that has been typical of Houston offenses in recent years as well.
- This team improved when they switched from the 4-3 to the 3-4 defense in 2010 and continued to perform at that improved level at 2011.
- The schedule is not only new for the new head coach, it is new for the Aggies players and fans as A&M moves to the SEC.
