By ROBERT CESSNAThe Texas A&M football team needs a strong showing in the worst way at a venue that's been the Aggies' chamber of horrors for a decade and a half.
The reeling Aggies (3-3, 0-2) will try to prevent the 21st-ranked Texas Tech Raiders (5-2, 2-1) from becoming bowl-eligible at 6 p.m. Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium, a gigantic task for a program that hasn't won in Lubbock since 1993.
"Certainly they have been a nemesis for A&M, particularly here in the last seven trips and even longer than that," said A&M head coach Mike Sherman, who was the program's offensive line coach in 1993 for the last A&M victory on the South Plains. He also saw Tech start this winning streak on Zach Thomas' 23-yard interception return in the closing minute that gave Tech a 14-7 upset of eighth-ranked A&M in 1995.
The misery just kept coming for the Aggies at Jones Stadium:
* A 47-yard field goal with 47 seconds left gave Tech a 16-13 victory in 1997 over 20th-ranked A&M.
* Fifth-ranked A&M, which squandered a 10-0 lead, lamented a holding call that wrecked a possible game-winning drive in a 21-19 loss in 1999.
* Finally, there was the goal post incident in 2001 after a 12-0 Tech victory. Tech fans stormed the field afterward, tore down a goal post at the south end of the stadium and carried it to the north end where they forced it into an area occupied by A&M fans, which set off several fights.
The last three games haven't been much of a fight with the Red Raiders outscoring the Aggies 150-50.
"They have kind of been a thorn in the Aggies' side for a while," Sherman said. "You've got to give Tech credit."
A&M will be the first opponent to play in the new and improved Jones Stadium.
Tech's first major seat expansion in more than 50 years opens Saturday. Tech has added 6,000 seats in the northeast and northwest end zones that push the seating capacity to just shy of 60,000.
"So hopefully we stick as much concrete around as we can and it echoes like crazy," Tech head coach Mike Leach said. "And as always, I can't guarantee the safety of anybody that's not a Red Raider fan in Jones AT&T Stadium."
Tech expects to set attendance records for the overall crowd and for students, who over the years have tormented Aggie players and fans.
"They're a very passionate group, there's no question about that," Sherman said. "I'm sure late at night they'll be a little bit more passionate."
A&M senior offensive lineman Michael Shumard said the Tech fans do a good job of creating a home-field advantage but that doesn't have an effect on the outcome of the game.
Still, it could be a little intimidating for A&M's 17 true freshmen, who were steamrolled in their first Big 12 road game. Kansas State pinned a 62-14 loss on the Aggies last week before a partisan crowd of 44,934, which was tame compared to what A&M expects from Tech.
"The crowd's going to be right behind our bench, and it's going to be very threatening," Sherman said. "Our kids have to rise to that challenge. I'm not so sure we did a good job of that last week."
A&M isn't the only team that's struggled in Lubbock.
Texas' chance at playing for a national championship last year ended in a 39-33 loss at Jones Stadium, and the Oklahoma Sooners have lost on their last two trips to the South Plains. Tech has won 38 of its last 43 home games, including 12 straight.
"We have to play a great football game, a near perfect game in Lubbock, to beat a Tech team," Sherman said.
The Aggies haven't come close to perfection in recent weeks. A&M has lost three straight, the last to a team that Tech piled up 739 yards against in a 66-14 victory the week before.
That was part of a three-game winning streak for the resilient Red Raiders who outscored the opposition 145-52 over that stretch.
Tech, which shared the South Division title with Texas and OU last year, is coming off a 31-10 victory at Nebraska that returned the Red Raiders to the Top 25.
Tech has battled through numerous injuries including losing starting quarterback Taylor Potts to a concussion three weeks ago against New Mexico. Potts apparently will return Saturday to replace Steven Sheffield, who broke his foot last week in his second start since replacing Potts.
Nothing has come easy for the Red Raiders.
Tech lost back-to-back road games at Texas and Houston, suspending standout offensive lineman Brandon Carter after the UH loss for comments he made on his Twitter page. Leach promptly made cyberspace comments by his players off limits.
"I don't care about any little arguments on this, that, the other thing," Leach said. "If a guy wants to play football for me, then he's not having Twitter, and that's the end of it."
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