By RICHARD CROOME
Eagle Columnist

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The Texas A&M football team has jumped the shark.

The saying, made popular by jumptheshark.com, is reserved for the precise moment a popular TV program loses momentum and begins its slow descent into syndication. It comes from an episode of Happy Days when Fonzie, in his trademark leather jacket, jumped a tank with a shark in it while water-skiing.

It happens to most TV sit-coms at some point. In an attempt to remedy the situation, program directors may bring in a new character or switch locations, but the damage is done.

Or the shark is jumped.

The Aggies leaped head first over the shark Saturday night at Kyle Field against the No. 12 Kansas Jayhawks. And they don't have the luxury of picking up new characters or, with their next two games at No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 13 Missouri, switching locations to their benefit.

A&M dropped to 3-2 in the Big 12 with the 19-11 loss to the Jayhawks. With all the upsets in the opening weeks of conference play, the Aggies are not mathematically out of the Big 12 South picture.

But the big picture looks a whole lot more out of focus for A&M after being outplayed by a team that's soaring up the Nielsen Ratings.

A&M gained momentum and gave their fans hope with a dominating rushing attack in a victory at Nebraska last week. Against the Jayhawks, they proved they have no answers when that attack is stonewalled, which was the case for the third time this season.

The Aggies lost to Miami (5-3) and Texas Tech (6-3) on the road. Those teams are far from Top 10-caliber, and a loss against KU at home magnified the troubles.

Like Miami, Kansas held the No. 1 rushing team in the Big 12 to less than 100 yards on the ground. The consequence was no points in the first three quarters against either team. Against Tech, the Aggies were down 21-7 after three quarters.

Despite the valiant effort in the fourth quarter Saturday, the Aggies were out of it going into the final 15 minutes for the third time this season.

"We felt like in order for them to beat us they'd have to throw the ball," KU coach Mark Mangino said. "That's not their comfort zone."

After Kansas went up 19-0, A&M quarterback Stephen McGee threw the ball 26 times. Only six went for more than 10 yards. The only two pass plays on the scoring drives that covered more than 15 yards were sensational individual efforts by Martellus Bennett and Roger Holland.

Needing three scoring possessions, A&M took more than 4 minutes to get 3 points, and Bennett's jumpball takeaway from a defensive back is all that kept the one touchdown drive alive.

While the Aggies can hang their hat on the comeback attempt, reality has set in: Good defenses can shut the Aggies down.

A&M can beat up on the little guys with its smashmouth style behind the powerful Jorvorskie Lane and zone-read astuteness of McGee. It is exposed, though, when another one of the big boys comes in and smashes back.

And for A&M, the big boys are all that's left.

• Richard Croome's e-mail address is richard.croome@theeagle.com.

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