By ROBERT CESSNA
Texas A&M's 35-34 loss to Colorado was the toughest in the two-year tenure of head football coach Mike Sherman.
The Aggies led for almost the entire game Saturday -- making big plays in all three phases -- but left Boulder, Colo., knowing that if just one of several plays had gone the other way, A&M would be bowl-eligible.
It wasn't anything like the 62-14 loss at Kansas State.
"We had the lead for 56 minutes of the ball game, so I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bath water because of the last four minutes," Sherman said. "It's certainly disheartening. I'm still struggling over this one. That was a heartbreaker. I'd rather get my butt kicked then lose them like that."
Sherman and the Aggies will have to put that loss behind them in a hurry or they could get their butts kicked on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Norman, Okla., is one of the toughest places in the country to play, which all Aggies can attest to. A&M has lost five straight at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
The Sooners have won a nation-leading 28 straight home games and 48 of their last 49 there under head coach Bob Stoops.
"I don't think about that much," Stoops said. "In the end, it just gets down to playing good football. For the most part, our guys have just been focused in and played well here at home. Our crowd does a great job. Like most people in the country, you're better at home and you have a lot of energy at home. So we've just been able to have a good streak going. Hopefully, we can keep it."
Oklahoma is a 18-point favorite to do just that.
"I think it's one of the toughest in the Big 12," A&M senior safety Jordan Pugh said. "They protect their house. It's going to be a challenge. We just have to handle our business and prepare, and we'll be fine."
The Aggies haven't won in Norman since 1997. The Sooners have outscored the Aggies 237-60 in the last five games there.
"Last time I remember playing in Norman -- it was over pretty quickly," said senior offensive tackle Michael Shumard of a 42-14 loss where the Sooners scored the first 35 points. "Yeah, they still played Boomer Sooner when they scored, but their fans weren't killing us, because the white flag [was raised] -- it was over pretty quickly.
"I remember talking to Jerrod [Johnson, A&M's quarterback] last week, because we were talking about how loud Colorado was going to be. And he said Oklahoma was going to be even louder, I said I don't remember Oklahoma being that loud. He said it was because if was over so fast. So, I can't really tell you, but I can image it will be one of the worst places to play as an offensive lineman."
A&M has 17 freshmen and 12 sophomores on the depth chart that will be experiencing Norman for the first time. Freshman starting right guard Patrick Lewis said after a week of practice he will be prepared and ready.
The Aggies' only road victory this year was a big one -- 52-30 at then-No. 21 Texas Tech, the program's first win on the South Plains since 1993. Tech had won 38 of its last 43 home games, including 12 straight, but the Aggies disappointed a record crowd of 57,733.
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Sherman was asked during his Monday night radio show if junior defensive end/linebacker Von Miller, the nation's leader in sacks, might declare for the NFL draft after this year.
Sherman said that will play itself out with the season. Sherman said if a player has a great opportunity at the next level, it's hard to convince him to stay, but on other instances players can mature and get better by coming back for another year.
Sherman will talk to Miller about his options at season's end.
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A&M senior wide receiver Howard Morrow (ankle sprain) and freshman cornerback Dustin Harris (ankle) will be limited in practice during the week, and their availability for Saturday's game will be determined later. Sophomore linebacker Garrick Williams, who is recovering from nagging injuries, is expected to play against OU.
Oklahoma senior offensive guard Brody Eldridge and senior defensive end Auston English suffered season-ending injuries Saturday in a 10-3 loss at Nebraska. Eldridge, a team captain, started the season at center but was moved to tight end with All-America candidate Jermaine Gresham was lost with an injury. He then moved to left guard for an injured Brian Simmons.
Eldridge was injured while making a tackle on an interception.
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Sherman said he can't remember being in a game when his team gave up one sack, registered eight, had three penalties and the opponent 10, and didn't win.
"And to lose that game like that is hard to take," Sherman said.
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A&M oft-injured senior cornerback Jordan Peterson, from Lexington, saw extended action against Colorado. He made two tackles.
"I love Jordan Peterson," Sherman said. "Here's a guy that's been a starter, and the injures have just backed him up and slowed him down. We talked about him maybe just coaching this year. I asked him in camp, I said, 'Hey listen. You never know when we are going to need you. Can you just keep working?'
"So he took Coryell Judie and he tutored him for preseason camp for the most part, and tried to teach him the corner position before Coryell went down. Then when he went down, we just asked [Jordan], 'Hey, if you're feeling a little bit better, we'd love for you to dress out and see what you can do.' He's done everything we've asked him to do. I can't say enough about him. He's a pleasure to be around, a great kid. He's all about A&M and us being as good as we can be, and he's a totally unselfish kid. He made a couple of big plays for us the other day, and I was happy for him and for us."
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Sherman is unsure who will return punts Saturday if Harris can't play. Sophomore Terrence Frederick fair caught one punt against Colorado, but muffed one in the last minute of play with the Buffaloes recovering.
"Even though it was late in the game, we still felt like we had the opportunity to at least get to a position to kick a field goal," Sherman said. "Even though we had no timeouts left, [I] thought we could still take a couple of shots. But we'll figure that out this week. I can't give you a definite answer right now."
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Kansas State (6-3, 4-2) is not bowl-eligible, as many thought and reported, including myself. The Wildcats need another victory to be eligible for postseason because only one of their two victories over Football Championship Subdivision teams (Massachusetts and Tennessee Tech) count toward being bowl-eligible.
Sherman was asked on Monday's Big 12 teleconference if the rule was fair. He passed, but said that K-State was certainly a quality team and "if you are asking me are they bowl worthy, they are."
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The Big 12's television partners opted not to show Baylor at Texas A&M on Nov. 21, so the kickoff will be at 2:30 p.m.
The Aggies are 5-0 when not televised and 0-4 when on TV.
TV games next week will be Oklahoma at Texas Tech (FSN), 11:30 a.m.; Kansas at Texas (ABC), 2:30 p.m. or 7 p.m.; Kansas State at Nebraska (ESPN or ESPN2), 6:45 p.m. TV also nixed Iowa State at Missouri. The Colorado-Oklahoma State game will be Thursday in Stillwater, Okla., on ESPN.
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A&M sophomore Cyrus Gray was the Big 12's special teams player of the week.
Gray had four kickoff returns for 181 yards Saturday, including a 99-yard runback that gave A&M a 14-10 lead.
Gray was the last Aggie honored by the Big 12. He was the special teams player of the week last year for a school-record 261 kickoff return yards in a 66-28 loss to OU. He had a 98-yarder for a touchdown in that game.
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I stated in Sunday's report card on the A&M offense that it didn't score a second-half touchdown. It did score a touchdown along with two field goals. I was thinking that Gray's kickoff return had been in the second half.
That doesn't change the offense's grade, but it does lower mine, especially among the astute teachers who caught my mistake.
Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.
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