By ROBERT CESSNA
Texas A&M's freshmen survived the wow factor of Cowboys Stadium, but playing their first true road game at Kansas State on Saturday will be a challenge.
Manhattan, Kan., isn't the easiest place to reach, nor is it one of the Big 12's glamour destinations. Then there's the unusual pageantry planned for the game.
Saturday will be Harley Day, with plans for 100 motorcycles to circle the track before kickoff. Nothing creates a home-field advantage like 50-year-old bikers wearing purple Wildcat jerseys.
"Now going into a stadium filled with Harley-Davidsons raring up and ready to go, that'll be different for our guys," said A&M head coach Mike Sherman, who probably remembers Marlon Brando in The Wild One, but most of his players probably aren't old enough to have seen a good motorcycle movie.
A&M could start 5 or 6 true freshmen and have another 10 or 11 play. A&M will practice with blaring music or crowd noise Wednesday and Thursday, trying to prepare them for the enthusiastic Midwest crowd that awaits.
"We're just trying to keep them focused and engaged with what we're trying to get done, and hopefully that will work," Sherman said.
Since A&M plays at each North Division team only every four years, Saturday's game will be the first time for almost everyone on the roster to visit the place they call the "Little Apple."
"It's just one of those things that comes with playing in the Big 12," junior quarterback Jerrod Johnson said. "Everyone has a nice home-field advantage. Football's a big thing in our conference, and no matter where we go we're going to have a hostile environment. We're just going to try to simulate that the best we can in practice. I think our freshmen aren't really freshmen anymore. They've got a couple games under their belt. Nothing is going to be more of a spectacle than Cowboys Stadium."
A&M has done well at the Little Apple, winning three of five games. The Aggies held on for a 30-28 victory in 2005, their last trip to KSU, with a very young team. A&M started six freshmen (wide receiver Howard Morrow, offensive tackle Yemi Babalola, running back Jorvorskie Lane, wide receiver Pierre Brown, defensive end Michael Bennett and free safety Devin Gregg) and seven sophomores (guard Kirk Elder, center Cody Wallace, tackle Corey Clark, defensive end Chris Harrington, defensive tackle Red Bryant, linebacker Justin Warren and defensive back Marquis Carpenter).
That team, though, was already battle-tested away from Kyle Field. It had lost road games at Clemson and Colorado.
A&M improved to 5-2 with that victory at KSU, but lost the last four games and missed out on a bowl game.
Kansas State is 103-23-1 (.815) at home since 1990, but the Aggies are 2-1 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium during that time.
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A&M sophomore wide receiver Jeff Fuller was cleared to return to practice Monday. He has missed the last three games with a broken right fibula.
"It's healed up real nicely, according to the doctors and the MRI," Sherman said. "We'll just have to wait and see how the week plays out."
It might take a while for Fuller to get into game-type playing condition, Sherman said. Fuller originally was expected to miss 4-6 weeks.
Sherman also said offensive lineman Michael Shumard (right foot) will play against KSU after missing the Oklahoma State game. The status of safety Jordan Pugh (concussion), who also missed the OSU game, will be determined later in the week.
"We'll still work Steven Campbell in there and just see where Jordan is," Sherman said. "I don't want to get caught short at the end of the week if he gets dinged and has a repeat occurrence with headaches or whatnot. We're going to be really careful with him."
Sophomore linebacker Ricky Cavanaugh (sprained knee) has missed the last three games and still isn't 100 percent healthy, Sherman said
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The Big 12 announced its television games for Oct. 24, opting to pass on A&M-Texas Tech in Lubbock. The game will have a 6 p.m. kickoff. This will be the first time the game hasn't been televised since Tech's 48-47, double-overtime victory in 2002 at Kyle Field.
Versus picked up Baylor-Oklahoma State, ABC picked up Oklahoma at Kansas and Texas at Missouri, and FSN picked up Iowa State at Nebraska.
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Redshirt freshman walk-on Ben Bredthauer will continue to handle snaps on placements in place of senior center Kevin Matthews, who had two snaps off target against Oklahoma State. ... Former A&M defensive end Michael Bennett was claimed on waivers by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bennett (6-4, 274 pounds) was signed as a free agent following the NFL draft by Seattle. He played in all four preseason games, getting nine tackles, two sacks, five tackles for loss, five quarterback pressures and a fumble recovery.
Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.
TEXAS A&M FOOTBALL
* Saturday's game: Texas A&M (3-2, 0-1 Big 12) at Kansas St. (3-3, 1-1), 6:10 p.m.
* TV/radio: FOX College Sports/WTAW, 1620 AM and Sirius Ch. 126
* Line: A&M by 4 1/2
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