By ROBERT CESSNAMike Sherman was hired to win championships. The second-year Aggie football coach has a long way to go, but upsetting the Longhorns on Thanksgiving night and denying them a chance to play for the national championship would be golden.
Actually, just making the Longhorns sweat for 60 minutes would be a huge move in the right direction for a program that took a baby step last week by defeating Baylor to become bowl-eligible.
The Aggies play host to the Longhorns at 7 p.m. Thursday in the first Thanksgiving game from Kyle Field since 1993 when A&M slugged out an 18-9 victory over Texas. That was the last time ESPN televised a game from Aggieland. The Aggies and ESPN were a winning combination back then. A&M was in the midst of winning three straight Southwest Conference championships (1991-93) and dominating the series against Texas with 10 victories in 11 years from 1984-1994 -- and nine of the victories were on ESPN. The Aggies set the SWC record for consecutive victories at 22 with that victory in 1993, breaking the mark formerly held by UT.
The balance of power certainly has shifted in the Lone Star State since Ron Franklin and Mike Gottfried called that game for ESPN with 12th Man towels waving their approval.
Texas has won at least 10 games for nine straight years, the longest current streak in the nation. A&M has won 10 or more games only once since the formation of the Big 12 Conference -- 1998 when the Aggies won the league.
Sherman was A&M's offensive line coach in 1993 and remembers how special Kyle Field was when Texas and ESPN came to town.
"Back then, we were in a much more elevated position ... and Texas was having their struggles," Sherman said. "We were very fortunate to win a fair amount of those ballgames. I think any time you beat Texas, particularly here on Kyle Field, it's a special memory."
A&M's still had those special moments at Kyle Field -- the 20-16 victory over the fifth-ranked Longhorns in 1999 after the bonfire collapse and the 38-30 victory over 12th-ranked UT two years ago.
But the series has had a serious shade of burnt orange with Texas winning seven of the last nine. The programs are separated by more than just what happens in the series. Texas is 126-26 under head coach Mack Brown, who is in his 12th season. A&M is 82-64 during that span with three losing seasons, including one last year that ended with a 49-9 shellacking in Austin on ESPN.
The Aggies (6-5, 3-4) became bowl-eligible last week with a 38-3 victory over Baylor and would like to give their fans Thanksgiving dessert. In the process, A&M could dish out indigestion for the Longhorns (11-0, 7-0), who will play Nebraska next week for the Big 12 title regardless of Thursday's outcome, but need to beat the Aggies to realistically have a shot at playing for the national championship.
"We've still [got] a great window of opportunity here because we control our own destiny," Brown said. "It is a national game, a rival game again. It is important regardless of the records of the two teams and what's at stake. This lets us focus on this game and not look at all the other stuff around us."
A&M is certainly zeroing in on putting its best foot forward against the Longhorns. This is the 116th meeting of the rivals, but there's more. The Aggies are 0-5 this season on TV with the lone game at home a 36-31 loss to 11th-ranked Oklahoma State.
"Certainly, to be on a national stage, particularly this year where we've been a little bit limited in that area, it's huge for us, because it shows a great university," Sherman said. "It'll show our fans. It'll show what A&M is all about. ... It's a spotlight that A&M deserves to be in, and this game deserves to be in, two great universities right here in the state of Texas battling it out. It's very much a premier game year in and year out."
That was certainly the case four years ago when the second-ranked Longhorns used a blocked punt to escape with a 40-29 victory over a 5-5 Aggie team.
Many say UT quarterback Vince Young lost the Heisman Trophy that day to Southern Cal running back Reggie Bush. Young was 13-of-24 passing for 162 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He was held to 19 yards rushing on 11 carries, and was sacked three times.
UT went on to beat USC in the Rose Bowl for the national championship. The national championship again is back at the Rose Bowl this season.
A&M's gritty performance four years ago was led by freshman quarterback Stephen McGee, who helped A&M to a 395-336 edge in total yards. McGee threw for only 83 yards, but rushed for 108.
The Aggies have another quarterback in Jerrod Johnson who hurts teams with his legs, but he's been much more lethal throwing the ball in Sherman's West Coast offense. Johnson has completed almost 60 percent of his passes for 2,875 yards and 24 touchdowns with only five interceptions.
Johnson was overshadowed last year by Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who was the Heisman Trophy runner-up. McCoy is having another banner season -- 3,024 yards passing and 23 touchdowns with nine interceptions.
However, he has a losing record against A&M. He had one of his worst games at Kyle Field two years ago with an interception and four sacks. McCoy completed only 17 of 32 for 229 yards and a touchdown. Three years ago in a 12-7 loss in Austin, he was intercepted three times and threw for only 160 yards before being knocked out of the game in the final minute.
Many Aggie fans are hopeful, knowing that they've beaten Texas two of the last three meetings.
"You know, I don't put a whole lot of stock on previous years when it comes to our team this year," Sherman said. "I think each team is specific to itself and has its own challenges. The fact that it has happened maybe gives a little credence to the possibilities. But the No. 1 thing is you have to play better than they play and you have to do things better than they do things."
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