By ROBERT CESSNAMike Sherman looked and sounded at his weekly press conference as if he was coaching an 11-0 team instead of preparing to face one.
Why not? The second-year Aggie head coach guided his team to a huge 38-3 victory over Baylor on Saturday that made A&M bowl-eligible. That assures there will be Aggie football this season after the Texas game on Thanksgiving -- lots of it. A&M will practice an extra month for its bowl game, which will give it an early jump on next season.
That's so much better than a year ago today when the Aggies were a lopsided loss away from a 4-8 season. At that time, Sherman was planning on how to beat the Longhorns, but he was facing tougher issues. He was molding young players who would listen and recruiting others to replace those who wouldn't do it his way.
Sherman hasn't had communication problems this season. He's played 19 true freshmen and 18 other newcomers who are attentive, they just haven't always done what they were supposed to. But they've listened, even when things didn't go as planned. They just came back and went to work.
They were good enough to go 5-1 at home with the loss to 11th-ranked Oklahoma State (36-31). The home mark is big, as the Aggies work to make Kyle Field a venue where the opposition believes a loss awaits them. There's no doubt the place will be rocking Thursday night for the third-ranked Horns and ESPN.
"The team is really looking forward to playing this game," Sherman said. "[We] had a good home game with a great crowd [last week], we can really cut loose in this ball game, and go out there and really put the pressure on them, and play hard and hopefully play well."
They've certainly earned that, which probably makes Sherman the proudest. A&M's had a couple horrendous losses, but all three Big 12 victories have been by at least 22 points and A&M has defeated a pair of bowl-bound teams in Texas Tech and Iowa State.
"To their credit, they responded to the challenge," Sherman said. "That speaks volumes. I wish we didn't have to deal with the ups and downs this season has presented to us. But I think they've done a great job of handling the adversity they've faced in the context of the season."
Now, they get a treat in playing Texas. This will be the first Longhorn game for many Aggie players. The beauty of playing 19 true freshmen and six redshirt freshmen is they'll be able to draw on this experience in future matchups. This is just the start for them.
This rivalry doesn't quite have the same implications for the Longhorns right now. UT's big national rival is Oklahoma. The Aggies and Kyle Field are just another obstacle for the Longhorns en route to a national championship game.
Sherman and the Aggies have designs on making the annual Thanksgiving game a battle for the Big 12 South title. A&M's got a long way to go, but the Aggies are a lot closer than they were a year ago.
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A&M's helmets for the game will honor the victims from the Bonfire collapse in 1999.
The helmets will feature a maroon ribbon intertwined with the T in the block ATM white logo along with the No. 12 in white on the back of every helmet to replace each player's number. The ribbon will have 1999-2009 embroidered to signify the 10-year anniversary and the No. 12 represents the number who died.
"I think it's a great representation of what that event meant to this university," Sherman said.
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A&M freshman offensive guard Patrick Lewis (ankle sprain) and freshmen cornerback/punt returner Dustin Harris (ankle) both missed the Baylor game, but Sherman is hopeful both will be ready for Texas.
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Former Texas A&M offensive lineman Seth McKinney, who plays for the Buffalo Bills, suffered a season-ending knee injury against Jacksonville on Sunday.
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The Sports Illustrated Heisman Tour will be at A&M on Thursday with A&M's John David Crow, the 1957 Heisman winner, available for autographs.
The display will be at the Aggie Fan Zone from noon until kickoff.
Former A&M quarterback Randy McCown, who rallied the Aggies to a victory over fifth-ranked Texas in 1999, will appear from 3:30-5 p.m. Crow will be there from 5-6:30 p.m.
* Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com
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