Personnel limitations for the Maroon & White Game: Because so many players haven't been able to scrimmage, the squad won't be equally divided for the Maroon & White Game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Kyle Field.
Tickets to the Maroon & White Game are $5. Students and children are admitted free.
"There's no exact science to it," A&M head coach Mike Sherman said. "If we had better numbers, we'd be able to be a little more specific. We can't exasperate one position. Some guys are going to have to double dip on both sides. From that point, it's going to be more like a practice."
More than 20 Aggies have missed spring practice with injuries.
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Modified scoring in place for the spring game: The Maroon & White Game will use the same scoring system A&M has used this spring.
The system pits the offense against the defense to decide a daily winner with the loser forced to run.
"This scoring system has worked well this spring as each side of the football has competed on each and every play," Sherman said. "They understand how important every play of a game is, and there is a value assigned. Throughout the spring I have seen days where the offense appears to have the upper hand on the defense early, but with a couple of turnovers and big plays the defense can jump right back into the mix."
Points will be given for explosive runs, explosive passes, touchdowns, interceptions, fumble recoveries, tackles for losses, five straight completions and more. Points can also be lost for dropped passes, false starts and other mistakes.
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Small numbers: A&M had only seven scholarship players on the offensive line healthy to scrimmage Tuesday afternoon along with two scholarship running backs.
"It's a little bit of a juggling act in regard to getting everyone on the field and off the field in one piece and still be able to function as a football team," Sherman said.
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Student coaches: Leslie Anne Mathews and Greg Stuckenschneider were chosen by the players to be the student coaches based on the YouTube.com presentations submitted.
Mathews is a sophomore nutritional sciences from McKinney. Stuckenschneider a freshman business major from Leawood, Kan., who is in the Corps. They will be at Thursday's team meetings and afternoon practice.
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Big Saturday: This Saturday also is part of Parents' Weekend. A&M will have several recruits on campus for the game. The players' parents will attend the team breakfast.
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Not over after Saturday: A&M will have two more practices next week.
"I do think it gives us an opportunity to bring them back and really go over the [game] tape and walk through the mistakes," Sherman said. "And start preparing them for the preseason and start teaching them how they need to prepare for the summer when they are on their own and we can't coach them." Sherman expects a better effort in the Maroon & White Game with more workouts upcoming.
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Hodges shines: Junior walk-on linebacker Michael Hodges (6-foot, 214 pounds) has been solid working with the first unit. "He has excellent speed, and he has really played well," Sherman said. "He's been a difficult guy to block. He's probably saved more big plays than anybody we've seen in the last year. So, he's been impressive."
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Et cetera: Sophomore tight end K.J. Williams has been limited, but Sherman said there's a chance he could play Saturday. ... There will be kickoffs during Saturday's game and field goals. ... Sophomore Lionel Smith, who moved from defensive back to wide receiver last week, has been making progress, Sherman said. "I think he'll be a viable threat for us," Sherman said. "From what he brings to the table athletically, and speed-wise, and his attitude, I like what I see so far." ... A&M, which will welcome 27 freshmen and a junior college transfer this fall, has been able this spring to play a lot of youngsters, which will help depth, especially in the offensive line.
-- Robert Cessna
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Posted by: miller58 On: 4/19/2009
Comment Title: INTERESTING
My personal opinions:_____ou with only 9 o-Linemen comming out of playing in the mnc?_____Did they graduate a bunch?_____miller58
Posted by: On: 4/18/2009
Comment Title:
and ok state with 18 on the roster and 4 inbound.
Posted by: On: 4/17/2009
Comment Title:
and texas tech with 14 on roster and 4 inbound.
Posted by: On: 4/17/2009
Comment Title: O-Line Numbers
Our 19 O-linemen currently on roster plus 4 inbound compare fairly well with tu (16 on roster, 4 inbound) and ok (9-that's right 9 on roster- and 4 inbound). Bare cupboard, more speed,....all you have to do is read.
Posted by: miler58 On: 4/17/2009
Comment Title: 4*/5* DIFFERENCE MAKER RECRUITING A&M 1 vs tu 17, NO CHANGE!
My personal opnions:_____A&M committd DT Ivan Robinson 6-3 260 4.9 with offers from La tech and tulane among others._____Will A&M ever commit another player ranked 4*/5* in this decad?_____With 23 O-Linemen shown in the post below this one for this fall, that's 7 more than the 16 other D1 teams carry._____I noticed 4 four stars among them, as well as almost a two deep in upper classmen presence that have started one or more games._____Most of these O-Linemen will have gone through 2 Sherman spring trainings, 2 Sherman summer camps, 2 Sherman fall camps by the season. Probably cut 7 of them by fall, to get down to the 16 other D1 tems normally carry._____The big quetion is will all these Sherman coaching camps still result in an O-Line with no coaching discipline?_____Will the O-line still have silly drive stopping penalties, almost no strength and conditioning, poor execution, and unmotivated play?_____miller58
Posted by: On: 4/16/2009
Comment Title: Adequate Numbers
Current roster lists NINETEEN OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (allen, baker, bredthauer, chevalier, eike, ferguson, grimes, hyde, lathrop, lewis, matthews, patterson, rankin, raschke, shumard, thomas, villavisencio, whitmer, williams, woodum) plus 4 inbound in the '09 class.
Posted by: On: 4/16/2009
Comment Title: Injuries excuse?
Who said they have had more injuries than others? The problem is that the previous coach did not recruit adequate numbers for the Offensive line position, so the somewhat higher than normal number of injuries has made it virtually impossible to run an effective offense. I don't see this as an excuse, it's just a reality. Compounding this issue is the fact that they'll probably have to lean heavily on new young kids when they arrive in the fall--the last thing you want to do with offensive linemen--but they don't have much choice.
Posted by: On: 4/16/2009
Comment Title: Injuries
Everybody has them. If you think you continually have more than others, as has been reported the last year and a half, maybe you should examine your strength and conditioning program.