September 05, 2003
Many people have expressed their disappointment due to the slow start of the game on Saturday, but none were more disappointed than the coaches, me, and the rest of the team. Though the game began at a less than exciting speed, there were definitely many positive and exciting aspects when it was all said and done. The special teams did an outstanding job. Terrence Murphy was extremely impressive as he had 135 yards on kickoff returns. Jacob Young also stepped up and was very impressive with his punting. The defense did a great job holding their offense to a mere three points, and on the offensive line I was impressed by the play of some of the younger guys who had never had the opportunity to start a game. Alex Kotzur, a redshirt freshman, and Aldo De La Garza, a sophomore, both had their debut starts in Saturday night's game. The two did a great job. Another positive was that the offense had over 100 yards rushing in the second half. Our second half play shows that as time wears on, we will improve and will continue to improve as the season progresses.
Despite the positives, there were definitely some problems that needed to be fixed, and the coaches didn't waste any time doing just that. They designate a portion of Sunday's practice to these mistakes and call it "correction". This is only for correcting problems that were experienced during the game the day before. Correction is new to A&M and it should have a great impact of future success for the A&M team. It was very obvious during this week's practice, and it was made very clear to us by the coaches, that these mistakes will not be tolerated.
I feel that the team had a great week of practice despite the monsoon we had to endure on Wednesday afternoon. We were forced to stop halfway through practice because of lightning, and for about thirty minutes we waited in Netum Steed (the weight room). Coach Fran told me, "We're going to wait all night if we have to, but we are GOING to get the rest of practice in." Thirty minutes later it was still raining, but the lightning had stopped. We were able to come out focused and finish strong despite the rain.
This Saturday will be a challenge for us. According to the coaches, Utah is a team that could compete in the Big 12. They're good on both sides of the ball, and their defense was ranked 29th overall last year. They lost at Michigan this past season, 10-7, so we'll really be depending on the 12th Man to step up and make a lot of noise. So bring your towels, yell loud, and let's BEAT THE HELL OUTTA UTAH!!!