My A&M Experience
A random collection of thoughts, comments and appreciative notes from those in attendance Saturday...
Subject: From a Clemson couple
Subject: From a Clemson couple
This was sent to me from an Aggie who is friends with a couple from Clemson. It's a great message and speaks to all that is wonderful about the Texas A&M community. Here you go...
Quote:We have traveled extensively for several decades following college football. You tend to hear the same things from folks about how their traditions are the best and after awhile you smile and nod; not the case with A&M. Our experience was by far the best road game we have ever encountered. Aggies take pride in their traditions, their pageantry, their hospitality, and above all their patriotism and overall impact on humanity. I have never left a football game weekend with such self-reflection which has certainly continued long after we left the state of Texas.
The kindness from students and fans alike was overwhelming. The offer of your business card to total strangers who may need assistance during their trip still leaves us both humbled.
We watched in awe at the Corp of Cadets, the band (which was the most impressive performance I have ever seen), and the flag ceremony on our walk back after the game. I could go on and on and haven't even touched on your impressive stadium facilities, sportsmanship, and campus.
John and I have discussed our experience and said if after a visit to College Station, your sense of humanity, fandom, and country are not affected, there is truly no hope for you.
We couldn't begin to offer these types of kindnesses in return in Clemson, but we would gladly offer what we have. If you do make the trip next year, please let us know. We would love to extend some tailgating hospitality to you and yours. I can only hope and pray you are offered a tenth of the positive experience we had.
Lastly, if there is any outlet at TAMU you would like to pass this message on to, or someone I could contact to expound on our fantastic experience, please feel free or let me know. It would be a true honor to share this story and let the university know they certainly have 2 Tigers who will from this weekend forward be rooting for the Aggies for life.
Take care,
John (CU '81) and Dottie
I know alot of Clemson fans have articulated how much they appreciated Aggieland, so this may be redundant, but I haven't had a chance yet and wanted to say a quick thanks.
I asked this board weeks ago for advice about bars & restaurants, and was given great insights. We went to Corkscrew in Spring on the way from Houston Friday, and it was amazing. In CS we got to Chicken Oil Company, Carney's Pub, Dixie Chicken, Dry Bean (twice), Rough Draft (Three times), Duddley's Draw and Mad Hatters, plus a taco truck, Torchy.s, and Fuegos. Loved them all (we have a lower bar for great tacos than y'all).
I was extremely impressed by the number and quality of big smokers at the tailgates!
Most of all, I just really appreciate the culture you all nurture. It was the same when I visited in 2004. The main thing that I value about the Clemson football experience (at home) is that it always renews my faith in this nation. There is so much anger, selfishness, self-pity, attacking others, and general awfulness going around, and then at Clemson on Saturdays I experience precisely the opposite. What I experienced at College Station was what I experience at Clemson, and it is comforting to know there is another set of Americans doing good work 1,000 miles to the west. Game recognizes game.
I can't vouch for every single Tiger, but in general and as a collective, we honor our traditions, admire those who serve and sacrifice for this nation, welcome visitors to our community, and have a good go at fun & drinking while understanding how not to get sloppy and belligerent. You all clearly build your culture around the same core principles. I only regret that I will likely not get back to Aggieland again! Hopefully our ADs schedule another round. I'm 47, so the clock is ticking!
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From Charean Williams, Aggie ‘86/attended Clemson game
Newly inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton as the 2018 Dick McCann Award winner
- It was a great football game. You hate to see a loss but Jimbo has the program headed in the right direction and that’s exciting to see. I wasn’t sold on Kellen, even after week one, but I don’t think anyone left that stadium saying that we hadn’t found our quarterback. He threw for 400 yards against that incredible defense and made it onto the Davy O'Brien watch list.
- We all thought that the ball went out of bounds on the Quartney Davis play. I understand Jimbo’s point that the call needed to be in A&M’s favor on the field and then go overturn it on replay. The replay wasn’t “definitive” but I know all of us as Aggies think that ball went out of bounds first.
- To me he is ahead of Ryan Tannehill at this point in his career. Jimbo has done a great job teaching him. You see Kellen go through all his reads and get to his third and fourth options which is incredibly difficult. To do what he did against one of the best defenses, maybe all time, really shows his growth and progression. You’ve got to see it in more than one game. You can’t be a one game wonder, and I don’t think he is. We’ve seen what Jimbo does with quarterbacks and I think Kellen is going to continue to grow.
My A&M experiencePosted: Sep 10, 2018 11:51 PM |
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Lots and lots of takes on the game, "the fumble call", QB rotation, etc. Thought some might find my first experience in Aggie-land interesting. I am a Widower as my wife of 20 years passed away a few years back at 44 years of age from Lung Cancer having never smoked a day in her life. That experience and raising my two kids solo these last few years, has really given me some perspective on what is important and not so important at least as far as my life is concerned. It also makes the concept of building memories very valuable to me, so when my 18 year old son approached me last week and suggested a memorable trip for his Senior Year in High School would be an A&M trip, I was all about it. We quickly convinced a Clemson classmate to join us and made plans for a long weekend road trip. We left Friday around noon and made it to Shrevport around 2:00AM Saturday morning. We got a decent sleep and headed to College Station the next morning arriving around 1:00. We parked on the outskirts of campus by the polo fields and headed down to the Dixie Chicken and then over towards the stadium for the afternoon before the game started. Several things were noteworthy. 1) There is a room I believe was called the "Flag Room". It was in the student center and had 4 or 5 large TVs and lots of sofas/chairs/floor space and there must have been 100-200 folks in Orange and Maroon watching the USC-UGA game and avoiding the mid-day heat outside. It was a great setup and the perfect way for us to watch the "other" important game that day. Lots of nice folks in there - even one gentleman and his wife who offered us their seats. We declined, but the sentiment was indicative of the treatment we would get the rest of the day. These folks are serious about being respectful and classy. 2) The parade before the game. Right before game time, we lined the streets around the stadium to watch the parade of the cadets make their way to Kyle Field. It was astounding how many there were! After the band marched through to lead the processional, the waves of cadets kept coming and coming and coming! It finally ended when the mounted cadets on their horses and the Howitzer for the game pulled by a mule team made their way down the street on the way to the stadium. 3) The stadium was very impressive! We were in the upper deck of the End Zone where Tee scored his touchdown across from where our band was located. If I did not know the capacity, I would have guessed it was even larger than 105,000. I guess it was the way it completely surrounded the field that made it look so much larger than I envisioned beforehand. With all of the stadium lights flashing, energized fans, the towels waving frantically, and no place for the noise to escape, it is easy to see how the players could get easily get distracted and intimidated. No doubt about it - it was rocking Saturday night! Even up by 15 points a couple of times, you could feel the crowds energy and knew the game wasn't out of reach. That thought obviously turned out to be prophetic. 4) Band - I'm not much of a band guy, but the size and precision of the band was something to see. From the upper deck where you could see the formations unfolding as the members marched in all sorts of directions, I thought for certain there would be collisions or errors in all of the coordinated movements. It was flawless with straight lines and changing shapes that must take incredible effort to organize and pull off. It was a great show and worth staying in my seat at halftime to witness it. 5) The Aggie War Hymn - I think that is what it was called at the start of the 4th quarter had the whole stadium energized and engaged. If you are an A&M person, I could see how that would put a lump in your throat each time that song was played. Even as a visitor it was easy to get into it. 6 - The Smoke ring from the Howitzer - Someone posted a picture of that earlier today. After one of the scores and firing the round, that smoke ring floating across the field was pretty cool. 7 Finally and most important the Aggie People.... There was an announcement before the game reminding the A&M fans about class and respect for your opponent. I was blown away at how universal this sentiment was taken to heart by everyone we encountered all day - I mean EVERYONE. We sat in the middle of an Aggie section. We had been elbow to elbow with folks decked out in Maroon all day. Even making our way down the crowded walkways from the upper deck after a tightly contested game with controversial calls that frustrated the home team, I did not hear a single derogatory word. Not one - literally all day. Closest we even came was a car that drove by us walking to the stadium and the students yelled something like "Gig-em Aggies" or something like that. I was stunned to be honest. Much more often we heard "Welcome to Aggie-land" or "Hope you have a safe drive home" and never a murmur of anything condescending or hostile. We all love college football and want our team to win. We all get fired up and heated up when things don't go our way. These folks get it though. Maybe it is just my personal history with tragedy these last few years, but these Aggie folks see things the right way with the right perspective. They fought hard and that stadium was as raucous as you can imagine, but when the game was over we had nothing but pats on the backs, handshakes and well wishes. I just had to write this post to tip my cap Aggie fans, students and Alumni. You may have come up a few points short on the scoreboard Saturday night, but you sure won me over. What a classy, classy bunch that I have nothing but respect and admiration for based on the experience we had last Saturday. I hope it won't be my last trip to A&M, and for those of you that make the trip over next year, I hope you experience the same level of Southern hospitality, respect and sportsmanship we received in spades Saturday evening. My son, my buddy and I had an absolute ball! Best of luck the rest of the way Aggie friends. This is one guy from South Carolina who will be rooting for you along the way. Blessings. Chip |
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Admit it Austin, you still love (or hate watch) Texas A&M
September 10, 2018COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M hasn’t football played in Austin in eight years.
The Aggies haven’t met the Longhorns in football since 2011, the season before they left for the Southeastern Conference.
But fans in Austin still are watching A&M, whether it’s out of love or hate.
The Aggies came within a two-point play of possibly knocking off No. 2 Clemson at Kyle Field last Saturday night. It was the second-highest rated ESPN prime-time telecast in two years. The game drew a rating of 3.0, but it peaked at 4 during the window between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m.
Here’s where Austin comes in. The city’s rating for the A&M game, which was head-to-head most of the evening with Texas-Tulsa played at Royal-Memorial Stadium, was a 7.0. That was the fourth-highest nationally, but tops in Texas.
ESPN’s top 10 markets for the game:
| 1 | 16.0 | Birmingham |
| 2 | 15.9 | Greenville-Sprtnburg-Ash |
| 3 | 7.5 | Charlotte |
| 4 | 7.0 | Austin |
| 5 | 6.6 | Atlanta |
| 6 | 6.5 | Dallas-Ft. Worth |
| 7 | 6.4 | San Antonio |
| 8 | 6.2 | Houston |
| 9 | 6.1 | Greensboro-High Point |
| 10 | 5.9 | Norfolk-Portsmth-N. Nws |
A&M plays at home Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe. But they’ll get a chance to play in front of a national audience, Sept. 22, when they travel to top-ranked Alabama. CBS announced Monday it had picked up the game for its 2:30 p.m. window.
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Bohls: Mond, Aggies looked impressive in 28-26 loss to No. 2 Clemson
By Kirk Bohls - American-Statesman StaffCOLLEGE STATION —
The home team’s quarterback dipped and danced and kept Clemson’s vaunted defenders on their heels, and in the final minute was throwing a touchdown pass to his third option. In just his 10th start.
By the end of Saturday’s game, the Kyle Field home crowd was loudly chanting their head coach’s name as his team left the field.
What’s more, two highly touted recruits — four-star wide receiver Demond Demas and four-star quarterback Malik Hornsby — both gave commitments to the home team. Both had been either leaning Texas’ way or strongly considering the Longhorns.
And to think, Texas A&M lost. At least on the scoreboard.
But did it really?
That was hard to tell because the unranked Aggies (1-1) put up the fight of their lives, hung with the nation’s No. 2-ranked team that had won a national championship and has been in the College Football Playoff each of the last three years and gave every impression that it’s seriously legit. Can you imagine the repercussions if the Aggies had won?
Even in losing 28-26 when a two-point conversion failed, maybe A&M’s bestloss since that Johnny Manziel-Mike Evans team fell to Alabama in 2013, the Aggies impressed. They came back from a 21-6 deficit, they survived despite giving up two passes of 64 yards each and another for 40, and they didn’t wilt after losing a controversial fumble by receiver Quartney Davis near the goal-line.
“We can’t whine,” head coach Jimbo Fisher said. “That’s ball.”
Which team was No. 2 in the country again?
For the record, it’s Clemson but there was precious little separating those highly ranked Tigers and upstart A&M on a humid evening at Kyle Field. About the length of a pylon perhaps.
But for a missed chip-shot field goal, a blocked field goal, a questionable fumble at the goal-line that may or may not have crossed over the pylon and another bizarre fumble by the backup quarterback when the starter cramped up and left the game for just one play, it would have been the Aggies who would have been victorious in this September non-conference thriller.
A&M didn’t win the game, but it won so much street cred by pressing the Tigers to the limit and coming within a two-point conversion in the final minute of forcing overtime that you’ll forgive the Aggies for sticking out their chests a bit, even in defeat. It wasn’t until Clemson’s Mark Field intercepted a pass in the end zone on A&M’s try for a game-tying two points that this game was decided.
“That’s not a moral victory,” Fisher said. “There were still mistakes we made, but we’ll coach ‘em a little better. One day doesn’t answer questions. You have to do it over a long period of time. You’ve got to do it on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and then Saturday, and then do it again the next week and then the next week and make it a culture.”
But the Aggies found themselves a quarterback in electric sophomore Kellen Mond, who played like the best quarterback on the field. He was elusive and mobile and calm, and Fisher credited him with making downfield progressions and throwing to his second, third and even fourth reads. The 24-yard scoring strike to budding receiver star Kendrick Rogers at the end was his third option.
They found receivers like the lanky 6-5 Rogers, a three-star recruit out of Frankston who picked A&M over invites from teams like Louisiana Tech, Cincinnati, Memphis and Houston, and the 6-2 Davis, a four-star signee out of Langham Creek who was courted by Oklahoma, LSU and Michigan State. The two combined for three touchdowns, and Rogers finished with seven catches for 120 yards and two scores. There’s not a single junior or senior receiver on the A&M roster, boding well for the future.
They found themselves a bona fide coach; their $75 million-dollar man coached his pants off and nearly interrupted Clemson’s run to yet another CFP appearance. But Fisher wasn’t perfect. He used up his three first-half timeouts in the first 14 minutes and should have called a timeout in the third quarter when Mond went out with cramps in both calves and backup Nick Starkel fumbled away a golden opportunity on the next play.
However, his team played with confidence, they lined up in more formations than a battalion — everything from the Pistol to the I to split backs and empty sets and even had Mond line up under center — and his team played almost as fast as he talks and the Aggies showed grit and determination like few others in recent memory.
Even better, they found hope for the future.
“I think we gained a lot of respect,” A&M linebacker Tyrel Dodson said.
“It shows that we’re a force to be reckoned with,” Aggies center Erik McCoy said.
Clemson’s No. 2. But by some measuring sticks, A&M might should be No. 3, at least in theory. At worst, the Aggies might be the best 1-1 team in college football and deserve respect in the polls.
Fisher knows there’s plenty of work to be done, but this is a program on the rise.
As for the crowd chanting “Jim-bo, Jim-bo” after the game, he said, “I’d rather them be chanting my name after a win. I love the passion of the people here, but I’ve got to do a better job.”
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The moment you realize you are meant to be an Aggie! 😮
— Texas A&M University (@TAMU) September 12, 2018
🎥 Video shared by @ShaneMcAuliffe on Facebook. pic.twitter.com/c5PL3qsdht
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Dabo had some nice things to say about the Aggies and Kyle Field in his post game presser last night
Dabo had some nice things to say about the Aggies and Kyle Field in his post game presser last night pic.twitter.com/2DnBikJCSZ
— Cody Coil (@codycoil) September 9, 2018
