Nick Saban once called the positive chatter and hype around the Tide "rat poison". He dreaded hearing the media pump up his team as sure winners because of the effects it has on players' mental preparation. He said that it makes players think all they have to do is show up and play, and they'll win. It lets them get caught off guard.

With all the media appearances and hype, especially around Marcel, I hope this doesn't all backfire on Friday. This team has performed very well this season, but it isn't over yet. There's still one more game of the regular season, and it's the most important of all.

It's time for a media blackout to prevent the "rat poison", in my opinion.

And yes, I just knocked on wood.

Inb4 the keyboard warrior sunshine pumper army

Rat poison? Try rage bait

"I've an honest question for any Aggie reading this. I'm an Illinois fan. I know how I felt looking at my own power ratings and others when I saw Illinois typically ranked outside the top 25 all year, despite the wins (the Wisconsin loss sucked, but was not an outright shock to me). How do you feel when you look at your undefeated Aggies, yet see them ranked as low as No. 8 here and even lower elsewhere? Does it make you nervous, or are you outright dismissive of the numbers? There are no wrong answers. I'm only checking your temperature. Last Week: 8 | Title Odds: (+750)"

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/tom-fornellis-college-football-power-ratings-notre-dame-miami/

DE4D said:

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Rat poison? Try rage bait

"I've an honest question for any Aggie reading this. I'm an Illinois fan. I know how I felt looking at my own power ratings and others when I saw Illinois typically ranked outside the top 25 all year, despite the wins (the Wisconsin loss sucked, but was not an outright shock to me). How do you feel when you look at your undefeated Aggies, yet see them ranked as low as No. 8 here and even lower elsewhere? Does it make you nervous, or are you outright dismissive of the numbers? There are no wrong answers. I'm only checking your temperature. Last Week: 8 | Title Odds: (+750)"

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/tom-fornellis-college-football-power-ratings-notre-dame-miami/

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There is rage bait, and then there's shameless clickbait prostitution.

Elbow is a better coach than Saban. Elbow said this team will be motivated. I believe him.

Best thing for this historic A&M team to complete the season was the S Carolina near disaster.

I don't think that's going to be an issue at all. However, I do think like Elko mentioned this week that players can press "too hard" trying to make something happen rather than being patient and taking things 1 play at a time.

We won't know until the game is played.

If we lose, it will be the "rat poison"

OKC~Ag said:

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Best thing for this historic A&M team to complete the season was the S Carolina near disaster.

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But damn did that SC 1st half definitely leave a sour taste in my mouth. Do anything close that again and it's a loss.

if we lose i don't think it will be because of rat poison. i think with the SC game so recent, this team would be hard pressed to forget what sniffing your own farts can do for you.

Yep. The worrisome part is that the guys weren't showered with rat poison until at least midway thru the season. So their resistance against it is WIP.

But I do think the Gamecocks game was a decent inoculation.

Waffledynamics said:

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Nick Saban once called the positive chatter and hype around the Tide "rat poison". He dreaded hearing the media pump up his team as sure winners because of the effects it has on players' mental preparation. He said that it makes players think all they have to do is show up and play, and they'll win. It lets them get caught off guard.

With all the media appearances and hype, especially around Marcel, I hope this doesn't all backfire on Friday. This team has performed very well this season, but it isn't over yet. There's still one more game of the regular season, and it's the most important of all.

It's time for a media blackout to prevent the "rat poison", in my opinion.

And yes, I just knocked on wood.

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Media mints strychnine by the barrel…

HUNH helps wth the thinking too much

Maybe we could convince the Aggie defense the sips wrecked all their sports cars, like Charles Jefferson in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

I thought the media hated us?

HoustonAg2106 said:

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I thought the media hated us?

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Hell most of the talking heads still seem to be picking the sips

What did I say?

Waaaaay toolbox many media interviews the last couple weeks.

There's no magic rat poison. They just got beat straight up. They weren't physical. Our LBs are slow. Defense didn't even set up properly on half of the plays, including many of Arch's wide open runs. Just gotta be better. Texas is the better team.

Oh and we can't kick a ****ing football for some reason.

PeekingDuck said:

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Texas is the better team.

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No they are ****ing not. This was us beating ourselves. Again, rat ****ing poison.