Heartbreak in College Station; A&M falls short in SEC opener

COLLEGE STATION - After such a promising start dissolved into another painful loss, disappointed Aggies everywhere may feel they need a drink.

That’s OK.

Don’t drink the proverbial Kool-Aid that’s “all is well.” But don’t drink hemlock, either.
The 20-17 loss to Florida in A&M’s Southeastern Conference debut -- in which the Aggies could not hold a double-digit lead -- was another punch in the gut and may invoke night terrors of last year’s series of second half collapses.

It certainly seemed to be doing so for A&M linebacker Sean Porter, who was doing a slow burn in the postgame press conference.

“It was embarrassing,” Porter fumed. “We shouldn’t lose games because of mental mistakes. We talked about that all summer… embarrassing. (There were) Too many penalties, blown assignments, missed tackles … stuff we shouldn’t do.

“I’m really tired of losing games and talking about what we should have done. We need to figure out what we have to do because this ain’t going to do it.”

That frustration was shared by the 80,000 or so Aggies that filled Kyle Field on a perfect day for what appeared like it would be a glorious entry into SEC football. It seemed like it was going to be a day of validation and vindication.

After all, the vibe coming from the SEC establishment is that Texas A&M and fellow Big 12 immigrant Missouri are like freshman pledges to a select fraternity. Their role is to bend over, take their weekly spankings and say “Thank you sir, may I have another?”

But Aggies aren’t content to just be allowed into the SEC. They came to win.

When A&M took a 17-7 lead late in the second quarter, it certainly appeared they could and would knock off the No. 24 Gators.

Then a questionable decision to try to “ice” Caleb Sturgis – one of nation’s premier kickers – backfired. He missed a 51-yard attempt, but given a second chance, he nailed it.

The timeout that A&M sacrificed turned out to be costly. A&M reached the Florida 30-yardline on the ensuing possession, but time ran out before the Aggies could attempt a field goal.

Then, in the second half, the A&M offense broke down like a ’75 Pinto.

The Aggies managed just 65 yards of offense in the second half. Coach Kevin Sumlin’s rapid-fire offense ran 23 plays in the second half – one third as many as in the first half. The Aggies managed only three first downs in the final 30 minutes.

Perhaps most discouraging is that they didn’t seem to have a theory on why the offense bogged down.

“I can’t put my thumb on it,” offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said. “There were some pre-snap penalties. They (Florida) played well. You’ve just got to give them credit.
“They’re just that athletic of a defense.”

Well, the defenses don’t figure to get much less athletic with Alabama, LSU and Mississippi State remaining on A&M’s schedule.

“The real tale was Florida’s defense did a great job in the second half and kept playing,” Sumlin said. “One of the things I’ve talked about at length that I wanted to improve on -- and we failed to do -- was penalties.”

A&M was penalized nine times for 78 yards, and some of those miscues short-circuited drives.

Yet, that’s an area in which the Aggies figure to improve.

Remember, this was A&M’s first game and teams tend to make more errors in their openers. Florida was penalized 14 times for 106 yards in its season-opener against Bowling Green last week. This week, the Gators were penalized three times for 21 yards.

A&M could also be encouraged by the play of its defense, which allowed just 20 points and probably wasn’t responsible for that many. Florida converted a first down on a fake field goal attempt to set up its first touchdown.

Also, the A&M defensive line, an area of concern because of thin depth, played very well. The Aggies allowed an average of just three yards per rushing attempt. They also notched eight sacks for 48 yards in losses.

Yet, the A&M defenders were not satisfied.

“We missed too many tackles,” defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said. “There was too much ankle biting going on. They did play fast and showed some want-to. They wanted to keep making stops and get the ball to our offense. That was encouraging.”

Also encouraging was the play of Johnny Manziel. Of course, he was making his collegiate debut and hasn’t played in two years, but the freshman showed he has the ability to play at a high level.

Manziel completed 16 of 20 passes for 141 yards and rushed for 41 yards in the first half. Next, he must demonstrate he can do that for four quarters.

Manziel may hold the ball too long at times. Sumlin hinted that perhaps Manziel missed some opportunities with open receivers.

But overall, Manziel’s performance was very encouraging.

“It’s hard (to evaluate Manziel’s performance). You have to go back and look at the video,” Sumlin said. “He’s a young guy. It was a real learning situation for him, as it will be every week.

“The first thing you look at as a young quarterback is did he give the ball to the other team? That didn’t happen. That’s the first thing you worry about. Then, it’s now what?”

Yeah, that’s what Aggies, who have endured too many close losses and too much disappointment, want to know. “Now what?”

Once, moral victories may have played in College Station, but those days are long gone. This is a program that expects to win. It demands to win.

The loss to Florida was disappointing. But now what? Where do the Aggies go from here? Do they solve their penalty issues? Do they learn from their mistakes? Do they find something to build on so that future leads aren’t wasted?

Now what?

It’s a question to ponder over with a good stiff drink.