Aggies hitting stride at season's halfway point

Published Monday, October 17, 2011 12:15 AM

By ROBERT CESSNA
robert.cessna@theeagle.com

Courtesy of Aggiesports.com

Add caption

APPhoto

Texas A&M teammates Jonathan Stewart (11) and Sean Porter (10) react after Porter earned a sack during the second half against Baylor on Saturday.

Texas A&M reaches the halfway point of the regular season worse than it had envisioned, but not nearly as bad as it could have been, after back-to-back victories over Texas Tech and Baylor.
A&M's move to the Southeastern Conference made the desire to beat Tech and Baylor more intense than ever -- if that's possible, considering the disdain many Aggies have for those two.
Some Aggies grew to hate Lubbock so much they stopped traveling to the South Plains, which made last week's 45-40 road victory even sweeter. But the contempt Aggies had for the Red Raiders and Lubbock paled to their recent feelings toward the Baylor Bears, who delayed A&M's move to the SEC. So Aggies reveled in every point of Saturday's 55-28 thumping of Baylor at Kyle Field.
Who knows when A&M will play Tech and Baylor again. But Aggies are taking pleasure in beating their longtime rivals, who failed to spoil A&M's farewell tour. Care to ponder what the pulse would be around Aggieland had A&M lost one or even both?
But things are looking up. Along with the all-important bragging rights, the victories also helped ease the frustration from squandering big leads in back-to-back losses to Oklahoma State and Arkansas. This team though has more to accomplish before this can be considered a good season.
A&M is a game ahead of last year at the halfway point, when the Aggies won out in the regular season to be 9-3 before falling to Louisiana State in the Cotton Bowl. Can the Aggies' modest two-game winning streak stretch to eight for a 10-2 record? A&M hasn't won eight straight in 13 years, and the Aggies have a couple of monster road games.
A&M will be an underdog at No. 3 Oklahoma on Nov. 5 -- a game in which the Sooners could be trying to make a statement since No. 1 LSU will play No. 2 Alabama that same day. Then the following week the Aggies will be at surprising Kansas State, which has climbed up to No. 12. A&M has lost six straight at Oklahoma, including a 65-10 loss two years ago, and the last time at Kansas State the Aggies lost 62-14.
On the flip side, those will be great opportunities if A&M takes care of business.
The Aggies will be favored in the other games, starting this week at Iowa State, which has been outscored 138-57 in its last three games, all losses. A&M then returns home to play Missouri, which by then could be the SEC's 14th member, adding to an already intriguing matchup. The Big 12's revamped 10-team schedule forced Missouri to make back-to-back trips to Kyle Field. The Tigers manhandled the Aggies 30-9 last year, which set the impetus for A&M's strong finish. Missouri, though, was unbeaten and ranked 19th. The 2011 Tigers are 3-3 with victories over Miami of Ohio, Western Illinois and Iowa State.
A&M might have a tough time emotionally preparing for Iowa State and Missouri because they aren't rivals. But for the Aggies to get ready for November, they need to make the kind of progress in the next two weeks that they did in their last two victories.
The much-maligned defense had a couple of big stops against Baylor, and A&M's offense was more than good enough to turn a possible nail-biter into a laugher. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill had his best game of the season and, not surprisingly, so did his receivers. A&M's ground game is rock solid and getting better. The Aggies rushed for 1,098 yards in the last three games and haven't fumbled in their last 119 rushes.
The ability to run the football and the satisfaction of beating two rivals has A&M in position to do bigger things.
*
A&M was 17th in the season's first BCS Standings. Other Big 12 teams ranked were No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Kansas State and No. 24 Texas.
A&M is No. 17 by the Associated Press and No. 18 by USA Today.
A&M moved up five spots to No. 7 in total offense in the country (524.7 yards per game), but that's only fifth in the Big 12, behind No. 2 Oklahoma State (551.2), No. 3 Baylor (549.7), No. 4 Oklahoma (547.2) and No. 6 Texas Tech (533.8). ... A&M moved up two spots in rush defense to No. 5 in the country (72.3 ypg). ... A&M remains the nation's leader in sacks (4.3 per game), just ahead of Oklahoma and Rutgers, which each average 4 per game. ... A&M's Randy Bullock is tied for sixth in the country in field goals at 1.9 per game. ... A&M's Sean Porter is fourth in sacks at 1.3 per game, and he's tied for 10th in tackles for loss at 1.6 per game.
A&M opened as a 21-point pick over Iowa State.
* Robert Cessna's email address is robert.cessna@theeaglecom