Christmas at Boone Pickens Stadium

Aggies fall to Cowboys 56-28

It was like Christmas and Fourth of July at Boone Pickens Stadium.

The Texas A&M Aggies Saturday were the givers and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys were the joyous receivers. It’s not that the Aggies are intentionally that generous. Five turnovers led to two OSU touchdowns. That was enough to doom the Aggies.

It was Aggie Coach Mike Sherman debut in Big 12 Conference play. What a debut it was! His debut was universally panned by angry Aggie “reviewers” on newspaper forums and Aggie fan forums.

One newspaper pundit said watching the game was like getting a root canal. The Chronicle.com put up a grading system and asked Aggies to vote. More than 60 percent graded him with a D or F. One forum thread compared Sherman to failed Aggie Coach Hank Folberg, who after three dismal years left coaching at A&M for a career in insurance.

The Aggies (2-3 overall) are 0-1 in Big 12 South division play. The Cowboys are 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big 12.

OSU’s bonanza began in the first quarter after Aggie wide receiver Jeff Fuller fumbled. The defender returned it to the 21. OSU’s drive stalled at the Aggie one-yard line. That set up the first of two interceptions by Aggie quarterback Jerrod Johnson, who was 24-43-2 for the day. Cowboy Ugo Chinasa returned it six yards for a TD.

After that, the Aggies collapsed like a sub-prime loan. OSU wide receiver Dez Bryant, who once considered coming to A&M, took a six-yard pass from quarterback Zac Robinson for a touchdown, making it 14-0.

Bryant ran a punt back 46 yards to make it 21-0 with 1:59 left on the clock in the first quarter.

The Aggies answered with an 80-yard touchdown run by tailback Mike Goodson. It was the longest of Goodson’s career. The half ended with OSU leading 21-7.

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Three of the five turnovers resulted in OSU scores. Nothing worked for the Aggies. Kicker Justin Brantley, one of the nations’ premier punters, averaged 54 yards. That was negated by OSU’s punt returners who left Brantley with 27 net yards.

The Cowboys scored 28 points in each half. The Aggies actually outgained the Cowboys (402-401). However, the return yards off of interceptions, punts, kickoffs, and fumbles were heavily skewed toward OSU.

The Aggies are 109 th by Jeff Sagarin’s rating system. Few polls rate teams as lowly as the Aggies. One, Covers.com, dropped the Aggies from 80 th place to 88 th place. The Aggies must now wait for ESPN’s Bottom 10 to come and hope they are not on it...again.

A&M plays Kansas State (3-2, 0-1 Big 12) at home on Oct. 11.

By Jay Goode
Big 12 Fans Texas A&M Correspondent

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