Texas Aggie Football Update (31 May)

So the spring practices are over.  The Aggies got their first taste of Kevin Sumlin's coaching style, Kliff Kingsbury's high-paced offense, Mark Snyder's 4-3 Under defense, and the Larry Jackson's grueling workout and conditioning regimen.  So how are things looking for the upcoming inaugural SEC season?  Let's have a look:

(Click the picture to view in full size)

First of all let me explain what having "depth" means.  There are five key components to depth: quantity, experience, talent, physical attributes, and longevity.  If any one of these things is lacking, then the depth of the position suffers.  For example, in the depth chart above, you may see four (4) 3-tech defensive tackles and four (4) 1-tech nose tackles.  That looks like plenty of depth, but would you believe me if I told you that our defensive line is probably the least-deep position we have?

Let's dig a little deeper using the five components of depth I described above

Quantity: Check. There are 8 players slotted to practice, participate, and play in the 2 interior DL positions; four per spot.  Ideally you'd have 7-9 players at the position always.  If it got below 7 players, there would be serious red flags in case of injury, conditioning, etc.

Experience: Lacking. Of the 8 players in the combined interior defensive line position, only one has ever started a game at the Defensive Tackle position in the Maroon and White: Jonathan Mathis.  Mr. Mathis, who was injured in game 4 of the 2011 season and hasn't seen the field in live action since then (he sat out most of the spring and didn't participate in scrimmages), is the ONLY player with starting experience, and it's limited at that - not to mention it was starts in a 3-4 defense not a 4-3 under.  Of the other players, only Kirby Ennis has extensive playing time at the position.  Luckily Mr. Ennis, who came to A&M as a 233 lb DE, has grown into a serviceable DT.  But is serviceable good enough in the SEC?  Of the rest of the players: SO Ivan Robinson has played in 4 games in 2010 and redshirted in 2011; FR Shayvion Hatten redshirted in 2011;  FR Godwin is a walkon true freshman looking to impress after not being recruited out of high school; JR Rhontae Scales is a converted offensive tackle who is looking for a home on the team (he played in 11 games as a SO, but only made 2 tackles... special teams?); FR Julian Obioha just got on campus this summer and was recruited as a DE but may have the size to grow into the role; FR Ed Ray won't get to A&M until later this summer and may still have a few academic hurtles to clear.  So, though there are eight (8) bodies listed at the position: one (1) experienced starter is coming back from injury, one (1) experienced backup is hoping to start, and the rest are a hodgepodge of inexperience and youth.

Talent: To be determined.  When we are talking about talent its a mixture of athleticism, time at the position in general, and mostly potential to become a good to dominant defensive tackle.  Let's look at where these eight players were when recruited by A&M:  Mathis 4-star JUCO DT, Ennis 3-star DE, Scales 3-star OL convert, Robinson 4-star DT, Hatten 3-star Jumbo ATH, Godwin - unrecruited walk-on, Ed Ray 3-star DT, Julien Obioha 3-star DE convert.  Mathis is definitely talented when he's 100 percent and Ennis can hold his own, but what happens when these two get tired or (God forbid) go down with an injury?  Robinson is undersized (more on this later), Hatten is athletic (raw) with lots of upside but not much time at the position, Godwin was good enough to earn a roster-spot but I wouldn't count on him to be a factor yet, and Scales made a sacrificial move to DT to try and earn playing time.  The jury is still out on Ray to see how he adjusts to the college game and also on Obioha to see if he can grow into the tackle position after being recruited as a DE.

Physical Attributes: Needs improvement.  I am using this as a catchall for size, health, injuries, conditioning, etc.  Taking a look at the roster here is a quick assessment of each player:

Mathis is made for the position but his injury and ability to recover are concerning.

Ennis came in at 233 lbs and has grown into the necessary size (now listed as 6'4" and just under 300 lbs) but how has this affected his conditioning, his "motor", and his quickness?  Did he gain muscle or bulk?

Robinson has the mentality and experience to play DT but just cannot seem to put on the weight necessary to play consistently, down after down, at the position.  He seems destined for specialty roles as a quick DT.

Godwin is an unknown since he walked on and the latest rosters with Ht/Wt have not been published.

Hatten should be able to fill out and turn into a true specimen at the DT position.

Scales is big and has some raw athleticism but just hasn't switched over into a DT from his OL role yet.

Obioha will have to hit the weights and bulking-diet hard when he gets to town.

Ray has the size necessary to compete at the position right away, assuming he gets past the clearinghouse.

Longevity: Promising. How many years do these players have left?  Who is coming down the pipeline to back fill the vacant spots? Will anyone leave early for the NFL, for personal reasons, due to grades, or simply give up football?  Seven of the eight players (six are presumed backups who will not gain much experience this year) have a chance to be in Aggieland in 2013.  But will they?

So to summarize these five attributes of depth, lets put them into a chart, rate each component per player, and determine a "depth" to see if it is truly good or not:

So from this chart you can see how individually certain players stand out, or other need to grow.  The younger guys need to gain experience, the older guys don't have much time left.  Some players are undersized, or under talented, etc.  The 400 potential score would be if you had 10 D-Linemen, all 5-star DT recruits, all with starting experience, all 6'3 and 320 lbs or bigger, all with 4-5 years left to play (impossible I know, but a baseline).

You can see from the aforementioned components of depth and the rating table above that the Aggies have decent depth at the position in 2012 but after Jonathan Mathis leaves, we will need young talent to come in and claim spots in the rotation.  You could use the chart above to compare the Aggies lineup to, say, the LSU Tigers, Arkansas Razorbacks, t.u. Longhorns, or OU Sooners and get an objective rating of how "deep" these others schools are as well.  This could be used for other positions too.

Did you know? The Aggies went undefeated and unscored-upon with point differentials of 270-0 and 275-0 in 1917 and 1919 respectively.

Texas Aggies are going out on top...

Good bye Big 12-2-2+2.  It was nice knowing you.  The last 16 years have been good... to the Aggies.  Sure, Aggie football has been lackluster for the most part over the last decade, but there are plenty of other sports out there.

According to the Big 12 Championships webiste, Texas A&M has won more Regular Season and Tournament Championships over the last 6 seasons (Fall 2006 to Summer 2012) that any other team in the Former Big 12:

Since I know someone might bring it up, I went ahead and counted the averages for 5 years back as well (Fall 2007 to Summer 2012).  Also, the reason there is a .2 or .5 in there was in the case of a split regular season championship which happened on several occasions in Football, Basketball, etc.

As you can see from the chart above, Texas A&M won the most championships in the 06-07, 07-08, 10-11, and 11-12 seasons.  Outstripping even the "wonder teams" from Austin in those years.  Texas did have a banner year in 09-10, give yourselves a pat on the back from your big brother, Texas A&M. Baylor surprisingly, has been pretty consistent in winning at least three championships each year; dominating all the girls sports like Women's Basketball, Men's Tennis, and Women's Tennis seems to have really paid off for the Bears of the Brazos.

The Oklahoma schools have done smartly, each averaging over three championships a year but each have also dipped down into the one-championship range for a season.

Our fellow deserter to the SEC, Mizzou, has picked up steam over the last few years - especially considering where they were in 2006-2008.  Kansas seems to win at Men's Basketball consistently - inking both the regular season and tournament championship year after year.  Texas Tech has pulled out the occasional Women's Cross Country or Women's Tennis win, but back when Leach was building his co-Champ football team of 08-09, TTU was getting skunked on championships in other sports.

Of the bottom-feeders, what can you say?  Colorado took the narrow-window opportunity to split and finally was able to convince the PAC-12 to take them in, but only because they were afraid that Baylor might take their spot in a 16-team PAC conference. (Remember back in 2010 when all the conference realignment brouhaha started and it was t.u. leading the vanguard of five schools to the west coast?  And it was Texas A&M playing the hero for pulling them back into the fold?) Anyways, Iowa State hasn't done squat in 3 years, and lowly K-State has been absolutely terrible for six seasons (at least K-State has its academic reputation to fall back on; oh wait, what's that? they are ranked #143 out of #194 schools according the US News).

So congratulations to the Big 12 for signing up some true powerhouses in West Virginia and Texas Christian while "running off" the 800-lb Collie when it comes to Conference Championships over the last 5-6 years.  

You really upgraded.

Aggies were the Twelfth Man prior to E. King Gill?

An Interesting Article about the Texas Aggie 12th Man that pre-dates E. King Gill

Don't worry my fellow Texas Aggies, this does not discredit our trademark of the term, in fact it may enhance it.  However, it does show that we Fightin' Farmers were using the term even before E. King Gill decided to inspire our student body to stand for four (4) hours each Autumn Saturday.  Heck, we might have even been using the term before he stepped foot on campus, as you will see below.

Hat tip to TexAgs.com poster nai06 for finding this excerpt from a fall 1921 Battalion - the campus newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (Texas A&M University).  This of course is before the famous E. King Gill story during Texas A&M's 22-14 win over Centre College on January 2, 1922 in Dallas, TX at the "Dixie Classic" game.  The Twelfth Man (12th Man) tradition goes a little something like this:

The tradition of the Twelfth Man was born on the second of January 1922, when an underdog Aggie team was playing Centre College, then the nation's top ranked team. As the hard fought game wore on, and the Aggies dug deeply into their limited reserves, Coach Dana X. Bible remembered a squad man who was not in uniform. He had been up in the press box helping reporters identify players. His name was E. King Gill, and was a former football player who was only playing basketball. Gill was called from the stands, suited up, and stood ready throughout the rest of the game, which A&M finally won 22-14. When the game ended, E. King Gill was the only man left standing on the sidelines for the Aggies. Gill later said, "I wish I could say that I went in and ran for the winning touchdown, but I did not. I simply stood by in case my team needed me."

This gesture was more than enough for the Aggie Team. Although Gill did not play in the game, he had accepted the call to help his team. He came to be thought of as the Twelfth Man because he stood ready for duty in the event that the eleven men on the gridiron needed assistance. That spirit of readiness for service, desire to support, and enthusiasm helped kindle a flame of devotion among the entire student body; a spirit that has grown vigorously throughout the years. The entire student body at A&M is the Twelfth Man, and they stand during the entire game to show their support. The 12th Man is always in the stands waiting to be called upon if they are needed.

http://aggietraditions.tamu.edu/team/12thman.html 

So, despite what the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins, or the MLS's DC United, might claim with regards to the 12th Man - like being "Home of the 12th Man - they are just copycats, mimickers, and intellectual pirates.  (By the way DC United we saw that cute little "Home of the 12th Man" sign you hung in RFK Stadium, but you might want to take it down or pay the royalties for using our mark like the Seahawks now have to do).

Anyways, back to the 12th Man story.  We can see from the popular quasi-legend above (I say quasi-legend because it is substantiated fact that the events surrounding the Dixie Classic happened, but it is debatable whether this inspired the term "12th Man" or it's meaning to Old Ol' Army) that Texas A&M officially recognizes the E. King Gill version of the story.  So why then, in an article in the Battalion in 1921, does the writer refer to the student body of Texas A&M as the Twelfth Man before the Dixie Classic ever happened?

Read the excerpt in highlighted in maroon below.

It states, "With absolutely no intentions of detracting one ounce from the glory of Bible (Dana Xenophon Bible, 12th head coach of TAMU [coincidence?], 72-19-9 record) and his eleven disciples, we believe that some mention should be made here of the old yelling army - the physological (sic) factor - the twelfth man. Many times the question has been asked, 'How do they do it?'  It is because sixteen hundred Farmer boys love and idolize their team with sacred devotion; pat them on their backs after victory or defeat; yell for them, not with throats, but with hearts."  Interesting indeed; so we have evidence of The Battalion calling the Texas A&M student section the Twelfth Man BEFORE Gill did his thing.  He says that "many times the question has been asked" - many times.  If it's many times, then using the term has to have been happening before this game in 1921, which raises further questions about the true origin of the "Twelfth Man" moniker in Aggieland.

The rest of that particular quote is interesting as well.  "With everybody tingling with the spirit that prevails only in Aggieland it is no wonder that the title of the best rooting section is always conceded to A. and M."  First, I find it interesting that a pseudonym for College Station is used this far back as well: Aggieland (not Collieville or Farmtown, I see you Bears looking at this, crawl back to your cesspool town of Waco or we'll put another billboard up so everyone can see how foolish you are).  Also, it looks like our reputation as the best rooting section, with the loudest fans and an intimidating atmosphere, goes all the way back to 1921 as well.

"Yet we cannot overlook the fact that there must be 100 percent cooperation with some figure of leadership or perfect unison in yells would not be possible.  It is here that we wish to toss a boquet (sic) of praise to Benny Garrity and his able assistants.  As we summarize the season from the rooting section and recall the many spectacular stunts and the absolute yell-harmony, we have nothing but the staunchest of admiration for the yell leading staff."  There are two things that living Aggies can learn from these words written over 90 years ago.  First, we must continue to act in unison as fans of the Texas Aggies and as alumni of this school; we must rekindle the "harmony" we have together - this does not mean we have to be conformist in all things, just in this most important thing with regards to our school; love.  Second, it's not a bad thing or uncool thing to give a nod to institutions within our Aggie culture that simply do their job: the Band, the Yell Leaders, the Student Section, the Alumni, the Mascot Corporals, the ODs, PMC, the fish at the top of the 3rd Deck yelling their asses off.  Sometimes we focus so much on the negative, we forget to pat the guys on the back who come in game by game and do their jobs lunchpail-style.

So is this article authentic?  Is it real?  The nai06 user on TexAgs.com is the one who dug the article up.  He (or she) claims to be part of the Traditions Council when he was at Texas A&M.  He wrote, "I was in traditions council when I was in school and did a lot of research in the university archives... I was going through the football issue from 1921 (which came out late November [or] early December) when I saw this. There's also another page that reviews the game itself and mentions the cadets standing as one yelling to the strains of wildcat (whole other story there)."  I assume he's telling the truth about this since he has no reason to lie about it and the information was freely offered sans agenda.

So let's do some other fact-checking on the surrounding articles to see if any fallacies exist.  The article in blue above says we played to a 0-0 tie.  That checks out according to Stassen's website.  It also states that, at least to that point in our football history, t.u. had never crossed our goal line at Kyle Field - ever.

So looking at the above table, you can see we didn't do too well against t.u. in the early years - although we played all our games in Austin until 1907.  We actually didn't ever play in Aggieland until 1915 - a 13-0 Aggie win - which was only agreed to after Charlie Moran left Texas A&M (the teasips believed Moran was using ringers and tried to intentionally injure other players; in my opinion the only thing injured was the teasip ego in losing to A&M 3 years in a row).  In 1917, the Aggies won their first National Championship allowing 0 points to be scored the entire season and putting up 270 themselves; they won the t.u. game 7-0. In 1919, the Ags won their second National Championship and beat the sippers 7-0 again at Kyle Field; the Aggies again let no one score this season putting up a 275-0 point differential.  "Varsity" still hasn't scored at Kyle Field to this point.  I don't know how they scored 6 points in 1923 (teasips won 6-0) but if it was two field goals and not a touchdown with a missed extra point, then the sippers didn't score a TD at Kyle Field until 1927 (the year the stadium was built in College Station).  So we see at least that fact is true, to this point in the series, Texas had never crossed the Aggie goal line and we sure weren't going to let the "wonder team" do it that year either:

Eleven men made their niche in the A. and M. hall of fame when they held the much-heralded "wonder team" for downs on the five yard line.  If the Longhorns had crossed that line it would have been over the unconscious bodies of the Aggie eleven.  That was for tradition.  And the fact that our men did not have to line up under their own goal post after a touchdown is the victory we see in a scoreless tie.

On a side note,  this same article may be the first (and certainly not last) Aggie claim to moral victory: "It is in this last that we have our victory." That's right Aggie fans, a 0-0 tie and keeping t.u. out of the Kyle Field endzone is our moral victory; circa 1921.

What are your thoughts?  Do you toe the company line or do you want to keep digging further?  This is by no means an objection to our claim as the "Home of the Twelfth Man" - we are that.  But were we maybe the "Home of the Twelfth Man" before E. King Gill suited up and stood ready in January 1922?  It seems so.