Why is it ok that A&M's defense is horrible? Having a new DC does not give an excuse, or being young? Tech has a new DC and probally has the youngest defense in Big 12. They're not perfect, but have gotten better. Not trying to flame, just tired of the excuses being made for Fran & crew.

[This message has been edited by 2tex (edited 10/7/2003 1:05a).]

I was making that point on another thread. You're right, this is as much of a rebuilding year for Tech. Our offense was supposed to go down the toilet with KK graduating and now having to go with a first year starter in a complicated offense. We've got a new DC and freshman all over the lineup. There's no rule that says you can't have a good season in a rebuilding year.

I guess rebuilding year is the wrong phrase. Maybe, relearning year. Remember, this is a new system, coupled with the fact that only 3 starters are seniors. The lack of experience and a new system is probably the biggest factor in A&M's lack of success. They played a close game with two very good top 25 teams and lost. Confidence has to be in the dumps.

Do NOT take anything away from tech. They are a good football team. All they have to do to beat a good defense is spread out and shuttle pass and screen all day long.

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Not trying to flame, just tired of the excuses being made for Fran & crew.

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Here's a solution for your problem, leave the forums and head back to www.sipsareoverrated.com.

Flea - We are not only young, but have an entire new coaching staff and system. And, one thing is for sure, we have witnessed this with Fran (and other great coaches as well) when they go to a new team. We will get much better than this, it's just going to be a much more painful season that any of us expected.

However, don't count on A&M staying this way. If you are, you're going to be disappointed.

Now shoo!

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Why is it ok that A&M's defense is horrible?

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Who said it was OK?

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Not trying to flame, just tired of the excuses being made for Fran & crew.

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You can pretty much guarantee that when somebody starts a sentence with "Not trying to flame" they are about to fail miserably.

Well are you happy with the coaching change? The loss to Va Tech and Pitt were not close.

I am extremely happy with the coaching change so far. And I was please with how we performed against Va. Tech and Pitt. This year is a write off. Next year I will get pissed if there isn't improvement. I have a firm grasp of what happened with our recruiting from 1999 to 2001 so I can't say that I'm suprised.

Gene, that recruiting card is another thing I am getting tired of hearing about. RC's classes were all in the 10-15 range the past few years. Not great, but certainly on par with alot of current top 25 teams. I was really kind of worried about the resurrection of the aggies with the arrival of Fran, but after seeing them play this year, the current coaching staff has shown me NOTHING about motivaton or game day readiness which are what great coaches do to help offset a talent shortage.

BTW, if you truly believe that recruiting is the cause of your current demise, then take heed that Fran's first class was no better than RC's last few.

HookEm

Tech also is learning a new system on defense and lost several coaches last year as well-- our DC, our d-line coach, special teams coach and briles of course. I, too, am very pleased with the coaching change at aTm.

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The loss to Va Tech and Pitt were not close

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Both were quite close until fourth quarter turnovers took us out of the games. Thanks for playing.

tech fans-

I don't know if you have noticed yet, but your defense is no juggernaut either.

Your offense is just better right now than ours is and was able to better expose the defensive weaknesses.

2tex is taking comfort in reaching for moral victories on Texas A&M knowing full well that the team he is a bandwagon fan of is about to get the absolute dog sh-t kicked out of it 2:30 this saturday, and the fact that in 3 or 4 years, Franchione will be driving in the last one or two nails in mack chokenship's coffin

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The loss to Va Tech and Pitt were not close.

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neither was tu's loss to Arkansas, and this saturday's raping won't be close either

more brilliant crap orange statements:

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Gene, that recruiting card is another thing I am getting tired of hearing about. RC's classes were all in the 10-15 range the past few years.

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You're a moron. The class that would be 5th year seniors right now had one defensive player, Brian Gamble. We've also had a lot of guys get kicked off the team, not cut it academically, suffer career ending injuries, and some that have transferred.

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BTW, if you truly believe that recruiting is the cause of your current demise, then take heed that Fran's first class was no better than RC's last few.

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Franchione's first class was rated in the top 10 by every recruiting service that isn't run by a 900 lb pile of twinkie eating crap orange bull sh-t.

RC put together a lot of that class, but before that and for the previous several years, our recruiting fell off dramatically from the early 90s.


[This message has been edited by JoeWilbertGreatestHits (edited 10/7/2003 4:37p).]

Where were you for Jackie Sherrill's first three years? How about Emory Bellards first couple of years? RC Slocum was a good coach, and most of the time, when a good coach is fired, the new coach has a rough couple of years. Now, on the other hand, when you fire somebody truly incompetent, there is more room for immediate improvement just through better coaching.

We didn't hire Fran to improve tackling technique, or ball catching skills--our players were receiving decent coaching last year, we just didn't have enough players to reach the level of success we need. We hired him to build a program to that level, and that takes time. It's not something you do in spring drills or fall practice.

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then take heed that Fran's first class was no better than RC's last few.

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once again OF proves somewhere a village has lost its idiot...

IA National Team Report
Total Defense
Year: 2003 Thru: 10/04/03
Rank Name Games Plays Yds Avg TDs Ydspgm Wins Losses Ties
1 Nebraska 5 308 1093 3.55 5 218.60 5 0 0
2 Oklahoma 5 317 1227 3.87 9 245.40 5 0 0
3 Michigan 6 406 1530 3.77 10 255.00 4 2 0
4 LSU 5 329 1280 3.89 6 256.00 5 0 0
5 Florida St. 5 348 1282 3.68 4 256.40 5 0 0

95 Syracuse 4 299 1665 5.57 12 416.25 3 1 0
96 Texas A&M 5 368 2106 5.72 23 421.20 2 3 0
97 North Carolina St. 6 441 2530 5.74 24 421.67 3 3 0

112 Wyoming 5 387 2354 6.08 22 470.80 1 4 0
113 Texas Tech 5 391 2405 6.15 20 481.00 4 1 0
114 Tulane 5 414 2421 5.85 23 484.20 3 2 0
115 Buffalo 6 442 2966 6.71 28 494.33 0 6 0
116 Central Mich. 5 415 2519 6.07 20 503.80 2 3 0
117 North Carolina 5 367 2603 7.09 27 520.60 0 5 0


Yeah the tech defense is really stepping it up under its new DC.

• We were 6-6 last year, giving up 48, 38, 33 and 50 points to Tech, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas, respectively.
• We lost 3 first and second round draft picks (1 DL and 2 DBs -- our biggest problem areas this year).
• Besides our current NFLers, we lost several other starters and 2-deep players.
• There are 13 underclassmen on the most recent 2-deep roster.
• There are 3 former walkons on the 2-deep roster.
• We've gone from the 3-4 to the 4-3.
• We have an entire new coaching staff with entirely new schemes, plays and calls.

That, my ignorant little wretch, is rebuilding.

Texas Tech is Texas A&M's Daddy! I will never again question the superiority of Texas Tech!

Not close to Pitt or VT? (Of our three losses, the only true ass kicking we’ve gotten this year is from itt-lubbock)

Going into the fourth quarter we trailed VT by 2 points. Eventually their power running game broke us down.

We were winning at halftime verses Pitt. Additionally Reggie's dropped snap inside the Pitt 5 and Thomas's muffed punt inside our own 15 led to a 14 point swing. I'm not wanting a moral victory, because we lost the damn game. However, we also had a would be Lewis touchdown run called back because of an "inadvertent" whistle. The game was close until the 4th quarter, and Pitt ran away with it.

I agree it's suspect whether or not our defense is in limbo because of bad coaching, poor talent, lack of depth, etc. I can only hope these issues take care of themselves. It's pretty stupid however to compare losing a QB in a "system oriented" offense to a complete change of coaching staffs. They're two worlds apart, and anyone who thinks otherwise just solidifies why tek has no admission requirements.

Yeah Bag call someone an idiot when you can't come up with an intelligent response. Your class last year was ranked just about where RC's last few classes were which is in the top 10-15 range. Funny thing is you guys constantly harp about how recruiting rankings don't mean anything. The last few years of the RC regime the buzz around here was that even though the class was ranked top 10-15, the actual ranking was top 5 due to the anti-aggie media bias. Now you are trying to convince everyone that even though the classes were ranked top 10-15, they were actually 50+.

You can't have it both ways guys.

Linebacker-

Our two deep roster has five fourth year or fifth year seniors who received scholarships on it. This does not include Stickane, Kendrick and Van Zant who are all walk-ons who are now on our two-deep.

Recruit rankings aren't worth the paper they are written on. The proof is in the performance. Would you consider those well performing classes?

You know, coaches don't tackle. We have the same coaches that have produced top ten defenses in the last few years with other players, so I know they can teach how to shed blocks, get in position and tackle. The other part of the deal is that the players then have to shed blocks, get in position, and make the tackle. The coach can't do it for them. Our players aren't tackling worth a sh*t this year. I blame the players, not the coaches.

Uva Uvum Vivendo Varia Fit

[This message has been edited by LonghornDub (edited 10/7/2003 4:59p).]

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Yeah Bag call someone an idiot when you can't come up with an intelligent response.

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He was calling a spade a spade. Would you prefer moron in the future?

I'd rather be an "overrated team" than be a 4 win team with losses to Baylor, Tech, and Kansas.

In response to the original question...I get the impression that you think Tech's D has improved more than A&M's so far this season. Most people would say that tech's defense looked better than the Ags defense (please don't call them the 'crew' ) on Saturday night. But that's not a fair comparison.

Obviously, your offense is a veteran bunch that has been in the system for 4 years now. They're clicking on all cylinders, and they're gonna make a bad defense look like they're not even there. On the other hand, our offense is very inexperienced and young, not to mention learning a totally new system. They're less likely to exploit an awful defense like Tech's. It doesn't make sense to say that tech's D outperformed our D, when they were going up against totally different foes. Really, Tech's offense and special teams were better than ours, and both defenses flat out suck. Bad.

[This message has been edited by PermianBasinAggie (edited 10/7/2003 5:08p).]

OF, you ARE an idiot if you cant see that last years class was WAAAAAAAYYYYY better than what RC was pulling in after 99, we have zero upclass depth, and that is the main reason that RC is the highest paid booster in history...

I dont have the numbers with me but I know that after 98 recruiting fell off BIGTIME, mostly due to 3 factors

Brown
Stoops
Saban

that is the truth...

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We are not only young, but have an entire new coaching staff and system

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I don't disagree with that, I'm just welcoming you to the club. While Tech's head coach has remained, there's been heavy turnover with the rest of the staff and a new DC. The D is almost all freshman and sophmores. And we've got a first year starter at quarterback who was only good enough to be a backup his first three years.

People who don't think it takes time to adjust from a 3-4 to a 4-3 are pretty much admitting their stupidity in terms of understanding the contingencies of football.

Office Linebacker,
Is there any way possible you'd consider changing your user name? The Reebook "Office Linebacker" commercials are hilarious. You in turn have never posted anything of humor, much less a coherent thought. No offense, but when a lame ass such as yourself uses a name from an entertaining commercial it's extremely blasphemous.

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Franchione's first class was rated in the top 10 by every recruiting service that isn't run by a 900 lb pile of twinkie eating crap orange bull sh-t.

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Dang, Lemming must have gained a lot of weight recently.

What would it take for fans to admit that Fran is not doing that well? What has he done that has been so great? He turned around a WAC team. Probally helped his recuiting being in the best football state and in the DFW. Went to one of the richest programs in $$$ and tradition. He made them good. Now he is at a school where he doesn't have a leg up on everyone else in his conference. I say it again, what would it take? Getting killed by Tech(how has their recuiting compared to RC's), or a loss to Baylor...

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Your class last year was ranked just about where RC's last few classes were which is in the top 10-15 range. Funny thing is you guys constantly harp about how recruiting rankings don't mean anything. The last few years of the RC regime the buzz around here was that even though the class was ranked top 10-15, the actual ranking was top 5 due to the anti-aggie media bias. Now you are trying to convince everyone that even though the classes were ranked top 10-15, they were actually 50+.

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Ya RC got some good skill players (QBs, WRs, RBs), but we are lacking in the trenches right now. Once we get improved OL and DL players we will be a much better team. Case in point, we couldn't get any pressure on the tech qb.