Renewing the Rivalry: Kirk Bohls reviews Slocum's '89 debut vs. Horns

In 1989, Texas A&M and first-year head coach R.C. Slocum took down Texas at Kyle Field, 21-10, and at the time, Kirk Bohls was on the Aggie beat. On Wednesday morning, the Houston Chronicle columnist joined TexAgs LIVE for our first installment of "Renewing the Rivalry."

Key notes from Kirk Bohls interview

• I was actually on the Texas A&M beat in 1989. That was the start of R.C. Slocum's tenure as the head coach. In 1989, Texas was limping in there. David McWilliams was the coach at Texas, and it was a little bit of an experiment. What I remember the most about that game is Texas A&M QB Lance Pavlas. He was a four-year letterman. I remember he and Percy Waddle hooked up on a touchdown pass. Texas A&M really took it to Texas. I remember Texas scored first and only got about a field goal in the last three quarters. Donovan Forbes was the Texas QB. He was like 7-for-21 for 89 yards. The A&M defense shut him down. That was a great Texas defense. That game jumpstarted the whole Slocum era.
   
• Texas A&M is going back to its defensive roots a little bit by hiring a defensive-minded coach. I am not sure that is a bad thing. Everyone wants to score points, but you look at the two best coaches in college football in the last ten to twenty years: Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, who were defensive coordinators. That bodes well for the Aggies.
   
• I think the Mike Elko era will be something special. The Aggies have been begging for stability. Jimbo Fisher was 34-14 with Elko and 12-13 without him. I think Elko has the elements to jumpstart this program again.
   
• The Texas defense is based on hype and hope. We will learn a little bit on Saturday when Colorado State enters Austin. They have a really good QB, who almost threw for as many yards as Quinn Ewers last year. Texas did not have a good pass rush last year. They have rebuilt that defensive line. Alfred Collins, who has kind of been a bust so far, is a senior now. He and Vernon Broughton are supposed to take the place of Byron Murphy II and T'Vondre Sweat, but they have not done it yet. Texas is going to try to do it with numbers as opposed to superstars. They feel like they have improved on defense, but until they do it, it will be a question.
   
• I like the old days when coaches would call out their players for thinking about their girlfriends too much. Coaches always say they have a “great” practice. This is year four for coach Steve Sarkisian, and I have yet to hear him say they had a lousy practice.
   
• Ewers used to never be the guy who would call a players-only meeting. He was not the leader of this team. That is the difference with Ewers now. He has gotten more comfortable with that role. I think we will see Ewers be a better leader this year.