A&M hopes to regain mojo at Kyle Field
Aggies attempt to shake off 1-6 stretch at home vs. ranked teams
COLLEGE STATION — John Denver, Phillip Phillips and plenty of other harmonious types have sweetly sung of the joys of home. But Texas A&M playing at home has become more like Roseanne Barr or Carl Lewis tackling the national anthem.
Painful for the A&M faithful. Twenty years ago, Kyle Field was known as one of the nation’s most intimidating venues, as the Aggies won 31 consecutive home games from 1989-95 under then-coach R.C. Slocum.
Those days of harmony are long gone — and at this point it’s quite the opposite. The Aggies are 1-6 against ranked teams at Kyle Field in Kevin Sumlin’s four previous seasons, a tidbit grinding on the coach more than any butchered lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“That’s a good question,” Sumlin said this week, when asked why A&M has had trouble with ranked teams at Kyle. “If I knew, we wouldn’t be 1-6.”
The Aggies will try to improve upon that mark at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against No. 16 UCLA at Kyle Field in the teams’ opener. A&M, despite starting the season unranked for a second consecutive season, is a slight favorite over the Bruins.
“We want to have a better record at home,” Sumlin said. “We need to have a better record at home.”
His livelihood likely depends upon it. Sumlin is under pressure to improve on the Aggies’ consecutive 8-5 records of the past two seasons, with half of those 10 losses in the suddenly friendly (for foes) confines of Kyle Field.
“We’ll see,” Sumlin said if things will be on the uptick for A&M starting Saturday. “We’ll see if we figured it out or not this year.”
Defense a key factor
What’s changed from the 1990s to now in terms of A&M’s troubles along Wellborn Road? Primarily the defense. Under former coaches Jackie Sherrill and Slocum, the Aggies owned some of the nation’s top units, and in 1991 finished first in total defense.
From 1985-2001, seven versions of the “Wrecking Crew” finished in the top 10 nationally, including three in the top three, and A&M became known for its relentless defense, especially on its home turf.
Following Slocum’s dismissal in 2002 the defense has mostly fallen on hard times, first under Dennis Franchione, then Mike Sherman and now Sumlin. The Aggies showed signs of life last season under freshly arrived defensive coordinator John Chavis, in cutting their total defense rankings from 102nd in 2014 to 51st.
Sumlin has said A&M will sport a top 25 defense this season, and perhaps even a top 15. If so, fans can finally expect some victories over ranked opponents, four of whom are scheduled to visit Kyle: UCLA, Tennessee, Mississippi and LSU.
As for the lone win in the 1-6 stretch? That occurred last season, 30-17 over No. 21 Mississippi State.
“We’re bigger, we’re stronger, and we’re every bit as fast or faster,” said Chavis, a former LSU and Tennessee coordinator, of his second season at A&M.
He realizes that’s easy to claim, but fans will get a taste of its accuracy against the Bruins and ballyhooed sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen.
“The proof is in the puddin’,” Chavis said of whether A&M truly will be improved defensively. “And the puddin’ is when you play the game.”
More stadium stability
A&M expects more than 100,000 fans Saturday.
“After 50,000, it all sounds the same, or doesn’t sound the same, because you really don’t hear anything,” Rosen told reporters in Los Angeles.
Rosen is right, too, in that modern offenses don’t struggle as much as those of decades past on hostile turf because of the reliance on hand signals to call plays and direct more up-tempo offenses. Sumlin also pointed to instability on the home front because of a rebuilt Kyle Field as perhaps a factor in the Aggies’ home woes.
“Last year was the first time we had been in a solid situation — we had been moving locker rooms and doing a lot of things over the last couple of years,” Sumlin said of the nearly half-billion dollar renovation from 2013-2015. “That’s not an excuse, that’s just the way it is. Being settled in the stadium and guys being in one place for a solid year will help. Certainly with our approach at home, we’ve done some things to change that up. So, we’ll see.”