New A&M quarterback Trevor Knight was happy to be on the field for the first day of practice.
Pivotal year has UCLA, Auburn, Arkansas among first 4 opponents
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M senior quarterback Trevor Knight, snagging a respite between drills Monday evening in nearly 100-degree heat, urged an anxious freshman quarterback to relax and have fun.
For his part, Knight was just happy to be on hand for the Aggies’ first practice of camp after transferring from Oklahoma to play a final season at A&M and in his home state.
“It’s awesome to be back out here practicing,” said Knight, a former starter at OU and a San Antonio Reagan graduate. “It was hot, but we settled in and had a really good day one. On the offensive side of the ball, we were hitting on all cylinders. We can work on being more consistent, but that happens on the first day.
“But the first day from spring drills to (Monday) was night and day.”
Setting a tone
Coach Kevin Sumlin’s fifth camp along the railroad tracks and Wellborn Road officially cranked up Monday, and the Aggies own a formidable target to home in on for starters.
A&M’s opener with Pac-12 opponent UCLA on Sept. 3 at Kyle Field has gotten the players’ attention. In addition, the Aggies play at SEC West foe Auburn on Sept. 17 and take on Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington a week later in yet another division showdown. All in the first four weeks of the season.
“UCLA is a very good opponent,” Knight said. “We’ve started watching (tape) a little bit over the summer, and they’re extremely talented. It’s going to be a tough matchup in Week 1, but that’s what you want. We want to come out and start with a bang, and if we play really well in that game, it will set the tone for the rest of the season.”
Following the opener against the Bruins, the Aggies play host to Prairie View A&M before traveling to Auburn. A year ago, in an otherwise down season for the Tigers, Auburn defeated A&M 26-10 at Kyle Field.
Then comes Arkansas in the Dallas Cowboys’ home, where A&M has used two fourth-quarter comebacks the last two seasons to prevail in overtime against the Razorbacks.
Sumlin knows the drill
Sumlin said he’s well aware of expectations for his program, especially after the strong start in the SEC in 2012 behind Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel, when the Aggies finished 11-2 and ranked fifth nationally.
Sumlin, 8-5 in each of his last two seasons at A&M, has implored his players to ignore any “noise” from critics of the program and some who wonder whether his fifth season in College Station will be his last, based on finishing outside the division’s top three the past two years.
Media covering the SEC have picked A&M fourth in the SEC West, behind defending national champion Alabama, LSU and Mississippi.
“My first job at (the University of) Houston, we started 1-3, and a lot of people thought they had made a mistake (with the hire),” Sumlin said. “Right now, our guys are in a good place. Dealing with (criticism and questioning) is part of the job. There’s always going to be adversity.
“If you’re a coach, you know what you signed up for, no matter where it is.”
As for that middle-ofthe-division prediction by the media? A&M star defensive end Myles Garrett said on Monday that doesn’t matter.
“We don’t ever mention it,” Garrett said. “We know what our goal is. They can rank us wherever they want. We know what our goal is — to win it all — so it doesn’t matter what they think.”
The players will catch a break from the heat for a couple hours on Aug. 20, when the annual “Meet the Aggies” function is held in the indoor track complex next to Kyle Field. The event is from 1-2:30 p.m. and open to the public.
Meanwhile, Sumlin said freshman running back Rakeem Boyd is still awaiting word from the NCAA clearinghouse on whether he’ll be admitted to A&M. Sumlin said he could know Boyd’s fate as soon as Tuesday.