Aggies a fright when calendar turns on Halloween
COLLEGE STATION — Back when Texas A&M regularly competed for Southwest Conference titles about 25 years ago, coach R.C. Slocum enjoyed reciting the football adage, “They remember November.”
He meant it as a good thing, but the mantra has a new meaning in Aggieland these days — fans during the Kevin Sumlin era remember November for all the wrong reasons.
Texas A&M has taken the ideals of Thanksgiving — especially the “giving” part — to new levels under Sumlin, with the latest example coming Saturday night in a 29-28 loss to Mississippi (5-5), which entered Kyle Field with a 1-4 record in the Southeastern Conference.
The Aggies blew a 21-6 fourth-quarter lead, but heartbreak in November is nothing new to Sumlin & Co. over the past four seasons.
A&M finished 4-0 in November in 2012, Sumlin’s first season, en route to an 11-2 record, but since then has gone 6-8 in the crucial month that typically decides where or if a program plays in the December or January postseason.
Sumlin went 2-2 in November in 2013, ’14 and ’15, and he has lost the first two games of November this season, with two home games remaining. Late Saturday night, Sumlin was pondering another lateseason meltdown under his watch.
Latest misadventure
“It was a combination of two things,” he said of a third consecutive loss to the Rebels. “The (in)ability to extend the lead when we had the opportunities, which gave them the opportunities to stay in the game, and not being able to get off the field when we needed to.
“That was basically the story of the game.”
Ten days ago, the Aggies, ranked fourth at the time in the first College Football Playoff poll, held dreams of playing in the four-team showdown for the national title. After consecutive November losses at Mississippi State and to Mississippi at Kyle Field, a host of mid-tier bowls probably are within the Aggies’ range. A&M will drop from No. 8 when the new CFP rankings are released Tuesday.
Likely gone is A&M’s hope of at least a return to the Sugar Bowl for the first time since after the 1998 season; bowls such as the Texas, Citrus, Outback and Belk, among others, are more in play. The Aggies have played in the Chick-filA (Peach), Liberty and Music City bowls over the past three seasons.
A&M (7-3, 4-3 SEC) closes out the regular season with home games against UTSA (5-5) at 11 a.m. Saturday and LSU (6-3, 4-2) on Thanksgiving night.
Sumlin is 30-10 in August, September and October during his five seasons in College Station, adding to the mystery of his miserable Novembers.
He is 13-9 from Nov. 1 through bowls, so he has nearly as many losses in about half the number of games in that span.
The Aggies play more league games in November than in September, but that doesn’t explain the late-season meltdowns.
“Nobody is going to lay down and just give it to you,” defensive end Myles Garrett said of the team’s need to keep its guard up after solid starts to the season. “You have to play hard, and you have to play smart, and we’ve had some lapses.”
Moreover, without 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel running the show in 2012 and ’13, the Aggies are 0-8 against Mississippi, Alabama and LSU, with the Tigers to come this season.
Coach puzzled
One person who can’t seem to put a finger on it is Sumlin, who was hired from the University of Houston nearly five years ago to try to lead A&M to its first conference title since 1998 and the school’s first national title since 1939.
“We’ve talked about it as a staff, and we’ve talked about it as a team,” Sumlin said as yet another mystifying season winds down. November pitfalls become routine for Sumlin’s team