Aggies lack home advantage
In a down season, Kyle Field is far from the force it was in the past
COLLEGE STATION — Asked to compare the football talent between Texas A&M and New Mexico, Lobos coach Bob Davie put his beat reporters through a two-second yoga session.
“Let’s understand what New Mexico football is now,” he said. “Let’s all take a deep breath.”
In other words, Davie added, “There’s not one kid on our team who had a Texas A&M offer. That’s the real world.”
A&M (5-4, 3-3 SEC) plays host to New Mexico (3-6, 1-5 MWC) on Saturday night in the Aggies’ final home game of the season, and Davie remembers another world involving A&M football: One where the opponent stepped onto Kyle Field with a sense of dread.
“There were times when I was there when the other team had no chance, literally,” said Davie, a former A&M defensive coordinator in the heyday of the oncefamed “Wrecking Crew.” “They couldn’t check at the line of scrimmage, and they couldn’t go on a snap count at the line of scrimmage.
“The crowd just absolutely took the game over, and it’s one of my fondest memories ever in coaching — just the feeling of electricity in that stadium.”
A muted atmosphere
That electricity has given way to complacency in recent years, considering the Aggies have lost as many home games in this season alone as they did from 19851993, when Davie served as a linebackers coach under Jackie Sherrill and as defensive coordinator under R.C. Slocum.
“We lost three games at Kyle Field in nine years, and in our last four years, we didn’t lose a game at Kyle Field,” said Davie, adding that the copyrighted handle of the Aggies’ home field doesn’t do the joint justice.
“I wouldn’t even call it the 12th Man,” Davie said. “It was more like a 13th or 14th Man.”
As the opposing coach, Davie will be pleasantly surprised at what Kyle Field has become. A&M has routinely announced crowds of around 100,000 this season, but in truth the stadium has been at about 80 pecent to 85 percent capacity for most of those contests — and often subdued.
Kyle Field no longer owns a reputation as one of
the most intimidating venues in the nation. In fact, the Aggies will go more than three years without an SEC West victory at home, considering they last beat a division foe in October 2015 and will not host another until November 2018.
“We need to figure out how to stop big plays,” A&M safety Armani Watts said.
That wasn’t a problem for Watts’ Aggie ancestors, considering the “Wrecking Crew” was routinely considered one of the nation’s best defensive units under Sherrill and Slocum from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s.
Davie’s 1991 defense, stockpiled with NFL talent, led the nation in allowing 222 yards per game. The Aggies currently rank 63rd nationally in that category, allowing 392 yards per game.
Davie, 63, left A&M in 1994 to become Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator, and later succeeded Lou Holtz as the Fighting Irish’s head coach. Davie was 35-25 over five seasons at Notre Dame.
Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that Davie is on hand for what’s likely A&M coach Kevin Sumlin’s final home game with the Aggies. While Sumlin (49-25 in six seasons) has had 14 more victories with as many losses as Davie had over his Notre Dame stint, the Aggies have failed to compete for an SEC West title since exiting the Big 12 in 2012.
Future in doubt
Sumlin, 53, said he’s pressing on as A&M coach despite speculation running rampant concerning his future, especially after the Aggies have lost at home by a combined 36 points over the last two weekends to division foes Mississippi State and Auburn.
Following the nonconference New Mexico contest, the Aggies close out the regular season with road games at Mississippi and LSU. A&M has finished 8-5 in three consecutive seasons but will be hardpressed to match that middling victory total this year.
“Everyone in our organization is still going,” Sumlin said. “Even though the results weren’t what we wanted (last) Saturday, there was great communication with (recruits on campus) and our coaches, and we’ve got some more coming this weekend.
“From our standpoint, the attitude in here is probably different than it is outside.”