Vol. 2 No. 4, May 1997

By Homer Jacobs

As R.C. Slocum and the Texas Aggies were in the middle of spring practice, the NCAA Tournament was near its climactic end.

And as Slocum surveyed a mid-March workout, he called upon the words of then-Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, whose Wildcats would march to the title game despite missing four starters from its championship team of 1996 and its top scorer who had gone down with a knee injury.

Paraphrasing Pitino, Slocum said he would not be concerned with what A&M didn't have. Instead, Slocum said he would concentrate on what the Aggies did have.

They don't have Donte Hawkins, the leading returning receiver who was suspended from the team. The Aggies don't have all-stars on the defensive line. And the luxury of having four seniors in the secondary was something Texas enjoyed in 1996, not something the Aggies can relish in 1997.

But what Slocum saw on the Kyle Field grass was a bevy of good running backs and a star on the horizon in sophomore Dante Hall. The head coach could see a bigger, stronger, more athletic offensive line.

The tight ends went three-deep, and quality linebackers swarmed around the field like always.

And the A&M special teams, returning all of the key kickers and returners, appear as talented as in the days when Leeland McElroy and David Davis once wore the maroon and white.

Slocum also saw four new coaches making their impact felt immediately, and he wouldn't see Colorado until Oct. 4.

The problem - or perhaps it's a blessing - is that no one outside of the Aggie locker room is convinced A&M will return to its status as a major player in college football in 1997.

Few preseason polls will have the Aggies ranked, and if they are, don't expect them to start the season above the No. 20 spot. And of the so-called talent assessors who make out the early All-America teams, maybe linebacker Dat Nguyen will see his name in tiny print, probably in the honorable mention lists alongside the latest outside linebacking sensation from East Carolina.

But all of the above is understandable when the Aggies go 6-6 and lose to Southwestern Louisiana in 1996.

And all of the above transpires just a year and a half after A&M drew a media circus the week before the 1995 Colorado game where the Aggies arrived with a No. 3 ranking in tow. Even ABC's A-team - Keith Jackson and Bob Griese - called the game, and ESPN sent its "Gameday" crew to document the pre-game hype.

Now, the Aggies will be lucky to see their final score on a roll as ESPN heads to commercial.

"When you lose, you're going to lose all the publicity that you had gained," Nguyen said. "But that's why you've got to rebuild and get the hype back where it was. We'll be all right. There won't be as much pressure on us."

Indeed, the Aggies find themselves in a similar situation to 1991, when Southwest Conference writers and prognosticators fawned over Texas and Arkansas. A&M was picked fourth in the conference by some media pollsters that year as A&M had to replace an offensive line, defensive line and was to rely on some young running backs named Greg Hill and Rodney Thomas.

All the Aggies did that year was turn in the best overall maroon and white unit since the 1985 SWC champion or even the 1975 national title contender.

A&M won't resemble those powerful Aggie squads this season, but they won't go 6-6 again, either.

A nine-win season seems very possible because - as Pitino preaches - of what the Aggies do have.

Quarterback Branndon Stewart should be much more at ease as the leader of the offense, if for the only reason that quarterbacks coach Ray Dorr won't leave his side.

The secondary has a year's more experience, and the receivers - with Hawkins or not - had an impressive spring.

And some would view it as a crutch, but A&M has the favorable schedule, too.

BYU in Provo in August has been replaced by Sam Houston State at Kyle in September. And those pesty Ragin' Cajuns have to bring their red sea of tailgate parties to Kyle Field.

Once again the Colorado game will define the season early on. But you can bet the Aggies won't be taking pressure-filled, national title aspirations into the high altitude.

"It's a big game, and one that people will be pointing to," Slocum said. "Without any doubt, if you look at the early part of our schedule, going on the road against Colorado is a big ballgame. I don't think that game (two years ago) will have a lot to do with this game. I think that you're playing a good team on the road is the motivating factor."

After the Colorado game, A&M has two key road games at Kansas State and Texas Tech looming on the horizon. The Aggies lost both games by three points last fall in one of the more excruciating two-week stretches for the maroon and white faithful in over a decade.

But the Wildcats and Red Raiders aren't what they were in 1996. Kansas State will rely on the productivity of several junior college transfers, while Tech's starting running back will have carried the ball exactly zero times in his career when he lines up for the opener.

After what could be a difficult game against Oklahoma in Norman, Texas comes to town for the regular season finale. Yes, the Longhorns are confident they can beat A&M now. But anytime the game is at Kyle Field, the odds swing dramatically in the Aggies' favor.

It's just June, but you can bet your Riverwalk guacamole that the Big 12 South champion will be decided in that game.

So all the talk early on will focus on Nebraska and Colorado and Texas. A&M, for now, will be an afterthought nationally.

But the talent returning and a forgiving schedule points toward an upper-echelon bowl bid (perhaps a trip to San Diego and the Holiday Bowl?) for the Aggies in '97.

"Good teams and great teams have down years," Stewart said. "And I think that holds true for any football team. At A&M, we have a lot of great players. We have in the past, and we will in the future. Things just didn't work to our advantage last year. Things just didn't jel.

"I think the guys on the team still have that feeling A&M is still what it used to be. They know it is and can be again. What they want to do is get that reputation back."

The reputation of being a have rather than a have-not.

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