Volume 6, No.10

ONLY IN AGGIELAND Players all agree: No other school could have pulled off the colorful scene at Kyle Field By Homer Jacobs

COLLEGE STATION – In one of the most impressive defensive games the Aggies have played in recent years, and amid the usual chalk-talk chaos that unfolds along a college football sideline, Texas A&M linebacker Brian Gamble couldn’t help himself.

He had to take in the moment, feel the pride, remember how special a place Aggieland really is.

"Every time I came off the field, I was always looking up in the stands in awe about how they could do that in a week," Gamble said of the sea of red, white and blue that overcame Kyle Field for the Oklahoma State game. "It was jaw-dropping that there was that much coordination. The atmosphere was amazing. That was close to the top in terms of game atmospheres that I’ve played in at Kyle Field. "

A patriotic fan takes in a special day at Kyle Field, which was awash in red, white and blue.

Over 70,000 of the patriotic "Standing for America" T-shirts were sold for the game, 30,000 of which were sold on game day. If Aggies thought their game atmosphere and spirit were legendary now, they just took off into another stratosphere.

To think four or five students could coordinate such an event in nine days is mind-boggling to say the least. To see everyone – students and former students – buy into the event like they did has to go down as one of A&M’s greatest moments on any Saturday afternoon.

Maroon Out was – and still is – a fantastic new tradition on the A&M campus, and we’ll see the familiar shade in force this week for the official Maroon Out game of 2001 as Notre Dame rolls into town.

But that movement had weeks for a build-up prior to the 1998 Nebraska game. This was more like cramming for a biology final – then acing it.

A&M quarterback Mark Farris said only at A&M could you have witnessed the spectacle that was the 82,601 color-coordinated spectators who saw the Aggies beat OSU, 21-7.

"Almost every single person in the stands had red, white or blue," said Farris, shaking his head in amazement. "That’s unbelievable for that to happen. I’m going to go ahead and say it: There’s not another place in the country where that would happen. People can say, ‘Oh, we could have done it.’ No they couldn’t… that’s just a fact.

"It kind of worked out right because we had three decks. It was kind of like it was meant to be. It made you really proud to be an American."

A&M coach R.C. Slocum has seen his fair share of great, goose bump moments at Kyle Field, but he says the current atmosphere at Kyle Field continues to top itself every season.

Indeed, the Notre Dame game could see a record 87,500 come through the gates, and who knows how crazy the day after Thanksgiving will be when Texas trots onto Kyle Field?

"I think it’s such a great credit to Texas A&M and our students," Slocum said. "For them to have come up with this idea… They conceived this idea, got the shirts printed, got the shirts dispersed. For that many people to have those shirts is quite an accomplishment. I was so proud, as I always am, of our students.

A young Aggie fan dresses in appropriate colors.

"I thought it was the most beautiful thing, and it should get a lot of play. I thought it was a great patriotic expression by Texas A&M fans, and I was very proud. There can’t be a better atmosphere to play college football. The big challenge for me as a coach is to make sure we always have a team that represents those great fans like they should be represented."

There was a football game played between the red, white and blue decks, and the Aggies looked like they are about to turn the corner as a team. They’ll have to against the Irish in a big-time opportunity for A&M on a national stage.

If the Aggies play defense like they did against the Cowboys – held to 199 yards of total offense and sacked six times – they’ll be in a bunch of games this fall with a chance to win them.

And should the offense and defense click at the same time, even Slocum said this can be a really good football team.

But Saturday against OSU, it was hard to focus on what was happening on the field. As Gamble admitted, taking your eyes off the completely white second deck or red third deck on the student side was difficult to do.

"It was very emotional," said linebacker Christian Rodriguez, who had two sacks in the game. "Sitting in the locker room before the game I was like, ‘God, what am I going to do when I go out there and see all this red, white and blue.?’ Aggies… you can’t beat them. They’re the greatest fans in the nation. I will put our fans up against anybody else’s.

"Everyone thought, ‘Yeah, it will be red, white and blue, but it will only be the students’ side.’ But it looked so beautiful out there. It was unbelievable."

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