The Battle of the Brazos is this week’s SWC Game of the Week. This series dates back to 1899. Lots of old Ags found wives at Baylor, back before you could find a wife at A&M. (I’ve been told you could find barn yard animals at A&M, but not wives.) It’s always a fun game for the two schools along highway 6, separated by only 90 miles. This year Baylor may have a shot to knock the Aggies off at Kyle Field, something they haven’t done since 1984. Two of the oldest schools in Texas, with Baylor being the first college in Texas and A&M being the first public college in Texas, will hit the gridiron again this Satruday.
THIS WEEK’S GAME:
This week’s game is Baylor visiting an old rival, the Aggies of Texas A&M. A&M leads the all time series 64-30-9 and are 10-1 since 1996. (Thanks Fran!) Baylor coach and A&M’s coach are both coaching in their 5th meeting of the two, with A&M winning three of the previous games and Baylor winning one. The Aggies enter this game receiving much criticism after getting beat soundly at Miami last Thursday. Despite their 3-1 record, they have not played well and there are concerns entering conference play and the tougher portion of their schedule. The A&M offense attack is led by quarterback Stephen McGee and the two headed running back combination of Jorvorskie Lane and Michael Goodson. The Aggies are 8th in the country in rushing but have struggled to get the passing game going. Stephen McGee’s favorite target is tight end Martellus Bennett who also excels clearing the way for the two running backs. On the defensive side of the ball the Aggies are led by their two linebackers Mark Dodge, age 26, and Misi Tupe, age 25. Chris Harrington anchors the defensive front. The secondary remains the question mark as stopping the passing game has been difficult at times this year. Marquis Carpenter has replaced Jordan Peterson at one cornerback spot and will get his second start of the season against the Bears. The Bears on the other hand are riding a 3 game winning streak after dropping their first game against TCU. Free safety Jordan Lake is this week’s Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the week after forcing 2 fumbles and making 2 interceptions against Buffalo last week. The Bears are tough up front as well with Guy Morris saying it should be the best defensive line since he arrived on campus. The offense is lead by QB Matt Szymanski who has thrown for 14 touchdown passes this season in the four games Baylor has played. Freshman Jay Finley got his first start last week against Baylor and rushed for 80 yards. Baylor will be ready for the Aggies as they make the short trip to Kyle Field, will the Aggies be able to bounce back after a disappointing lose last week?
SWC Game of the Week is dispatching a correspondent to cover this game in person. Look for first hand reports in next week’s update.
COTTON BOWL MEMORIES:
The Cotton Bowl Game’s first sellout crowd (45,507) watched the defending national champion Texas A&M Aggies outlast the Fordham Rams 13-12 on New Year’s Day, 1941. The Aggies entered the match ranked #6 and it was the first appearance by a top ten team in the Classic. The Rams from the Bronx, NY carried a 7-1 record and were coached by Jim Crowley, one of the Four Horsemen from the famous Notre Dame teams. Both teams were entering the contest after disappointing loses, A&M losing to rival Texas 7-0 breaking a 19 game winning streak, dropping them from their #2 ranking, and positioning them into a tie with SMU for the conference championship. Fordham lost to St Mary’s, dropping them from #3 to #12 team in the country. Fordham had one extra point blocked by A&M’s Jim Sterling and the other hit the crossbar while Aggie QB Marion Pugh threw a TD pass to “hidden” Earl Smith and kicked the game winning point after touchdown. The A&M lineup contained five All-SWC members and two of these five were All-Americans, guard Marshall Robnett and John Kimbrough.
“Jarrin” John Kimbrough or the Haskell Hurricane was one of the best backs in SWC history. Standing 6-3 and weighing 220 pounds and covering 100 yards in under 10 seconds, he rolled over opponents on his way to A&M and SWC rushing records. He transferred from Tulane after his freshman year and lead the Aggies to a 20-1 record his last two seasons in Aggieland, including a national championship in 1939. Named to the All-American team in 1939 and 1940 he is the symbol of perhaps the greatest stretch of Aggie football history. He later went on to star in several Hollywood movies and play professional ball briefly.
OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
North Texas at Arkansas (Nice break for the Hogs)
East Carolina at Houston (UH ready for CUSA action)
UTEP at SMU (SMU needs win to keep slim bowl hopes alive)
Kansas State at Texas (Texas tune up before OU showdown in Dallas)
Colorado State at TCU (TCU back on track)
Northwestern State at Texas Tech (New defensive coordinator at Tech)
RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week, Week 3:
TCU 21 SMU 7 (SMU can’t seem to get over the hump)
Other Games:
Kentucky 42 Arkansas 29 (Kentucky might be good, I mean they beat the Hogs)
Baylor 34 Buffalo 21 (Baylor 3-1 heading to College Station)
Houston 38 Colorado State 27 (Coogs get 35 in the second half to win)
Texas 58 Rice 14 (We choose to go to the moon!)
Miami 34 Texas A&M 17 (Ouch, Miami exposes the Aggies, Cuba Libre anyone?)
OK State 49 Texas Tech 45 (De – Fense, clap clap, De – Fense, clap clap)
STANDINGS:
| | Conference: | Overall: |
| | W | L | W | L |
| Texas | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Texas Tech | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| TCU | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Baylor | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Texas A&M | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Houston | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Arkansas: | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| SMU | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Rice | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
FINAL WORD:
That’s a wrap for this week. Please feel free to forward to your friends, send me emails of those that should be included that aren’t, and submit your additions to the weekly newsletters (favorite SWC memories, player bio’s, funny old SWC stories, mascot hijinks, etc.) If you are receiving this note and you don’t want to, shame on you, but let me know, I’ll take you off the list.
Remember to visit http://www.honortheswc.com/home.asp and help build the SWC Gallery in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
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