interesting aggie article

[AggieJohn]

the link

John Harris
Q: It's early, but the 2005 sleeper team will be ...

A: I love surprises. I hate surprises. Such a dichotomy could spell trouble coming up with a surprise team for 2005, but as I tangle with the two sides of my brain, consider a case to be made for Texas A&M to be the surprise team in college football in 2005. So, maybe they blew their cover in 2004, somewhat, but the loss to Tennessee may have brought Aggie Nation back to earth so to speak. Regardless, this is a team that has a solid nucleus of returning talent, starting with one of the best dual threat QBs in the nation Reggie McNeal. As the season wore on, you could see McNeal growing into a tremendous quarterback and a leader for Dennis Franchione’s Aggie offense. He has most of his offensive line coming back, and a solid receiving corps, led by Jason Carter and DeQwan Mobley. But, if Courtney Lewis, running back, can stay healthy, he may be the surprise of the year. He has explosive talent, but hasn’t been able to stay on the field long enough to roll up a 1,500 yard type season. Carl Torbush’s defense grew each and every week (well, they couldn’t go anywhere but up after the Utah debacle), and the Tennessee beating might have been the best thing to happen to this team. Jason Jack showed flashes of being an All Big XII player, but he has to show that every play, every game. Jaxson Appel is a gutty, tough leader, who tackles anything that moves. All in all, Texas A&M may have been a mini-surprise last year, but this year, their cover will be blown all over America.

[big daddy russ]

I think A&M's definitely a top-15 team going into next season, so I don't know if they'd "sneak up" on anyone. They only lose two players that were absolute studs. Their C/G/T/wherever they decided to put him on that series Geoff Hangartner (irreplaceable) and WR Terrence Murphy (very replaceable).

[AggieJohn]

yeah t murph fizzeled his senior year when reggie got better

[big daddy russ]

You know what's crazy... all these new early polls have completely forgotten about A&M. There were two major ones (done by ESPN and FOX Sports) back in January that had TAMU ranked top-15 going into the 2005 campaign. Now they're not even on the bubble. I still have A&M ranked top-10... I've slid Virginia Tech up to number eight and dropped the Ags two spots... but they're more dangerous than OU heading into 2005.

Pat Forde's Top 25 for ESPN.com

My Top 25 for next season... it's shifted a little, but I still have all the teams ranked right around the same spots...

[AggieJohn]

nice sig

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by AggieJohn
nice sig

Thanks John. That's the bike I'm going to wind up with when I have a little more money. I'm probably going to start off with a little Sportster. Looking to get one this summer. I finally convinced my dad to help me out... with gas prices being what they are and me driving that huge Suburban, he said that he'd finance me. I'm stoked.

[AggieJohn]

this is pretty much all my bank account can afford right now

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by AggieJohn

this is pretty much all my bank account can afford right now

Hey, it'll save you money on gas. Nothing wrong with that.

[AggieJohn]

and pretty much the way i drive one of them too