Texas A&M 9/11/10

It is Aggie week and I am really stoked to finally get my chance to see a game played on Kyle Field. I never dreamed that I would one day get to see one of my own out on Kyle Field. We are so lucky that we get to experience this with our family and friends! I just need to keep my eye out for those people with the frog giggin' sticks! HaHa! All kidding aside Texas A&M has some awesome football tradition and I am looking forward to seeing the Corp, the band and the cheerleaders! I understand they have a different type of cheerleader. Oops, I was supposed to say Yell Leader! Sorry about that! Not! What the heck is a Yell Leader? I guess I need to look this up at the Urban Dictionary. The Urban Dictionary states: “Although nationally known for their spirit, the Texas Aggies have no cheerleaders. This is because they have no school cheers. Instead, there are a variety of school yells. It is basically an excuse for a bunch of guys to run around in tight white pants and "yell".” I am not sure I totally understand this concept, but they seem to like it. Matt has had a good week at practice. He has been kicking the ball with good pop and height on field goals and pat's. Josh and Ross have had great timing on snaps all week. Matt said he practiced some drive by kickoffs at full speed and is feeling pretty good about his progress. They practiced a few new schemes in case the game needs a little shake, rattle and roll! You never know when you might need to bring a surprise to the party. I hope our offense is ready to show its stuff! I am ready for some Sonny/Tony ball! Our game day travel started very early. We left North Dallas about 5:45 AM. The suburban is loaded with my wife (Janet), parents (John & Carol) and way too much food and adult beverages. We have some awesome friends (Joe, Jake (goes to A&M) & Julie Trevino) that have secured an RV/tailgate spot for about 30 of Matt's family and friends. We hit College Station about 9:15 AM after an extended stop at Buc-ee's in Madisonville. Joe and Julie already have everything set up and we unload all of our tailgating gear. I am not sure why I needed everything I brought. It is like I am going away for a week! I will learn one of these days! Its 10:00 AM and my first adult beverage is popped! This is really cool! Tailgating in College Station! Our food of choice is Layne's Chicken Tenders. This I am told is a College Station institution and that the Cane's concept came from Layne's. Layne's and Cane's only serve chicken tenders with a pink peppery dipping sauce. I am told that Layne's and Cane's sit right next to each other in College Station. That would make for some good food competition for sure! I thought Layne’s dipping sauce was awesome! We can't wait for everyone to arrive at the tailgate. They are all bringing goodies centered on the chicken tenders. I know this group and we will have more food than we could possibly eat. Janet's (wife) parents (Meggie & Papaw) stopped by the team hotel on Lake Conroe Saturday morning and visited with Matt. They said he was in good spirits and was looking forward to playing at A&M along with seeing friends, family, old coaches, old teammates and classmates. Of course he is looking forward to a win as well! We got to visit with a lot of Tech fans while we were tailgating. We visited with Andrew Guillot's parents. They were super nice folks. We also got to spend some time with Mr. Don Garland and his wife. They are huge Tech fans and great people! There were many others and many thanks for stopping by. Our afternoon consisted of eating awesome food, playing Cornhole, Tailgate Toss, visiting with some awesome people, drinking adult beverages, sweating and getting pumped to watch the Bulldogs take on the Aggies! We caught the 12th Man Shuttle and headed to the stadium. We left Lot 50 right at 4:00 PM. We figured it would take about an hour to go through the process of getting in the stadium and it was pretty close to that. We had to wait on the marching of the Corp and it was an awesome sight. Tradition at its finest! Once we made it in the stadium we got to see Matt warming up. Are you kidding me? Matt is on the field at Kyle Field? As big of a sauna as it was I had goose bumps. He looked like he was striking the ball well. The student section was rocking and the noise was incredible! I don't know about you, but I am ready for some football! Let's get this game rolling! The tribute to the hero's from 911 was awesome! The flyover was incredible as well! Let's get this thing started please! A&M kicks off and here we go. The first quarter was loud, hot and pretty bizarre! Crazy snaps, turnovers and we are still in the game after the first quarter. At the 2:08 mark Matt was sent out for a 37 yard field goal. I must admit I was a little nervous. I don't know why because Matt is not. The snap was good and the leg swing was smooth. It's good! Way to go Matt! The first quarter would end at 7 - 3 in favor of A&M. The second quarter would be crazy as well with turnovers and a terrible call at the end of the quarter. We recovered an A&M fumble at the 1 yard line and it took 4 plays to finally get the ball across the goal line. Matt kicks the PAT and the score is 14 to 10 in favor of A&M with 4:35 left to play in the quarter. Late in the quarter we intercepted the ball and get called for a personal foul on a high hit after the interception had been made. It was total BS! It was a terrible call! A&M gets the ball and throws a Hail Mary down the field and scores. It looks like we had our entire group of defenders jump for the ball and no one behind the play in case A&M did catch the ball. This never should have happened in the first place. The half time score is 21 - 10 in favor of A&M. The 3rd and 4th quarter would not get much better for Tech. We would score a TD at the 7 minute mark of the 3rd quarter with a great pass to Eric Harper. Matt goes out for the PAT and I am watching it on the Jumbotron and I think it is good. Oh no! Matt has missed a PAT. What the heck is going on? What just happened? For some reason I felt like it was my fault. I normally have my camera on him and I did not this time. I know what I will be doing next time. Things would not get much better as the game would end up 48 - 16 in favor of A&M. Once our bubble was busted we could not get any air back in! We had made our way over to where the team went into the locker room before the game was over. The first one to walk into the locker room after the game was Coach Franklin. I hope I do not get in trouble for saying this, but he looked like the mad scientist in the movie Back to the Future. He was not a happy camper. As the players started walking by the Tech fans that were there applauded as each player walked by. Even though we lost, these players played hard and their efforts were greatly appreciated. Matt walked by and had his “Mean Eyes” working. There were flames shooting out of them! I could tell he was pissed. We waited by the buses and Matt came out after about 20 minutes. I gave him a big hug and told him congrats on his FG and we loved him. First thing out of his mouth was I looked up! I did not keep my head down on the PAT. I know better! The miss was all me! The snap and hold was good. I guess it really goes like golf. If you do not keep you head down on your shot then crazy things are going to happen. Matt will probably get off the bus when they return to Ruston and go kick 50 PAT's. That is just his character! Matt got to visit with his mom (Janet), Tyler (older brother), Kasie (girl friend), Jake (great QB, great friend and Matt's holder in HS for 4 years) and several more family members and friends from high school. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Lot 50 to pack things up before heading back to Dallas. Thanks Jake for guiding us back to Lot 50! It was going to be a long night and we should hit Dallas around 2:30 AM. The things that stood out to me during the game were the defense. Even though we gave up 48 points as a team I was impressed with the intensity! There were some great plays on both sides of the ball, but Dusty Rust stood out to me more than anyone. I know he got a little banged up and did not play as much in the 3rd and 4th quarter, but he was a hitting/tackling machine and recovered a huge fumble in the first half. I hope all of our injuries are not too serious! I am still trying to figure out this offense. We need to figure out the QB situation and move forward. The musical chairs with the quarterbacks have got to stop. You are never going to develop any consistency by doing this. I am still looking for this high octane offensive scheme to actually work. I have confidence that Coach Dykes and his staff will get things turned around; I am just ready for the corner to be turned. A&M was an awesome experience for a fan! The fans were most gracious to us before and after the game. A special thanks to Joe & Julie Trevino for bringing their RV and providing a tailgate spot for us spend time with family and friends before the game. Thanks to everyone for bringing food/goodies and hung out with us. It was a blast! I am not happy with the loss, but it is time to move forward as we have to get ready for Navy. Navy is not going to be an easy task for us, but I like our chances at home. I think the first team to get to 30 will win. I have always wondered what a Midshipmen is! In the United States navy, the lowest grade of officers in line of promotion, being students or graduates of the Naval Academy awaiting promotion to the rank of ensign. Thanks to all of our armed forces for all that you do for this country! I am looking forward to playing Navy in Ruston. I am hoping for a full stadium, a win and a great experience! We will have several family members (John, Carol, Meggie, Papaw, David, Mike, Melynda, Mikayla and Tyler) coming to the Navy game. We will be in tailgate spot 52 again this year. I look forward to meeting many more Tech fans. If you are out walking around please stop by. You can even watch Ross from Maxwell’s Market cook in spot 56! Now I get to learn how to really cook at a tailgate! I will end my A&M experience here! Good luck Bulldogs as you take on the Midshipmen from Navy! I appreciate all of those who are following my journey. I write from my heart and what my feelings are at that moment. Don’t forget to listen to my friends at BleedTechBlueRadio every Tuesday night from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. It should be a great show as always. May your Football Season be filled with many Football Victories, Sunny Smiles, Sandy Dreams and Travel Your Way! If you need help with your Travel Plans just let me know! Until our paths cross again, have a blessed week! College Football Dad!