La Enorme Distancia

This is my reaction to the 34-17 beatdown Miami inflicted on Texas A&M last night


I have never been less enthused about the state of A&M football as I have been tonight. The only comparable feeling I have after tonight's debacle in the OB was after serving as an eyewitness to Duke's dismemberment of Georgetown back in January 2004.

1. Don't be fooled into thinking this Miami team isn't as good as it looked tonight. Their o-line --which included a pair of Texans, Jason Fox and Reggie Youngblood -- drilled the A&M d-line into submission. Conversely, their D-line set the tone on the very first drive. Their guys lined up and blew A&M's guys off the LOS with purpose.

2. Franchione is now responsible for some of A&M's most embarrassing losses -- a pair of drubbings at Tech in Lubbock, 77-0, the 06 Holiday Bowl, the 05 Cotton Bowl, the 17-16 field goal fest on national tv against OU, the disaster in Boulder in 05, Iowa freakin' State, the outright collapse against Nebraska last season, and this shellacking at the hands of a better motivated and talented Miami team.

3. I sympathize with Lane being frustrated about not getting carries, but honestly, stop complaining, Jorvorskie. The fact that Lane looks like an intemperate adolescent on the sideline is exhibit #1 that this coaching staff does not instill the fear of God Almighty and all His Avenging Angels into the players.

Everybody here wants to tag Miami as Thug U, but the reality is, you look at Randy Shannon, and you hear his life story, and you know this man will not put up with any B.S. from his players. Because he is a hardcore guy who had to endure family members dying. He pulled himself out of Liberty City and won 3 national championships as a player, assistant and coordinator. You see Shannon, and he has presence. He showed supreme confidence tonight by not even using his headset. He coaches from the front, more so than Coker or Davis and even more so than Jimmah and Erickson. Why? Because he was there once before. The Canes would go out and do ANYTHING Shannon asked to bring victory.

By those factors alone he is twice the coach A&M's current $2M man is.

4.The sad thing is that it's not even October yet and A&M is looking down the barrel of multiple conference losses because Franchione and his staff show no offensive creativity and betray no confidence in the very talent it recruited to advance A&M football.

The only school getting less for its investment right now is Notre Dame. Michigan would crush A&M by six touchdowns based on what I saw tonight.

And you know what really is disappointing? A&M does have a lot of talent that is getting devolved into football purgatory because this staff has shown no leadership or confidence. McGee is locked into an option offense and his skills are currently inverse to his heart. Lane shows no more maturity now than he did when he was a freshman. We recruited 3 dozen wideouts who don't even see a pass thrown their way. And, A&M has an All-American potential at tight end who is going to go pro after this season to save his marketable value to the NFL.