Montana State

You couldn’t have asked for nicer first-game weather. The temperature started in the low 90’s and dropped throughout the game, ending in the mid eighties with low relative humidity and a nice breeze. Attendance was better than expected, 79,438 -- a record for a non-conference home opener. Over 30,000 students were in attendance. During the game they highlighted the 7 Big 12 trophies that were won by A&M teams during the 2006-7 school year, the most of any school in the Big 12 for the year. Acie Law also made an appearance during the game.

We all had a good time. Mom, Scott, Lupita and Devin got to do some shopping before the game. Someone got some snazzy Converse A&M sneakers. We got to see the new equine-friendly surface around the field along with the new stadium lights. No more long shadows during the night games. The guys also ran around a little on the field afterwards. I don’t know who enjoys that more…Devin or Scott & Josh.

Francione & Montana St. Coach Ashe

The Parsons Mounted Cavalry...

Cleaning up after the Cavalry...

Big 12 Hardware for 2006-2007

As for my thoughts on the game…

Overall, and after some thought, I'm fairly positive, but there is still room for improvement. You'd expect this after the first game.

Offensively, there were several good big plays, but I never felt the Ags really got into a rhythm until later in the game. Their drives were kind of 'feast or famine.' The vertical passing game STILL isn’t there. Almost everything was out to the flats. The longest pass of the night was to Goodson…a running back. Of course, it didn’t help that our actual receivers had several key drops. Martellus had several good catches though. Our passing game is still a big question mark to me.

There were some good things that we really liked. Montana State was giving Lane and Goodson so much attention that it freed up McGee to run the ball, including his 65 yard TD run. Goodson, when he could successfully turn the corner, also had a couple of really nice runs. He had a spiffy TD run in the early part of the 3rd quarter where he leaped over a couple of defenders. Late in the game we saw some pretty slick running by Jerrod Johnson.

Click here to see a video of Goodson's TD run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6_VqUghmzE

HalftimeSecond half...under the new lights.

Defensively, if you just looked at this game, you would think we took a step backwards from last year. Some of that could have been the personnel that started and some of it could have been the coaching & schemes. Montana State marched the ball down the field on their first possession 80+ yards for their score. It got a little quiet in the stadium. Throughout the game the defensive line couldn’t get any pressure on Montana State's QB until the second half – at least not consistently. They were definitely finding the gaps in our zone coverage.

Something that got to all of us was watching Jordan Peterson handling the punt return duties. The question we kept asking ourselves was “Is this really the best guy they have for this job?” We thought they had him in there to just take care of the ball but he fumbled in the second half. We thought maybe they’d switch it up and put a couple of other guys back there to try it out, but they didn’t and Jordan would just sit there for a couple of yards before getting taken down. That had us scratching our heads.

A little post-game fun on the field.

Montana State had more first downs (23-16), outgained us in total yards of offense (403-390) and held the ball an extra 11 minutes. However, having said all of that, the Ags held Montana State to 7 points. It helped that they missed three field goals (was Tommerdhal helping their special teams?). The Ags also managed a couple of turnovers. My pre-game prediction was 35-21 A&M, so I guess the defense did a better job than I thought they would.

To paraphrase Scott, "Even though the score is (at that time) 31-7 it feels like a three-point game."

A win is a win, and on a day where defending 1-AA champion Appalachian State beats #5 Michighan, you’ll take it. But, it definitely wasn’t pretty. Here’s to hoping we see improvement in the next game.

BTHO Fresno State!

Patrick