COLLEGE STATION -- If there has been a defining moment in Texas A&M’s turnaround season, players say it occurred the Monday before the team’s 52-30 victory at Texas Tech.
That is when coach Mike Sherman presented the Aggies with carabiner clips, a talisman usually reserved for post-game victory celebrations, five days before the teams’ Oct. 24 meeting in Lubbock.
Sherman selected the carabiner, a piece of equipment used by mountain climbers, as a metaphor for the Aggies’ ongoing attempt to climb back to a championship level in the college football world. But players typically have to earn them each week with big plays or victories.
That changed after a 62-14 loss to Kansas State gave the Aggies (5-3, 2-2 in Big 12) a three-game losing streak, a skid broken by subsequent victories over Tech and Iowa State. In his first public discussion about his motivational ploy, Sherman said today that he “felt very confident” heading into the Tech game and wanted players to join him.
“We have these little carabiners we pass out when we win a game,” Sherman said. “I said, ‘I might as well give it to you now. We’re going to go play and we’re going to win this football game.’ And they did.”
Each carabiner carries the inscription “One Step at a Time in 2009.” Defensive end Von Miller said the early presentation was surprising but struck a positive chord with players, who can become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2007 if A&M wins Saturday at Colorado (2-6, 1-3).
“The meaning was, ‘Why wait until after the game?’ We had to make a decision in our minds before the game that we were going to come together,” Miller said, reflecting on a season-turning triumph that marked A&M’s first victory in Lubbock since 1993.
“It wasn’t like he was guaranteeing a victory. It showed he had faith in us,” said offensive tackle Michael Shumard, who joined his coach in taking a couple of thinly-veiled jabs at Tech coach Mike Leach during Monday’s news conference.
Leach and Sherman exchanged sharp words during the off-season when Leach suggested that, by spending a fourth-round pick on former A&M quarterback Stephen McGee in the 2009 NFL draft, the Dallas Cowboys showed more faith in McGee than Sherman’s staff. Hampered by injuries, McGee played sparingly for Sherman in his senior season.
Sherman squeezed in a dig at Leach during Monday’s news conference when asked about the impact of playing at altitude this week in Boulder, Colo. (elevation 5,340 feet). In response, Sherman suggested it would not be that different from playing in Lubbock (elevation 3,256 feet).
“Lubbock’s a pretty good altitude up there,” Sherman said. “There’s a lot of hot air up there, too. We had to deal with that.”
Shumard, a senior, joined the Leach-bashing chorus when asked about Sherman’s decision to take a knee _ rather than try and punch in another touchdown _ in the final minute of last week’s 35-10 victory over Iowa State.
“That shows class,” Shumard said. “I would hate to be a player for a team that would try and score with … 20 seconds left in the game. That would call time out to try and score.”
During Tech’s 2008 victory over A&M in College Station, the Red Raiders scored their final points in a 43-25 triumph on a 1-yard run by quarterback Graham Harrell with 20 seconds remaining, following a time out by Leach.
-- Jimmy Burch
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