College Football

Arm in Arm

Thanks largely to off-season gatherings that built team unity, Texas A&M is rocking at last under Dennis Franchione

THE SPARK for Texas A&M's surprising season was struck last December, after a bitterly disappointing 5--6 campaign. That's when right guard Kirk Elder and a handful of Aggies began talking about how to revive a team they felt was lacking cohesion. The group came up with an idea: house parties, albeit without kegs and coeds. Building Champions is what the players dubbed the bonding sessions, held every week from January through July. Elder hosted them at the ranch house in College Station that he shares with left tackle Corey Clark, defensive end Chris Harrington and left guard Chris Yoder. "Just a bunch of guys getting together, having Xbox tournaments," says Elder, who, like his housemates, is a redshirt junior. "Players only. If random people showed up, we kicked them out."

The result of all that Xboxing has been apparent, as the 21st-ranked Aggies (8--1) have proved to be one of the most resilient teams in college football. Five of the Aggies' last six games have gone down to the wire—including wins over Army, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma State, as well as a loss to Texas Tech—and A&M has trailed at some point in each of its last seven games. While their 31--21 win at Baylor last Saturday night didn't come down to the final possession, the Aggies didn't exactly have a breather. Playing before the largest crowd in Floyd Casey Stadium history, A&M didn't put the Bears away until the final two minutes, when freshman running back Mike Goodson scampered 64 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown. "This is the first team I've had since I've been here that's had this sort of resolve to finish games," says fourth-year coach Dennis Franchione, whose job was in jeopardy when the season began. "They've kept playing and believing."

The Aggies aren't getting by on camaraderie alone. The defense, which ranked 107th in the country last year, has improved under new coordinator Gary Darnell. The coach at Western Michigan from 1997 through 2004, Darnell installed a 4-2-5 scheme, which allows A&M to employ multiple looks in the front six while covering the field with five defensive backs. This year the Aggies are 52nd in total defense. The offense revolves around sophomore quarterback Stephen McGee, who's averaging nearly 200 yards passing and more than 50 yards rushing and might be the best option quarterback in the nation. Behind him are a raft of talented backs, including the speedy Goodson and 276-pound tailback Jorvorskie Lane. A soft-spoken sophomore and budding ophiologist—his pet boa constrictor is named Bo—Lane leads the Big 12 in scoring with 17 touchdowns. "We have running backs who could get more carries," says Franchione. "We have wide receivers who could demand more catches. But not once has anybody asked for more. These kids are so close."

"It's been a different guy who's made the difference in every game," says senior wideout Chad Schroeder. "We're feeding off each other."

That wasn't always the case. Many of the upperclassmen on last year's team had been recruited by Franchione's predecessor, R.C. Slocum, who was fired in December 2002. The commitment of a handful of those players to Franchione's system was uneven at best, and Elder says that spotty attendance at voluntary workouts was a problem in the summer of '05. "Those workouts aren't just about getting stronger," he says. "They're about accountability."

The Aggies' all-for-one attitude this season is about to be tested in a serious way. They close with home dates against No. 18 Oklahoma and Nebraska in the next two weeks and a season-ending tilt at No. 4 Texas on Nov. 24. There were rumblings of discontent from fans concerned about the team's play during their soft nonconference schedule. But by winning eight games Franchione, who's record at A&M is 24--20, has probably earned at least one more season on the sideline. "The only opinions we care about are the ones in the locker room," McGee said last week. "We play for each other."

Making Bowl Bids
By virtue of its 34--20 victory over Sun Belt favorite Louisiana-Lafayette last Saturday, Middle Tennessee State, which started playing Division I-A football in 1999, is 5--3 (4--0 in conference) and one win from being in line to accept a bowl bid. Six schools that haven't been to a bowl in more than a decade have the requisite six victories or are one victory away.

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

TEMPLE'S FIRST WIN