M has made undeniable progress from last season, fighting archrival Texas down to the wire on Thanksgiving night and earning its first bowl berth since 2007.
M (6-6) has dropped its last three postseason games and 10 of its last 12 heading into its matchup with Georgia (7-5) in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28.
M visibility in Louisiana, where Sherman said he and his staff are recruiting several players.
M’s first bowl victory since 2001.
ertainly get us off on the right foot going into the spring and next season to be able to have a victory.”
M’s seniors see it as an opportunity to wrap up four tumultuous seasons on a high note.
“Even though it’s my last one,” senior safety Jordan Pugh said, “you want to send it into the offseason the right way. It’d be great, just to finish it out strong.”
The Aggies have done exactly the opposite since beating TCU 28-9 in the now-defunct Galleryfurniture.com Bowl in 2001.
M lost 38-7 to Tennessee in the 2005 Cotton Bowl and 45-10 to California in the 2006 Holiday Bowl, the two most lopsided postseason defeats in school history. The latter loss renewed cries for coach Dennis Franchione’s job and he resigned under pressure after the Texas game in 2007.
M played well, but the Nittany Lions won 24-17.
The Aggies went 4-8 in Sherman’s first season, and modestly set making a bowl game as a goal for this season.
. “When you’re at home, watching all those different bowl games going on, you want to be a part of that, you want to be a part of something special.
“To be with these guys with two more weeks,” he said, “it’s everything that you want. We’re excited about it.”
The players say Sherman is preparing them differently than Franchione did. Instead of refining the playbook, the Aggies have virtually reverted to preseason training camp, with a focus on fundamentals.
“We’re back to pushing the sled and stuff like that, instead of running plays and running plays,” senior left tackle Michael Shumard said. “There are not that many seniors on the team (12), so coach Sherman is using this as a time to train the young kids a lot, too. I don’t mind getting back on the sled, I don’t mind learning all that stuff over again, that’s fine.”
M should have all of its key playmakers back next season, including quarterback Jerrod Johnson, sack specialist Von Miller and top receivers Uzoma Nwachukwu, Ryan Tannehill and Jeff Fuller.
The Aggies are almost treating the bowl game like the opener for next season.
“To win the bowl game would be a huge, huge deal,” said Fuller, a sophomore who missed four games with a broken right leg. “Everybody’s talking about how good we’re going to be next year and stuff like that. I really feel like it starts with the bowl game.”
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