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Coach Sumlin has been Texas A&M's head coach for 36 games. His record so far is 27-9 (13-9) with bowl wins over two power 5 teams. That's good. But what's more interesting is how his success has not been tied to Kyle Field. Would you believe Kevin Sumlin's record at Kyle Field is actually worse than his road record? It is. Sumlin is 13-5 at home and a solid 14-4 away from the friendly confines of College Station: 10-4 in true road games and 4-0 in neutral site games. An astounding 11 out of Sumlin's 18 games away from Kyle Field have been against Top 25 competition. That's a rough road. It also speaks to the quality of the SEC, particularly the SEC West, whose daunting competition effectively guarantees tough contests on the road every season. Grueling road games are something the SWC and, to a lesser extent the Big 12, did not offer. Sumlin has handled the road admirably, going 7-4 in SEC games, with two wins over Top 5 teams. Last night, it was mentioned that Coach Sumlin already has two road wins over top 5 teams at A&M. In the context of A&M's football history, that's incredible.
So how does Sumlin's performance stack up with past Aggie coaches? How much of their success was tied to playing in front of the 12th Man? First, let's breakdown Coach Sumlin's record:
Kevin Sumlin
True road games against Top 25 teams: 4-4
Kevin Sumlin - road games against Top 25 teams |
|||||
Year |
Result |
Opponent |
Opponent Rank |
Texas A&M |
Opponent |
2012 |
Win |
Miss State |
17 |
38 |
13 |
2012 |
Win |
Alabama |
1 |
29 |
24 |
2013 |
Loss |
LSU |
18 |
10 |
34 |
2013 |
Loss |
Mizzou |
5 |
21 |
28 |
2014 |
Win |
USC |
9 |
52 |
28 |
2014 |
Loss |
Miss State |
12 |
31 |
48 |
2014 |
Loss |
Bama |
7 |
0 |
59 |
2014 |
Win |
Auburn |
3 |
41 |
38 |
Neutral site games against Top 25 teams: 3-0
Kevin Sumlin - neutral site games against Top 25 teams |
|||||
Year |
Result |
Opponent |
Opponent Rank |
Texas A&M |
Opponent |
2012 |
Win |
La Tech |
23 |
59 |
57 |
2012 |
Win |
Oklahoma |
12 |
41 |
13 |
2013 |
Win |
Duke |
22 |
52 |
48 |
Total record in games away from Kyle Field against top 25 competition: 7-4
Best true road win: Beat #1 Alabama 29-24 in 2012.
Best neutral site win: Beat #12 Oklahoma 41-13 in 2012 Cotton Bowl
Now, lets compare that to his predecessors, starting with A&M's all-time winningest coach, R.C. Slocum
R.C. Slocum
Coach Slocum took over for Jackie Sherrill in 1989, below are the games in which A&M left home to face a top 25 opponent in opponent at their house:
R.C. Slocum - road games against Top 25 teams |
|||||
Year |
Result |
Opponent |
Opponent Rank |
Texas A&M |
Opponent |
1990 |
Loss |
Houston |
12 |
31 |
36 |
1990 |
Loss |
Texas |
5 |
27 |
28 |
1991 |
Win |
Baylor |
16 |
34 |
12 |
1993 |
Loss |
Okalahoma |
16 |
14 |
44 |
1995 |
Loss |
Colorado |
7 |
21 |
29 |
1997 |
Win |
Colorado |
16 |
16 |
10 |
1997 |
Loss |
Kansas State |
20 |
17 |
36 |
1999 |
Loss |
Nebraska |
9 |
0 |
37 |
2000 |
Loss |
Texas |
12 |
17 |
43 |
2001 |
Loss |
Colorado |
20 |
21 |
31 |
2001 |
Loss |
Oklahoma |
3 |
10 |
31 |
2002 |
Loss |
Texas |
10 |
20 |
50 |
It is amazing, but in 14 seasons as the A&M head coach, Coach Slocum only coached 12 true road games against Top 25 teams. Coach Sumlin has already coached in 8 in 2.5 years. R.C's record against top opponents in their house: two wins, ten losses. The only wins? Over #16 Baylor in 1991 and over #16 Colorado in 1997. That's it. That's right, sportsfans, R.C. Slocum never beat a Top 10 team in their building. Never. Coach Sumlin has already done it twice.
Ok, but what about 1998 KSU? Well, that wasn't a true road game, but lets look at Coach Slocum's neutral site record against top teams. In neutral site/bowl games against Top 25 teams, RC was a combined 4-9. The best win was obviously KSU in 1998. The other wins? #13 BYU in 1991, #20 Stanford in 1992, #14 Michigan in 1995.
R.C. Slocum - neutral site games against Top 25 teams |
|||||
Year |
Result |
Opponent |
Opponent Rank |
Texas A&M |
Opponent |
1989 |
Loss |
Pitt |
23 |
28 |
31 |
1990 |
Win |
BYU |
13 |
65 |
14 |
1991 |
Loss |
Florida State |
5 |
2 |
10 |
1992 |
Win |
Stanford |
20 |
10 |
7 |
1992 |
Loss |
Notre Dame |
5 |
3 |
28 |
1993 |
Loss |
Notre Dame |
4 |
21 |
24 |
1995 |
Win |
Michigan |
14 |
22 |
20 |
1997 |
Loss |
Nebraska |
2 |
15 |
54 |
1997 |
Loss |
UCLA |
5 |
23 |
29 |
1998 |
Loss |
Florida State |
2 |
14 |
23 |
1998 |
Win |
Kansas State |
2 |
36 |
33 |
1998 |
Loss |
Ohio State |
3 |
14 |
24 |
1999 |
Loss |
Penn State |
13 |
0 |
24 |
Summary:
True road games against Top 25 teams: 2-10
Neutral site games against Top 25 teams: 4-9
Total record in games away from Kyle Field against top 25 competition: 6-19
Best true road win: Beat #16 Colorado 16-10 in 1997.
Best neutral site win: Beat #2 Kansas State 36-33 in 1998 Big 12 Championship.
Ok, enough dancing on R.C.'s coaching grave. Are your prepared for real horror?
Dennis F***chione
True road games against Top 25 teams: 2-8
Dennis Franchione - road games against Top 25 teams |
|||||
Year |
Result |
Opponent |
Opponent Rank |
Texas A&M |
Opponent |
2003 |
Loss |
Va Tech |
8 |
19 |
35 |
2003 |
Loss |
Nebraska |
21 |
12 |
48 |
2003 |
Loss |
Oklahoma |
1 |
0 |
77 |
2004 |
Loss |
Utah |
20 |
21 |
41 |
2004 |
Win |
Ok State |
16 |
36 |
30 |
2004 |
Loss |
Texas |
6 |
13 |
26 |
2005 |
Loss |
Texas Tech |
16 |
17 |
56 |
2006 |
Win |
Texas |
11 |
12 |
7 |
2007 |
Loss |
Oklahoma |
5 |
14 |
42 |
2007 |
Loss |
Missouri |
7 |
26 |
40 |
Neutral site games against Top 25 teams: 0-2
Dennis Franchione - neutral site games against Top 25 teams |
|||||
Year |
Result |
Opponent |
Opponent Rank |
Texas A&M |
Opponent |
2004 |
Loss |
Tennessee |
15 |
7 |
38 |
2006 |
Loss |
Cal |
20 |
10 |
45 |
Total record in games away from Kyle Field against top 25 competition: 2-10
Best road win: Beat #11 Texas 12-7 in 2006
Best neutral site win: None.
Summary: About what you would expect. After all, the cupboard was bare! The wins? #16 Oklahoma State in 2004 and #11 Texas in 2006. He wasn't any better in neutral site games, with horrific bowl losses to Tennessee and Cal.
Mike Sherman
True road games against Top 25 teams: 1-4
Mike Sherman - road games against Top 25 teams |
|||||
Year |
Result |
Opponent |
Opponent Rank |
Texas A&M |
Opponent |
2008 |
Loss |
Ok State |
22 |
28 |
56 |
2008 |
Loss |
Texas |
2 |
9 |
49 |
2009 |
Win |
Texas Tech |
24 |
52 |
30 |
2011 |
Loss |
Oklahoma |
7 |
25 |
41 |
2011 |
Loss |
Kansas State |
17 |
50 |
53 |
Neutral site games against Top 25 teams: 0-3
Mike Sherman - neutral site games against Top 25 teams |
|||||
Year |
Result |
Opponent |
Opponent Rank |
Texas A&M |
Opponent |
2010 |
Loss |
Arkansas |
11 |
17 |
24 |
2010 |
Loss |
LSU |
11 |
24 |
41 |
2011 |
Loss |
Arkansas |
18 |
38 |
42 |
Total: 1-7
Best road win: Beat #24 Texas Tech 52-30 in 2009.
Summary: More of the same, if not worse. Mike Sherman's lone top 25 road victory was over #24 Texas Tech in 2009. He was also 0-3 in neutral site games against Top 25 competition, dropping 2 games to Arkansas along with being blown out by LSU in the 2010 Cotton Bowl.
Yesterday's win over Auburn should really wake A&M fans up to what we have in Coach Sumlin. Not only does he provide brand visibility, #SWAGGER, and a flash that A&M fans could have scarcely dreamed of in November 2011, but he provides results. More importantly, he provides hope for the future by demonstrating that a KDS coached team has a chance against anyone, no matter where they play.
So get your popcorn ready, Aggies.