2018 Aggie Football: A Virtual Season In Review

The Preamble

All games were played on the latest NCAA game to be released (NCAA 14), which required a handful of… interesting solutions.

First, I found an updated roster file for the 2018 season courtesy of the fine people at Operation Sports. Every year, I’m amazed by the internet’s refusal to let this game die. Unfortunately, you can’t edit conference schedules. So to escape the perpetual void of our 2014 slate, I had to make every SEC school an independent and manually re-work the schedule from multiple angles.

All settings were set to “Heisman,” because this ain’t the Big XII, and every game was played on “coach mode.” I called plays and audibles, and I managed the clock… but every single play was CPU vs. CPU

We’ve wasted enough time at the top. Let’s hit the fun stuff.

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Week One (0-0; 0-0): vs. Northwestern State

Generic playbooks were used, starters were rested, and the Jimbo era was off to a flying start. It was everything you’d expect from an event so massive that Texas A&M literally had to cancel the entire fall semester.

Final score: Texas A&M 54, Northwestern State 7

Week Two (1-0; 0-0): vs. Clemson

I didn’t bother adjusting schedules outside the SEC, which meant that poor Clemson had to open their season at Georgia. They lost that game, and now they had to deal with 104,000 pissed off fans in a torrential downpour.

Sorry Clemson. Them’s the virtual breaks.

Both teams plowed through the mud in the first half, with A&M narrowly edging ahead 10-7 at the break. After Clemson drew level, Daniel LaCamera drilled a 47 yarder in a minor typhoon to restore our advantage. Clemson’s kicker missed an equally long FG, which sent the Aggies on a Jimbo-approved, methodical, clock-killing drive to ice the game. And LaCamera, who was up for canonization at this point, drilled another 44 yarder in truly, truly horrendous conditions to push the lead to 16-10.

Clemson’s lasp gasp effort fell short… and that was that. Any hope of managing expectations was gone.

Final Score: Texas A&M 16, Clemson 10

Week Three (2-0; 0-0): vs. UL Monroe

Texas A&M was flying high, so of course ULM opened the game with a touchdown. Had we peaked too soon? Did we fly too close to the sun? Nah. The Aggies ripped off 37 straight, and literally everyone in a maroon uniform managed to see the field.

Final Score: Texas A&M 61, UL Monroe 20

Week Four (3-0; 0-0): at Alabama

More rain. So much rain. And much like the Clemson game, we were doomed to another slowww first half. And a slow third quarter.

Things did pick up a little in the 4th, and a late Trayveon Williams TD has us daring to dream up 14-10, but the Saban autobots had an answer. They always do. Hurts immediately responded with a TD drive, and the defense clamped down for the rest of the game.

Final Score: Alabama 17, Texas A&M 14

Week Five (3-1; 0-1): vs. Arkansas (in Dallas)

An uninspiring first half led to a 17-10 halftime deficit, but this wasn’t our traditional first half Arkansas malaise. Something felt off. The good guys made some headway in the third, and even pulled ahead in the 4th, but the Razorbacks started to pick up late chunks of yardage down 27-24. And then, on 3rd and 19, an Arkansas WR picks up 18 yards...

And is immediately murdered by Larry Pryor. The ball goes flying, a scrum ensues, and the Aggies recover. In this world, as in all worlds, Texas A&M owns Arkansas.

Final Score: Texas A&M 27, Arkansas 24

Week Six (4-1; 1-1): Kentucky

This was our most chill SEC game at Kyle Field since the Johnny era. A prime evening tailgating slot, a 24-point halftime lead, and SEC playing time for just about anyone on the bench with a pulse. Stress free football is the best.

Final Score: Texas A&M 48, Kentucky 17

Week Seven (5-1; 2-1): at South Carolina

Things started out great. The running game was clicking, wide receivers were open, and another SEC East victory appeared to be in the cards.

And then, without much warning, things were no longer going great. Two massive Gamecock touchdowns were sandwiched around a long A&M drive that ended in a missed field goal, and before we knew it we had a 24-17 deficit entering the 4th quarter.

We made two different trips past midfield in an attempt to tie the game, but turnovers were our undoing. In the end, South Carolina put the game on ice with little fuss.

We split our games against the South Carolina schools. Just like we all expected.

Final Score: South Carolina 31, Texas A&M 17

Week Eight: BYE

Week Nine (5-2; 2-2): at Mississippi State

No defense need apply. Unless you’re talking about a new defensive coordinator. That suddenly doesn’t seem like a terrible idea.

Final Score: Mississippi State 55, Texas A&M 48 (OT)

Week Ten (5-3; 2-3): at Auburn

Remember those previous two games, where it seemed like we had a chance deep into the 4th quarter? That wasn’t the case today. Auburn kicked our butts, emphatically killing the “home team always has to lose” curse that hung over this game since our addition to the SEC in 2012.

With that, the Aggies fell to 0-4 on the road in the SEC. Apparently, road games are supposed to be hard. Who knew?

Final Score: Auburn 61, Texas A&M 30

Week Eleven (5-4; 2-4): Ole Miss

In a truly bizarre twist, the Aggies responded well to a home game after Halloween. Ole Miss looked overmatched at just about every position, and we ultimately cruised to victory. We also captured the most elusive prize imaginable: An SEC West victory at Kyle Field

Final Score: Texas A&M 31, Ole Miss 10

Week Twelve (6-4; 3-4): UAB

The crowd turnout for this one… not great. But the on-field product was excellent. This wasn’t a “just good enough” non-conference November 11:00am effort we’ve come to expect. We coldly dispatched of an inferior opponent, and we were home for lunch by halftime.

Final Score: Texas A&M 48, UAB 10

Week Thirteen (7-4; 3-4): LSU

LSU limped into this game at 4-7. They had lost every game of importance on their schedule, they had injuries at multiple positions, and ol’ Ed O was sitting at a healthy 0% “coach safety” rating.

And for the first time in four years, we killed a wounded animal when presented the chance.

Final Score: Texas A&M 45, LSU 20

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After a 28-24 Music City Bowl victory over Virginia Tech, we ended the season with a 9-4 mark and an undefeated campaign at Kyle Field.