Texas A&M right tackle on Alabama: 'No king reigns forever'
What you guys think, did he have foot to mouth?
Forgive Texas A&M for feeling like Phil Mickelson in the Tiger Woods era of dominance.
The Aggies are a formidable team. They're ranked No. 6 in the nation. They're also undefeated.
But this week they were constantly reminded that that they're not quite as good as No. 1 Alabama, their next opponent.
Eventually, it became a sore subject in Aggieland.
"Alabama's been the king of college football for a while now," A&M right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor told reporters. "But like I said before, no king reigns forever. Every dog has their day. I'm really excited and I know my teammates are really excited to get in there and show the country that we're not a pushover team and that we're here."
Las Vegas did its part in creating the notion that Texas A&M is a major underdog. Alabama is favored to win by as many as 19 points, which probably irks Tide coach Nick Saban. It should be noted the wide margin approaches the 22-point spread that separated No. 3 Florida State and No. 7 Miami in Week 10 of 2013 — the largest ever between two undefeated teams that late in the year.
Saban, at least in public, appears more bullish on A&M than the oddsmakers do.
"Texas A&M probably presents as many issues as any team that we've played all year," he said.
The Aggies would like to agree.
When asked if the A&M's vaunted ground game, ranked seventh in the Football Bowl Subdivision, can move the ball against the Tide's top-ranked run defense, Aggies offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone responded, "Yep."
That confidence appears to have trickled down to the players, who clearly feel discounted as they prepare to face college football's preeminent power.
"We know that we're tough," Eluemenor said. "We know that we're good. We wouldn't be 6-0 if we weren't. Like Coach [Kevin] Sumlin said, we have to create our own energy and we have to go in there and we have to block out all the negativity and the fact that we're a 16.5-point underdog. Everyone's giving us no chance whatsoever. We don't listen to all that. We see that, but we don't listen to it. It just fuels the fire. We're going to go in there and play lights-out and give it everything we've got."
What you guys think, did he have foot to mouth?
Forgive Texas A&M for feeling like Phil Mickelson in the Tiger Woods era of dominance.
The Aggies are a formidable team. They're ranked No. 6 in the nation. They're also undefeated.
But this week they were constantly reminded that that they're not quite as good as No. 1 Alabama, their next opponent.
Eventually, it became a sore subject in Aggieland.
"Alabama's been the king of college football for a while now," A&M right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor told reporters. "But like I said before, no king reigns forever. Every dog has their day. I'm really excited and I know my teammates are really excited to get in there and show the country that we're not a pushover team and that we're here."
Las Vegas did its part in creating the notion that Texas A&M is a major underdog. Alabama is favored to win by as many as 19 points, which probably irks Tide coach Nick Saban. It should be noted the wide margin approaches the 22-point spread that separated No. 3 Florida State and No. 7 Miami in Week 10 of 2013 — the largest ever between two undefeated teams that late in the year.
Saban, at least in public, appears more bullish on A&M than the oddsmakers do.
"Texas A&M probably presents as many issues as any team that we've played all year," he said.
The Aggies would like to agree.
When asked if the A&M's vaunted ground game, ranked seventh in the Football Bowl Subdivision, can move the ball against the Tide's top-ranked run defense, Aggies offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone responded, "Yep."
That confidence appears to have trickled down to the players, who clearly feel discounted as they prepare to face college football's preeminent power.
"We know that we're tough," Eluemenor said. "We know that we're good. We wouldn't be 6-0 if we weren't. Like Coach [Kevin] Sumlin said, we have to create our own energy and we have to go in there and we have to block out all the negativity and the fact that we're a 16.5-point underdog. Everyone's giving us no chance whatsoever. We don't listen to all that. We see that, but we don't listen to it. It just fuels the fire. We're going to go in there and play lights-out and give it everything we've got."
