Published Nov 27, 2024
10 Things for Wednesday (!), sponsored by Brent Campbell
Mark Passwaters  •  AggieYell
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Sponsored by Brent Campbell, Fighting Texas Aggie Class of 1998. Brent is a Commercial Real Estate Broker, serving all of Central Texas and specializing in sales, leasing & development. He leads a retail acquisition and sales team and was recognized by the Austin Business Journal as a Commercial Real Estate Heavy Hitter in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 & 2023.

In the last 22 years, he has closed deals with a total transactional value of over $375 million and has leased more than 4.5 million square feet. Brent currently serves as the president of the board of directors for Habitat Homes, Inc. and Pathways Youth and Family Services. He is a former president of the Heart of Round Rock Neighborhood Association and a former member of the Round Rock Zoning Advisory Committee, the Round Rock Business and Retention Committee, and the City of Round Rock Ethics Commission, which has led him to begin developing in Williamson and Travis County.

An Austin native, Brent lives in Round Rock where he and his wife have raised four boys. Brent works for Don Quick and Associates, Inc. in Round Rock, TX and can be reached at brent@donquick.com.

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Here's 10 Things for Tuesday on a Wednesday...

1. The first injury update for the Texas game is out

Listed as questionable are the following: CB Will Lee, nickel Jaydon Hill and QB Jaylen Henderson.

And running back Rueben Owens.

I'm telling you right now: if there's any chance Owens can play, he's going to. And I think there's more than just a chance.

If Owens plays, that's a tremendous shot in the arm for A&M. I don't know how many carries he can handle, but Amari Daniels carried the ball 27 times at Auburn. The coaching staff clearly doesn't think EJ Smith can be a serious threat in the running game, so A&M was down to Daniels and Marcel Reed Saturday night.

If Owens is anything like he was in the summer, Texas is in for an unpleasant surprise. He looked like a totally different guy than he did last season, and it looked like things had slowed down for him. If that's the case, he can be a real factor in this game.

2. Hill is more important than you think

I've seen people say that, since Texas throws the ball a lot, this is not a Jaydon Hill kind of game. I disagree. Texas does two things that would lead me to believe this is a Jaydon Hill kind of game: they throw a lot of short passes and throw to the tight end. Hill likes to get downhill and pop people, and quick outs give him that opportunity. Obviously, he can cover a tight end (that doesn't play for Bowling Green. That guy was a freak). So I think you could see Hill and BJ Mayes out there at the same time.

3. Will Lee's absence was costly Saturday. They need him this week for sure

If you want a reason A&M lost at Auburn and don't feel like blaming the defensive line or bad officiating (more on them in a minute), I think it happened during Auburn's second drive. Will Lee got hurt and did not return, leaving A&M with Jayvon Thomas and Dezz Ricks as the Aggies' corners. To say his absence was noted by Auburn would be an understatement. Auburn's duo may be better than any two on Texas (though it's debatable), but Texas has far superior quality depth. Not having Lee would be a major problem.

4. Time to challenge the defensive ends

Yeah, they're getting held. A lot. But for Shemar Stewart and Nic Scourton to combine for nothing on the stat sheet last Saturday night is totally unacceptable. If you want to cause problems for Texas, you need to pressure Quinn Ewers. A&M is almost certainly going to come after him, but you need the ends to apply pressure on their own.

Mike Elko said there was $10 million on the table when A&M's ends went up against LSU. Scourton could have walked away with that $10 million on his own in that game. He hasn't done anything since. It's time to remind him that the money is still on the table, not in his pocket. Same goes for Stewart.

5. The top scoring team in SEC conference play is...

Texas A&M, at 32.5 points a game. Yes, higher than Georgia, than Ole Miss and even Texas. Not bad for a team that had to switch quarterbacks and alter its scheme, lost one of its top receivers for the season and had an All-SEC running back go down with a year-ending injury.

All things considered, Collin Klein's done a pretty good job with what he's had to work with. That may not be a popular opinion for some people, but the offense hasn't been the problem of late.

6. Maybe something will get done now

I've been complaining as loudly as humanly possible about how crappy SEC officiating has been. Not just this year, but for several years. This year has just been even more atrocious than usual. But nobody in positions of authority has listened. But, last weekend, the unthinkable happened: Alabama got screwed by an outrageously bad call. Alabama has three losses, is out of the SEC Championship hunt and is probably toast for the CFP. This isn't to say that Oklahoma wouldn't have won anyway, but once Alabama starts raising hell along with everyone else, maybe something will finally change.

7. Shut up, Lane

On Monday, I mentioned that it was quite glorious that Ole Miss spent a ton of money on this season only to have Lane Kiffin personally blow it to hell with his immature playcalling. But his immaturity doesn't stop at the sideline, as we know. Tonight, he decided he'd take shots at the ACC and Big 12 over their scheduling in order to make a case for the Rebels to still make the CFP.

“It’s ridiculous, the difference of playing in the SEC and the ACC and Big 12… To think that you’re looking at schools and you’re talking about, like, Clemson’s schedule and who they played over Alabama. It’s stupid. I’m not gonna name them. Take some of those teams that are up there that haven’t played anybody and put them down in the SEC, they’re .500 teams," he said.

You know what? He may have a point. He probably does have a point. But you know what else? Nobody cares. He knew what his team had to do this season. They didn't do it. Tough crap. Shut up and grow up.

8. Are they good, or are the other guys bad?

Texas has the number three scoring defense in the nation, giving up 12.1 points a game. That is, by any stretch, stout. But here's their opponents and their scoring offense rankings as we head into the final weekend:

Colorado State: 101st

Michigan: 107th

UTSA: 31st

ULM: 117th

Mississippi State (QB making first career start): 117th (what are the odds?)

Oklahoma (played with their backup QB): 92nd

Georgia: 29th

Vanderbilt: 76th

Florida (played with their third string QB): 71st

Arkansas: 46th

Kentucky: 113th

The Texas defense is good. They've also played a lot of garbage.

9. Hoops gets gotta have it win -- Buzz's 100th at A&M

After their second second half flop of the season against Oregon, the Aggies rallied Wednesday to beat No. 21 Creighton 77-73. A&M won ugly, hitting only 21% of their 3-pointers and less than 40% from the field. They also had 21 offensive rebounds to Creighton's 11 and held the Bluejays to 38% from the field. It was an appropriate 100th win at A&M for Buzz Williams, who is the first coach in history to have more than 100 wins at three power conference schools (Kelvin Sampson hasn't reached 100 at Houston in a power conference yet).

10. Coleman playing his best ball so far

Henry Coleman has played well each of the last two Novembers, but he's taken things up a notch this year.

Coleman got his first start of the year tonight and responded with 17 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the floor. In just 20 minutes a game so far, he's averaging 10.3 points a game (his career high, 11.1 three years ago, came in seven more minutes a game) while well above his previous career highs from the field and at the free throw line. He's also well ahead of his previous career high in rebounds a game.

In the past, it seemed like Coleman had his best games against weaker opponents and then wasn't as effective against the big boys; so far this year, however, his best games have come against ranked teams in Ohio State and Creighton.

Coleman doesn't have to do as much with the addition of Pharrel Payne, but he's been a force to date. If he can be a consistent scoring presence throughout the year, that would definitely be a shot in the arm to the offense.