Remember our last post about Texas A&M finally solving their second-half collapse issues?
Yeah, scratch that.
The No. 16 Aggies reverted to old form this afternoon, giving up 14 second-half points to Missouri before tying the game at 31 with a 35-yard field goal with under a minute to play in regulation. But Missouri would go on to win 38-31 in overtime, giving A&M their third blown lead of the season that resulted in a loss. That’s not even mentioning the missed field goal by the Tigers that could have won the game in regulation.
A&M nearly lost a fourth game this season when they gave up 20 second-half points to Texas Tech in a 45-40 win in Lubbock.
This is a frustrating trend for Texas A&M, who has the talent on both sides of the ball to better than 5-3. It’s not going to get any easier, either. Games against Oklahoma, Kansas State and Texas remain for A&M, and the former two are on the road. This could be an eight-win team at best with the talent to be a 10-win team.
What the Aggies need is leadership, some veteran guys -- especially on defense -- to have enough pride to not let things slip away late in games (not to mention some better second-half adjustments from head coach Mike Sherman; what’s going to happen when they get in the SEC West against Nick Saban and Les Miles?). They need grit, and if A&M doesn’t have it after eight games this season, it’s hard to believe they’ll have it to finish the year strong.