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A&M Didn't Play to Win
Published: 11/5/2006 2:12 PM
Last Modified: 11/5/2006 2:12 PM


His coaching didn't give his team a chance.
AP


The contrast between Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione couldn't have been more definitive.
Stoops took the big gamble. The Sooners were either going to win or lose on a fourth down with inches to go deep in their own territory with a little over a minute to go.
Make the first down and OU wins. If something bad happens, anything from a fumbled snap to a stumble by quarterback Paul Thompson, and Texas A&M gets the ball and most likely a winning field goal.
The Sooners took the gamble and won.
Texas A&M did not and deserved to lose.
Franchione's decision to take two field goals, instead of taking some shots at a tying or go-ahead touchdown, tells you everything you need to know about the A&M coach.
His Aggies were good enough to beat OU. His coaching didn't give his team a chance.
A&M has the biggest and baddest running back at the goal line. Javorski Lane, 280 pounds of toughness, is the best short yardage runner in the nation.
So, what does Franchione choose to do in the fourth quarter with two downs at the OU 2? He throws a pass that hasn't been open all night and then kicks a field goal.
That's why A&M is not challenging the top of the Big 12 South despite good enough talent.
The Aggies will continue to slide until Franchione learns a hard lesson. You have to give your team a chance.
Forget the percentages and playing it by the book.
Players want to win. Franchione didn't give his players that chance in the 17-16 loss to OU on Saturday.



Reader Comments 2 Total

W.G. Smith (6 years ago)
Fate has been playing craps with Franchione the past two weeks. His decision to go for a field goal against the Sooners when his team was facing a fourth and two from the OU two yard line looked horrible at the time. And then as the game progressed and the Sooners faced a fourth and inches going into the wind with 1:29 left in the fourth quarter, his field goal decision began to look absolutely prescient. And then Stoops gambled and won (with a little help from the Aggie 12th man on the field) and, again, rendered Franchione's choice to kick the fg idiotic. Last weekend's game with Nebraska was an instant replay of the OU situation. Had Franchione gone for the touchdown in the same situation with the Huskers (as he should have done with Oklahoma) he would have, in all likelihood, beaten both OU and NU and would have been the toast of the town in College Station- for whatever that'd be worth. The karma Franchione accrued when bailing out on the Crimson Tide appears to be catching up with him in this incarnation.
sxilhkb@mail.com (6 years ago)
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Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

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