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Updated 6:28 AM on Wednesday, October 17, 2007

A&M's season about as normal as '02

By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Columnist

Dennis Franchione's weekly press conference had a sense of normalcy Tuesday.

It was back in the Bright Complex's cozy Room 225 instead of spacious Hegner Auditorium, so there was no need for reporters to use a microphone.

The only players in attendance where requested by the media. Athletic director Bill Byrne didn't attend, nor did university president Eddie Joe Davis issue a statement.

Heck, there were even questions about Saturday's opponent, Nebraska.

But no question about it, this was anything but a normal Tuesday press conference. Then again, no day can be ordinary for Franchione and his players knowing what's happening around them over the past month.

Franchione's future became an iffy situation when A&M released the results of its internal investigation into Franchione's secret newsletter he e-mailed to a select group of boosters.

Some fans already think Franchione will be fired no matter what happens the rest of the season, while others base their opinion on the last game. Since that was a 35-7 loss at Texas Tech, it's a lot harder to find Franchione supporters this week.

Franchione can only strengthen his position one victory at a time. A five-game winning streak would be impressive, maybe even leading to cheers. A&M's done that only once in Big 12 play, winning seven in a row en route to the 1998 South title.

However, each loss will have the fallout effect of two, which A&M has experienced at Miami and Lubbock. The Aggies are 5-2 and tied for the Big 12 South lead at 2-1, yet you sense this is a 5-4 team with no shot at winning the South.

Such is the working environment created by an embattled coach.

There are some similarities to 2002, which was R.C. Slocum's last season.

Fans already were upset with Slocum's 8-4 finish the previous year that included losses to Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Texas to end the regular season. That came on the heels of a 7-5 season in 2000 that ended with three losses, the last to Jackie Sherrill-coached Mississippi State in the Independence Bowl.

Slocum uncharacteristically switched offensive coordinators three games into the 2002 season, replacing Dino Babers with Kevin Sumlin. That came after a 13-3 home loss to Virginia Tech in which A&M had 156 yards on 63 snaps.

The fans' grumbling picked up after a 48-47 loss at home to Texas Tech. A&M blew an 18-point lead, missed two extra points and allowed Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury to pass for 474 yards and five touchdowns against a defense loaded with soon-to-be NFL draft picks.

Victories over Baylor and Kansas didn't deter the Slocum bashers, who were back after losses to Nebraska and Oklahoma State. A&M squandered a 17-point lead against Nebraska, which halted the Cornhuskers' five-game road losing streak, while OSU ended its six-game losing streak to A&M with a close one in Stillwater, Okla.

Slocum miraculously appeared to save his job with a 30-26 upset of top-ranked Oklahoma. He brought prize freshman quarterback Reggie McNeal off the bench to relieve Dustin Long. It was gutsy - or desperate - considering that Long had thrown for a then Big 12-record seven touchdowns against Tech.

Slocum and the Aggies never got to savor one of the school's greatest victories. The following week, the lowly Missouri Tigers came into Kyle Field with a 1-5 league record only to walk out with a 33-27 overtime victory. It was Slocum's fourth home loss that season and his final game at Kyle Field.

Amidst the speculation leading up to the Texas game, San Antonio Express-News columnist Dan Cook wrote that Slocum would be replaced by Franchione afterward. Many scoffed, saying it was reckless reporting, for Cook based his column on rumor and hearsay.

That's pale in comparison to the way news - or rumors - are handled today.

Franchione is more than a month away from playing Texas, yet a list of his possible replacements already has surfaced. There are more Web sites, chat rooms and blogs blasting Franchione than victories he's had at A&M.

If Franchione isn't aware of it, his head is in the sand.

Slocum certainly knew fans wanted his head in 2002.

"I'm always, I guess, amazed that more fans don't see the big picture," he said before the OU game.

Slocum probably thought his resume deserved a raise more than a pink slip, for he had control of A&M's big picture, which includes running a clean program, graduating players and all of things, outside of winning, that fans and alumni can be proud of. Slocum also was doing it without the benefit of the Bright Complex nor the new indoor practice facility, recruiting tools Texas and Oklahoma had that were making it tough on A&M.

Slocum was an Aggie icon. He helped clean up a program that suffered in the late 1980s from transgressions under Sherill and was banned from the postseason and television for the 1994 season by the NCAA. He became the winningest coach in school history - 123-47-2 (.721), without a losing season. He had staunch supporters up until he was fired, and many of them still say A&M made a mistake by not keeping him.

Now trying to prove he should return is Franchione, who has to face four Top 25 teams over the next two months. Slocum played only three Top 25 teams his final season, going 1-2. So Franchione will get opportunities to do what he was hired to - return A&M to national prominence. All any coach asks for is a chance, right?

Lost in the fans' obsession with Franchione's fate are the players, who, if you remember, lost out in the Slocum saga.

The 2002 team was bowl eligible but stayed home. We often forget that. Those seniors certainly deserved a postseason trip. A&M lost five games that season by a combined 29 points. They had to deal with the talk surrounding their embattled coach and didn't get a thing for it.

It's easy for coaches to isolate themselves from outside distractions. They are professionals. They just go to work. Coaches also understand they will get fired if they don't produce.

It's different for players. They have to go to class. They hear what their fellow students are saying. They get text messages. They watch television. They surf the Internet.

Even the ones who want to can't completely get away from distractions, which seemed evident on some of the players' faces Tuesday. They must feel a huge weight on their shoulders. They want to win for so many different reasons, yet they've already failed miserably twice. They are running out of chances.

It's too bad there are no longer isolated places like Junction where Franchione could take his players to get away from the distractions and focus on the job on hand. Even Junction has the Internet, which allows fans to vent their frustrations to others halfway across the world.

That's today's normalcy, which is part of the problem.

If A&M suffers another injury or two, it might have to play senior defensive back Johnathan Batson, who the Aggies were trying to redshirt.

Junior cornerback Danny Gorrer, who had started 22 straight games dating back to the 2005 season, suffered a season-ending knee injury Saturday against Tech.

"I think [Batson] would hope to hold onto his redshirt, and we'll do everything we can to hold onto it," Franchione said.

Senior Marquis Carpenter (11 starts), junior Arkeith Brown (2 starts) and sophomore Jordan Peterson (13 starts) are A&M's top cornerbacks.

Sophomore place-kicker Matt Szymanski is 10 of 18 for the season, but he's still A&M's starting kicker.

"I'm not losing any sleep over it yet," Franchione said. "I still have a lot of confidence in Matt. I know he's had an up-and-down day a little bit against Baylor [3 of 5], and then he missed two Saturday [against Tech] that you know certainly would have been nice to get points on. That was a tricky wind in some regards, but still kickers have to learn to play in those kind of situations. I know he's a fine kicker. [He's] got a great leg. I watch him every day in practice. I know he can do it because he does it on a daily basis."

Franchione said redshirt freshman quarterback Jerrod Johnson is getting better, but he's not ready to challenge starter Stephen McGee.

"Stephen wasn't really very ready as a redshirt freshman either," Franchione said. "Jerrod's made strides but he's still not as far along as we want him to get yet. And I don't think it would make a big impact right now if we brought him in."

n Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.