I earned my first opportunity to cover a Texas A&M football game as a sports writer at The Battalion towards the end of my freshman fall semester on Nov. 20, 2021. A&M hosted Prairie View A&M on Senior Day at Kyle Field and handled the Panthers in a 52-3 cakewalk that was over before 2 p.m.
Since that cool Saturday morning, I’ve become the longest-tenured staffer at The Battalion while serving as a sports editor for two years. While on the Aggies’ football beat, I’ve covered 14 games at Kyle Field with a couple of trips to Arlington’s AT&T Stadium mixed in there, as well as a head coach firing, a head coach hiring (Maybe two. Does Mark Stoops count?) and a new athletic director.
Three years after my first football coverage, my personal Senior Day is approaching with less than two weeks to go before graduation. There’s rarely been a dull moment on the beat, but my final regular season game at Kyle Field will be one of the few times when I’ve really gotten goosebumps.
After the Lone Star Showdown went quiet on the gridiron for 13 years, the long, winding road of reuniting A&M and Texas will culminate with Saturday night’s blockbuster at Kyle Field. The No. 20 Aggies and the No. 3 Longhorns will usher in a new generation of their historic rivalry in what’s a helluva way to close out my final regular season as a student.
And given what’s on the line on Saturday, it may not even be my last time at Kyle Field this year. This matchup goes beyond rivalry animosity, even if it’s been pent up since 2011. No, A&M and Texas have their postseason destinies at stake.
The winner advances to the SEC Championship, which likely represents the Aggies’ last hope to make the College Football Playoff. A&M will have to beat Texas and No. 7 Georgia in consecutive weeks to reach the new 12-team playoff, which could give it a chance to host its first round matchup. So there’s a chance, right?
On-field results may not do them justice, but there have been numerous high-profile matchups in College Station across my four seasons as a student. My freshman year saw an upset of No. 1 Alabama before 109,835 fans packed Kyle Field for a win over Auburn. Miami visited in 2022 while A&M salvaged a 5-7 campaign with a 38-23 victory against No. 6 LSU and future Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
Last season, the Aggies nearly pulled off another upset of the Crimson Tide in their last season led by G.O.A.T. coach Nick Saban. Quarterback Jaylen Henderson later engineered a 51-10 thrashing of Mississippi State, and the next day, I woke up to the news that it wasn’t enough to save coach Jimbo Fisher his job.
This year alone, we’ve been treated to a trio of top-10 matchups in Aggieland versus Notre Dame, Missouri and LSU. Redshirt sophomore QB Conner Weigman led the effort against Missouri before redshirt freshman QB Marcel Reed saved the day for A&M versus LSU. Reed has a chance to write himself into Aggie lore if he can work his same magic versus the Longhorns.
Yet none of those matchups and the excitement they carried with them compare to the anticipation for Saturday. It’s a bittersweet occasion for myself. Yes, it could very well be my final home game as a student at The Battalion, but who could not be excited for such a historic occasion?
I’ll treat the Texas game like any other, with the same mindset I gave to both McNeese State and LSU earlier this season. But will it feel different? Absolutely.
I’ve always strived to remain professional and remember I have a job to do when covering events. But if I pause on the field after the game to soak up a few more moments in that atmosphere, don’t hold it against me.
Yeah, Saturday’s game is pretty significant. And a bit bigger than Prairie View A&M.
