TEXAS A&M VS. UMASS
Aggies look to end historic skid as UMASS comes to town
Nov 16, 2022, 1:00 pm
The Aggies have lost six straight games. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.
Jimbo Fisher
The downhill slide continued last Saturday night for Jimbo Fisher and the Texas A&M Aggies as they lost their sixth straight game to the lowly Auburn Tigers 13-10. It was an abysmal game on both sides of the ball for both squads. In all honesty, it was a very hard game to watch. Even with an interim coach, the battle of the 3-6 SEC West teams favored Auburn, and Aggieland fell even deeper into the abyss.
How did they get here? I seem to ask that question every week. The loss to App State in week two was a sign of things to come. When the Mountaineers from the Sun Belt came to Kyle Field and defeated the 6th-ranked Texas Aggies, the thought on many Aggie’s minds was, “maybe App State is just that good? The Ags can still win the SEC. It was just a non-conference game!” It turns out that App State was not that good. It turns out that the Aggies could not win the SEC. It turns out that the nightmare season that many Aggie faithful feared had come true.
So here we are, with Texas A&M missing their first bowl game due to their record since 2008. With UMASS and SEC West Champs LSU remaining on the schedule, Aggie fans and Alumni are legitimately questioning if they will finish 3-9. Let that sink in. You cannot confidently say Texas A&M can beat UMASS. The best-case scenario is the Maroon and White somehow win out and finish 5-7. I’m not in the crowd that is worried about UMASS, however. I think the Aggies will be able to finally get that winning feeling again against the Minutemen. But the next challenge comes to close out the season with LSU after thanksgiving. If Jimbo Fisher wants to build ANY momentum going into the offseason, a great place to start would be wrecking LSU’s playoff hopes.
The Aggies will need to take it one step at a time, however. If they focus on UMASS first and handle their business this coming Saturday, I believe they'll be able to end this historic skid for Texas A&M. A&M handles UMASS easily with a 34-10 victory to improve to 4-7.
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Cam Smith brought three dozen Shipley's glazed donuts to his Houston Astros teammates Thursday morning before his major league debut.
Then he really delivered, with an opposite-field single on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues to help Houston to a 3-1 win over the New York Mets.
“They all liked it, so that’s a good thing," Smith said of the donuts, a sentiment that could also apply to his second-inning hit that set up the first run of the game.
The 22-year-old prospect reached the majors after playing just 32 minor league games. Batting seventh and starting in right field, he became the second-youngest Astros position player to make his MLB debut as a starter on opening day and the youngest since Rusty Staub was 19 in 1963.
With one out in the second, Smith grounded a single to right field on a sinker from Clay Holmes to get his first big league hit in his initial plate appearance. Jeremy Peña dashed from first to third on the play and later scored on a groundout.
“I was just looking for a pitch and I wanted to ambush it and I got lucky with that base hit,” Smith said.
The poise he showed in his debut impressed his coaches and teammates.
“He's amazing," Jose Altuve said. “He went the other way on a tough pitch and he set the tone to score the first run. I know he's going to help this team a lot. He's going to be out there getting better and better. He's just so talented.”
Most believed that Smith, the 14th overall pick in last year’s amateur draft, would need more time in the minors when he was acquired in December from the Chicago Cubs along with Isaac Paredes and Hayden Wesneski as part of the Kyle Tucker trade.
Instead, Smith hit .342 with a triple, four homers, 11 RBIs and a 1.130 OPS this spring to earn a spot on the major league roster.
The Astros announced he’d make the big league roster earlier this week, with manager Joe Espada inviting Smith's mother into the clubhouse to deliver the news. Video of the moment shared by the Astros captured the touching exchange.
After the trade, Smith moved from third base, where Paredes is starting, to right field, where he replaced Tucker.
Still wearing his dirt-stained uniform long after the last pitch Thursday, the kid who was playing college ball at Florida State at this time last year said he hadn’t had time to reflect on his whirlwind journey to the big leagues.
“I have not,” Smith said. “I was just out there with my family on the field appreciating this day and ... good thing we got done early so I can go home and get my feet under myself and think about it.”
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