TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- So Nick Saban might have been embellishing a bit during his radio show here Thursday night, when he said the Texas A&M Aggies' goal is to snap the ball nine seconds into the "shot clock." With 31 seconds remaining on the play clock, Saban says, the Aggies aim to have the ball hiked.
It's an exaggeration, but you get the point. A month ago, after Alabama had an ever-so-slight hiccup at Ole Miss in a 33-14 win against the Rebels, Saban got all agitated about no-huddle, up-tempo offenses and wondered if they were good for the game.
Now come Kevin Sumlin's Aggies, averaging 81.3 plays a game. But it's not just run-and-shoot football -- the majority right now is running plays, marking a departure from Sumlin's past teams at Houston. It's about pace, period.
A&M presents a different sort of opponent for the SEC. And the Ags have held their own so far, losing only two contested games to Top-10 opponents, Florida and LSU.
We talked all summer -- sometimes to the teams -- about which SEC rookie, Missouri or Texas A&M, was more equipped to handle the new environs. It looks like A&M (7-2) now. It looks like A&M for the future.
To read Travis Haney's full take on whether Texas A&M can achieve long-term success in the SEC, you must be an ESPN Insider.
Travis Haney
ESPN Insider• Joined ESPN as Insider's national college football writer in April 2012
• Previously wrote for The Oklahoman and The Post and Courier
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Travis HaneyTravis Haney joined ESPN in April 2012 as Insider's national college football writer. He previously covered the University of Oklahoma Sooners for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman for one season, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier for four. Additionally, Haney has contributed since 2003 to ESPN publications and projects, including ESPN The Magazine.
A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Haney's initial introduction to a college football cathedral was Neyland Stadium. He later graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 2003, and has spent time covering the Volunteers, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and other schools. Safe to say, football, and football in the South, was injected into his bloodstream at a young age.
Haney is the author of three books -- Gamecock Glory and Gamecock Encore, which chronicled the South Carolina baseball team's run to the 2010 and 2011 national championships, and State of Disunion, a historical look at the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry that he co-wrote with Larry Williams.
Haney resides in Charlotte, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter here.
