LSU & Florida Are Calling

Sports Illustrated predicts Texas A&M will win six games in first year of KevinSumlin: What SEC schedule worries?

Kevin Sumlin
Aggieland is set to get some extremely high-profile visitors.

Mike Sherman won six games at Texas A&M this season and got fired. Kevin Sumlin could win six games as the Aggies new coach next season and meet every expectation.

At least Sports Illustrated's.

The sports bible predicts the 2012 record of the 10 BCS programs that changed coaches in its latest issue and Sumlin and Texas A&M come out pretty well in the analysis. Despite moving into the punishing SEC, and losing plenty of firepower from an underachieving 2011 team, SI sees six wins for Sumlin. That's more than the magazine expects Mike Leach to win at Washington State (five), Charlie Weis to win at Kansas (three) and Jim Mora to win at UCLA (five).

There are not a lot of easy wins on Texas A&M's schedule, but Sports Illustrated clearly believes in Sumlin. And based on his track record at UH, why wouldn't you?

Of the 10 first-year coaches looked at, only Urban Meyer at Ohio State (nine), Larry Fedora at North Carolina (eight) and Rich Rodriguez at Arizona (seven) are projected to win more than Sumlin in year one.

Sumlin's always maintained that he's not afraid of no SEC schedule.

Now that schedule's come out and it's equal parts thrilling and terrifying for Aggie fans. For LSU (Oct. 20) and Florida (Sept. 8) are heading to Kyle Field, bringing those college football mega powers within a two-hour drive of Houston. Of course, there's also a three-game road trip from hell, sandwiched by games at Auburn and Alabama — and no Texas.

There are not a lot of easy wins on Texas A&M's 2012 schedule — outside of McNeese State and SMU — but Sports Illustrated clearly believes in Sumlin. And based on his track record at the University of Houston, why wouldn't you?

"He's got the charm and charisma to galvanize the fan base and attract top in-state talent as the Aggies move to the SEC," SI writes of Sumlin.

Sumlin, who's already recruiting Houston heavily, will be watching his new team try to close 2011 at 7-6 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl at Reliant Stadium on Saturday. Of course, the Aggies do not have to worry about the SEC aura then — Northwestern, a 6-6 team from the Big Ten is the obstacle.

Just two days later in Dallas, Sumlin's old team will try to finish 13-1 without him in Dallas.

UH's new coach, Tony Levine, didn't make Sports Illustrated's list of new BCS coaches. No one's predicting his win total without Case Keenum.

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PIGSKIN PAST

Texas football season kicks off early with new interactive film archive

Photo by Pixabay via Pexels

A new online exhibit from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image explores more than a century of the sport's history in Texas.

Triple-digit temperatures may say it's still summer, but football season is only weeks away. Before Friday night lights return and college stadiums roar back to life, Texans can get an early kickoff with Game Film: Texas Football Culture in Motion, a new interactive online exhibit. The project by the Texas Archive of the Moving Image celebrates more than a century of the state's high school, college, and professional football history.

The free digital exhibit uses archival game film, home movies, television broadcasts, and local news coverage to explore how football is woven into the fabric of Texas life. Rather than presenting a collection of videos, the archive has curated an interactive experience that lets visitors discover the people, traditions, innovations, and defining moments behind the state's football culture.

Game Film encourages exploration through interactive features. Visitors can follow a timeline of football milestones spanning high school, college, and professional football, click through an interactive state map highlighting archival footage available from schools and programs across the state, or browse themed collections devoted to Friday night culture and fan traditions.

This project, unveiled July 31, was assembled by Katharine Austin, a longtime curator at the Texas Archive, as part of the Texas Film Commission's Texas Moving Image Archive Program.

The interactive timeline traces the sport from its earliest days through the modern era, spotlighting milestones including:

1894: the beginning of the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry
1900: the first Red River Rivalry
1914: the formation of the Southwest Conference
1921: the UIL's first state football championship
1938: TCU quarterback Davey O'Brien becoming the first player from a Texas college to win the Heisman Trophy
1959: the founding of the Houston Oilers
1960: the Dallas Cowboys joining the NFL
1987: SMU's NCAA "death penalty"
1996: Drew Brees leading Westlake High School to its first state football championship
1999: Houston being awarded the NFL expansion franchise that became the Texans

Many later entries include original television reports and archival footage from the events themselves.

An interactive state map offers another way to explore the collection, highlighting schools, colleges, and professional teams represented in the archive.

One click reveals silent film of Austin High School's 20-7 victory over Sunset High in the 1942 UIL state championship, while another captures Timpson High School's homecoming celebration in East Texas, complete with parade floats, marching bands, and community festivities. Other sections spotlight Friday night traditions, Darrell Royal's wishbone offense, Bill Yeoman's Veer defense, behind-the-scenes stories from the Houston Oilers, and the invention of the quarterback flak jacket.

Game Film is the latest in a series of interactive exhibits from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, joining projects including Women on the Move, Journey to the Moon Through Texas, Meet Me in San Antonio, La Frontera Fluid, and Breaking News: Rescuing the First Draft of History. The archive's broader collection and the nonprofit both accept public donations of historic films, videotapes, photographs, and other moving-image materials, helping preserve Texas stories for future generations.

football archives film history