Texas A&M Football joined the SEC in 2012 with resounding success. But, what if they didn’t leave? What if the same 2012 team with Kevin Sumlin and Johnny Manziel play in the Big 12?
Anybody who knows me knows that I love these kind of unanswerable, but extremely debatable questions. I love those theories that sound like they are out of left field, but get proven. So, we’re going to ask the question, “what if Texas A&M never left the Big 12?”
We’re going to keep the rosters and coaches the same, with the same recruiting, and run it through a crazy fun website, whatifsports.com. We will look at the Big 12 from 2012 to now, and run each game 10 times, to best get an average for each game. Non-conference games will stay the same. This piece is the 2012 season, and we’ll continue with seasons every week.
Week 1 (0-0):At Louisiana Tech
Texas A&M defeats Louisiana Tech 37-26
We open against Louisiana Tech, in Shreveport. If you don’t remember the actual game, go watch it. It was tons of fun, and the Aggies won, 59-57. In reality, it was played in October, after the original game was postponed. In this alternate timeline, there is no hurricane. I guess moving to the SEC caused enough waves to create a hurricane in the Gulf. We’re going to run this one so you can see how it works. I simulate 10 games, and average the scores. Then, I focus on one game to pull stats from.
In running it through the website, the Aggies won nine out of 10 games, but every one they won was pretty close, within a few scores. Here are some high points:
I pulled stats from one game, where the Aggies won 49-24.
- Johnny Manziel- 15-21, 307 yards, one touchdown and one interception, 70 yards rushing and one rushing score
- Ben Malena– 19 carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns
- Mike Evans– 217 yards receiving (!) and one touchdown with a long of 96 yards and four catches of 20+ yards.
The Manziel era begins in Shreveport with a pretty efficient game through the air. Mike Evans has himself a coming out party at the expense of the Bulldogs. A 96 yard catch that in my mind was on third and long to absolutely deflate the Bulldog faithful, and four catches of 20 or more yards. Wow. Ben Malena has a pretty good game, gaining almost five yards per carry. Unlike the 2017 UCLA game, they feed him and he almost gets 100 yards on the day.