Like most of us, Texas A&M free safety Jordan Pugh enjoys spending time with friends and family members during the holiday season. But he reached his limit last December.
The breaking point, Pugh said, came while exchanging holiday cheer during phone calls with friends who played for Texas, Oklahoma or other bowl-bound football teams.
"Hearing them talk about their bowl practices kind of made you mad," Pugh said. "I like being at home with my family. But I like playing in bowl games better than that."
The memory of what eluded him last season, when the Aggies were 4-8 and home for the holidays, returned to the forefront of Pugh's mind this week. The senior has shared those reflections with younger teammates to reinforce what is on the line for A&M (5-3, 2-2 in Big 12) in Saturday's game at Colorado (2-6, 1-3).
With a victory, the Aggies would become bowl-eligible. Pugh said that would be a "huge" first step toward reaching the goal the team envisions under second-year coach Mike Sherman.
"We're looking to finish out 9-3," Pugh said. "That's what we want. But we've got to take it step by step. To be bowl-eligible, you have to win. We want to win out the rest of the season. That's the motivation we're playing with right now."
Such a statement would have sounded silly to all but the most ardent of Aggie loyalists on Oct. 17, when A&M absorbed a 62-14 drubbing at Kansas State. The loss was A&M's third in a row, dropping the record to 3-3 with nothing but matchups against Big 12 opponents remaining.
That is when Sherman made a bold move. Five days before the team's Oct. 24 game at Texas Tech, he held a postgame victory ritual -- handing out carabiner clips to players -- in the Aggies' locker room and told his troops, "I might as well give (these) to you now because ... we're going to go win this football game."
Sherman said Monday he used the motivational ploy, which symbolized A&M's long climb back to the top, before the Tech game because he "felt the team had a lot of character" and "would come out swinging" after the lopsided loss to K-State. It did.
A&M upset Tech 52-30 and followed up with last week's 35-10 rout of Iowa State. Heading into Saturday's game in Boulder, Colo., the Aggies have won consecutive conference games by 20 or more points for the first time since 2002. They boast the nation's sack leader in defensive end Von Miller (13{) and have an offense that has crossed the 500-yard barrier in all five of its victories this season.
But after the Colorado game, the Aggies face a three-game closing stretch against teams that beat them by 20 or more points last season: No. 20 Oklahoma (66-28), Baylor (41-21) and No. 2 Texas (49-9). That is why players feel a sense of urgency to become bowl-eligible this week.
"Now that we're close, we've got to keep pushing. That's what we're fighting for," said left guard Evan Eike, whose move into the starting lineup has coincided with A&M's two-game winning streak. "We want to be playing in a bowl game this off-season, not sitting at home."
Jerrod Johnson, A&M's quarterback, said reaching the six-win minimum for bowl eligibility is "something we're trying to stress" this week. He also considers it an inevitable byproduct of lessons learned in the Kansas State game and reinforced during two subsequent victories.
Johnson said he agreed with Sherman's assessment that the K-State loss "galvanized" the team because it forced them to confront their flaws and work harder to overcome them.
"Coach Sherman told us, 'It's time to pull out your man card,'" Johnson said. "It comes down to everyone winning your individual matchup and taking it personally. ... It definitely woke us all up. We grew up and got stronger as a team because of it."
How much stronger will become clear over the next four games. Although several players cited a bowl game as a foregone conclusion to the 2009 season, Sherman did not. Asked what a bowl berth would mean to his team and his football program, Sherman said: "Once that happens, you can ask me that question and I'll tell you how I feel."
Pugh already knows. He's played in two bowls during his A&M career and he's anxious to make it back as a senior. He also likes the way his teammates have responded in the wake of the K-State loss.
"We were embarrassed (by K-State) and nobody likes to be embarrassed," Pugh said. "That's what brought the success, because people took it personally. We've got to keep that going."
If not, Pugh runs the risk of spending another holiday season at home, filled with frustrating phone calls to bowl-bound friends on rival teams.
Quick hits
Championship game tickets: Ticket sales begin at 10 a.m. today for the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 5 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Prices range from $50 to $120 per seat, depending on location. There are five different price ranges: $50, $60, $70, $80 and $120.
The game will be played at 7 p.m. and will televised on WFAA/Ch. 8.
Tickets may be purchased at the Cowboys Stadium ticket office and all Ticketmaster outlets in Dallas-Fort Worth. Online purchases can be made at http://. Phone orders are available at 800-745-3000.
In addition, each of the participating teams will have an allotment of up 12,000 seats to sell through its on-campus ticket offices. Tickets are not available through the Big 12 office.
Quarterback stability: Heading into Saturday's games, only five league teams have used the same starting quarterback in every game this season. Last season, when Big 12 teams broke lots of offensive records, nine schools enjoyed stability at quarterback for the entire season.
Not surprisingly, all five teams that have started the same quarterback every week in 2009 have overall winning records: Texas (8-0, 5-0), Oklahoma State (6-2, 3-1), Texas A&M (5-3, 2-2), Kansas (5-3, 1-3) and Missouri (5-3, 1-3).
Big 12 teams have used 21 starting quarterbacks this season, including two freshmen who made their debuts last week: Nebraska's Cody Green and Texas Tech's Seth Doege. Last season, league teams used only 15 starting quarterbacks.
Tech and Baylor have used the most starters, with three each. For Tech, the list includes Doege, Taylor Potts and Steven Sheffield. Baylor's starters have been Robert Griffin, Nick Florence and Blake Szymanski.
Right combination: In its eight games this season, Texas A&M has used seven combinations of starting offensive linemen. The only combination to be repeated is the one that has started for the past two weeks, when the Aggies (5-3, 2-2) rolled to victories over Texas Tech and Iowa State.
That fivesome, slated to start Saturday against Colorado, includes left tackle Michael Shumard, left guard Evan Eike, center Kevin Matthews, right guard Patrick Lewis and right tackle Lee Grimes.
The most recent additions are Eike, who has started the past two games, and Lewis, a true freshman who has started the past three games. Shumard, who held the left guard spot earlier this season, said he is "better at guard" than tackle but was willing to move because doing so "has helped our team a lot."
Coach Mike Sherman cited the development of Lewis, one of nine true freshmen to start for the Aggies this season, as a stabilizing force up front. Eike agreed.
"You've got to give all the credit in the world to Patrick," Eike said. "He's really got a good hold on the offense. I don't see him doing anything but getting better from here on out."
Burch's picks
Matchup of the week
No. 20 Oklahoma at
Nebraska: Two blue-blood programs meet, each with plans to start a freshman quarterback against a stingy defense. Oklahoma's Landry Jones looms as the logical candidate to play the better game. Oklahoma 24, Nebraska 13.
Other games
Texas 35, Central Florida 13: The Longhorns win despite some early struggles against a contender to claim the Conference USA title.
Texas A&M 38, Colorado 30: Expect a spirited effort from the struggling Buffs. But look for the Aggies to become bowl-eligible.
Oklahoma State 35, Iowa State 28: The Cowboys rebound from last week's loss to Texas. But the Cyclones make them sweat.
Missouri 28, Baylor 16: The Bears' bowl hopes are placed on life support after the team's fifth consecutive loss.
Kansas State 27, Kansas 24: Legendary coach Bill Snyder is worth points in close matchups. Give me the Wildcats, by a whisker.
Last week: 6-0
Season: 57-16
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