It’s not been a pleasant week in Aggieland.
As noted in Monday’s weekly local football report, Aggie head coach Dennis Franchione made several dubious decisions late in last Saturday night’s 17-16 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners. In particular, Aggies everywhere are wondering why Coach Fran decided to have Aggie QB Stephen McGee — who was passing poorly in the game anyway — throw a pass on 3rd and goal at the Sooners 2 yard line late in the game down 17-10 rather than simply hand the ball to the Aggies 275 lbs RB, Javorskie Lane on 3rd down and even 4th down, if necessary. After McGee was forced to throw the ball away under heavy pressure on the 3rd down play, Coach Fran settled for one of the most unpopular field goals in the history of Aggieland on 4th down.
Well, all of that went over about like the proverbial turd in the punch bowl in Aggieland and reopened the lingering doubts that many Aggie fans have about Coach Fran from last year’s disastrous season (see here and here). It was in that volatile environment that Coach Fran faced media questions on Tuesday about his decision, and this is what he had to say:

“Hindsight is always easy, and you certainly rethink everything that you do in situations. We wouldn’t have called the play on third down that we called if we didn’t think it was going to work.”
“Well, a lot of those [short yardage plays in which Lane has been successful] are not on the 2-yard line where defenses are bunched down as close as they are. A lot of them are in the field in a little bit different situations.”

Apparently, Coach Fran was unaware of the fact that Lane had previously carried the ball on 3rd & 4th downs this season 27 times, resulting in 18 first downs and 6 TD’s. In other words, an 89% success rate. Moreover, Lane has not been stopped short of a 1st down on 3rd or 4th down in the Ags’ last seven games, including all six of the Aggies’ Big 12 conference games. On 16 of his 18 successful 1st down conversions, Lane has run for more yardage than needed to make the 1st down.
In light of these facts, the rabid Aggie fans — who were not pleased with the call to begin with — are livid now.
With tough games looming at home against Nebraska and at Austin against Texas, the Aggies are squarely facing a potential three game losing streak to close the regular season and a minor bowl game, which will not sit well with most of the Aggie fan base. Win one of the next two games and the Ags will finish 9-3 and probably head to San Diego’s Holiday Bowl, which most Aggies would consider a reasonably successful season given last year’s disastrous season. Win both games and the Ags would finish 10-2 and head to the Cotton Bowl, which no one could complain about. Regardless of whether the Aggies win either of their next two games, my sense is that Coach Fran is safe for at least one more season. However, if the Aggies get blown out in both of those games — not likely for a team that is only five points away from being undefeated — then all bets are off.