Sherman primed for first game week

COLLEGE STATION -- New Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman was a half-hour late for a photo shoot on Sunday and quarterback Stephen McGee was concerned.

Sherman finally came out of the Aggies' football complex, got the picture out of the way, gruffly said a few words and went back inside.

McGee asked associate athletic director Tim Cassidy if Sherman was mad about something. Cassidy said Sherman was just getting into character.

``He was like, 'It's just game week. He's going to be like that,''' McGee said Monday. ``I said, 'OK. Just making sure.'''

The Aggies open the Sherman era on Saturday against Arkansas State.

Later Sunday, Sherman showed the team more emotion in a passionate speech.

``I talked to them about, 'Man, this is game week. This is fun. The two-a-days are over and we're ready to go,''' Sherman said. ``'This is why you play football. If you can't get excited about game week, then you're in the wrong business.'

``I really didn't give them a chance to show me what they had as much as I wanted to explain what this was all about and how excited they should be.''

But the Aggies' overall mind-set should be the least of Sherman's worries.

Fullback Jorvorskie Lane is questionable for the game because of lingering effects from a neck injury. The 6-foot, 285-pound senior sustained a stinger in practice Aug. 13 and hasn't participated in contact drills since.

Sherman said Lane still hasn't been cleared to play and has been coping with headaches.

``He's been held out of any major conditioning,'' Sherman said. ``We'll play it by ear. He hasn't been cleared to do a whole heck of a lot, so I have some concern there.''

Nick LaMantia, Lane's backup and a Sharyland graduate, has been hobbled by a sprained left ankle, but Sherman said he should be ready to play Saturday.

Sherman likes the competition he's seen between tailbacks Mike Goodson, former McAllen Memorial running back Bradley Stephens and Cyrus Gray. Goodson, a junior, rushed for 711 yards in 2007 and while he's the clear starter, Sherman said he's been pushed in practice by Stephens and Gray, both freshmen.

``There is a lot of quality depth there, which is important for us, especially early in the season,'' Sherman said. ``We're going to need every single one of those guys.''

 Sherman is anxious to see how the Aggies' offensive line will perform in a real game. Only one starter returns from last season and Sherman said Monday he's still worried about the unit's depth.

``They're making progress. They're going to take game experience to get to the level we need to get,'' Sherman said. ``We'll find out about that group once we get into the ball game.''

McGee is one of Sherman's certainties. The senior earned the starting job at quarterback in an open competition with Jerrod Johnson in fall practices.

But while McGee says he's a perfect fit for Sherman's pro-style offense, Sherman still has questions about his receiving corps.

Sherman said Jeff Fuller and Howard Morrow have looked good in recent practices, but Fuller is a freshman and Morrow missed last season with a wrist injury.

``We're getting better,'' Sherman said of the receiving corps overall. ``We've got a long way to go and we're not there yet.''

Sherman said he hasn't decided on a No. 1 kicker between senior Richie Bean and freshman Randy Bullock. The two are vying for the spot left by Matt Szymanski, who transferred to SMU.