# 2011 Texas A&M Aggies football team

The 2011 Texas A&M Aggies football team represented Texas A&M University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by fourth year head coach Mike Sherman during the regular season and Tim DeRuyter during their bowl game. They played their home games at Kyle Field. This was their final football season as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 4–5 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They were invited to the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas where they defeated Northwestern 33–22.
Texas A&M sold out every home game during the season for the first time, setting new attendance records for total fans (610,283) and average fans per game (87,183) in the process. The sellouts were due in large part to speculation (later confirmed) that Texas A&M would become a member of the Southeastern Conference beginning in 2012.
A week after losing the rivalry game with Texas, on December 1, 2011, head coach Mike Sherman was fired by phone while on a recruiting trip in Houston, Texas. Defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter was the interim head coach for their bowl game. Sherman finished at A&M with a four-year record of 25–25. Sherman was replaced by Kevin Sumlin while DeRuyter left A&M to become the head coach at Fresno State.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 4 | 6:30 pm | SMU* | No. 8 | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX | FSN | W 46–14 | 86,951 |
| September 17 | 6:00 pm | Idaho* | No. 9 | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX | FSSW–PPV | W 37–7 | 86,623 |
| September 24 | 2:30 pm | No. 7 Oklahoma State | No. 8 | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX | ABC/ESPN2 | L 29–30 | 87,358 |
| October 1 | 11:00 am | vs. No. 18 Arkansas* | No. 14 | Cowboys StadiumArlington, TX (Southwest Classic) | ESPN | L 38–42 | 69,838 |
| October 8 | 6:00 pm | at Texas Tech | No. 24 | Jones AT&T StadiumLubbock, TX (rivalry) | FX | W 45–40 | 58,416 |
| October 15 | 11:00 am | No. 20 Baylor | No. 21 | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX (Battle of the Brazos) | FX | W 55–28 | 87,361 |
| October 22 | 2:30 pm | at Iowa State | No. 17 | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA | ABC | W 33–17 | 51,131 |
| October 29 | 11:00 am | Missouri | No. 16 | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX | FX | L 31–38 $^{OT}$ | 86,934 |
| November 5 | 2:30 pm | at No. 7 Oklahoma | | Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | ABC/ESPN2 | L 25–41 | 85,709 |
| November 12 | 2:30 pm | at No. 17 Kansas State | | Bill Snyder Family Football StadiumManhattan, KS | ABC | L 50–53 $^{4OT}$ | 46,204 |
| November 19 | 11:00 am | Kansas | | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX | FSN | W 61–7 | 86,411 |
| November 24 | 7:00 pm | No. 25 Texas | | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX (rivalry) | ESPN | L 25–27 | 88,645 |
| December 31 | 11:00 am | vs. Northwestern* | | Reliant StadiumHouston, TX (Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas) | ESPN | W 33–22 | 68,395 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 24 | 21 | 17 | 16 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 25 | 23 | 18 | 16 | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 23 | 19 | 17 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 17 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |