1986 Texas A&M Aggies football team

1986 Texas A&M Aggies football
1986 Texas A&M Aggies football
SWC champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, L 12–28 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 13
Record	9–3 (7–1 SWC)
Head coach	Jackie Sherrill (5th season);
Offensive coordinator	Lynn Amedee (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	R. C. Slocum (7th season)
Home stadium	Kyle Field
	Seasons ← 1985 1987 →

1986 Southwest Conference football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 13 Texas A&M $	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 15 Arkansas	6	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 12 Baylor	6	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Texas Tech	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
SMU	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Texas	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Rice	2	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
TCU	1	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Houston	0	–	8	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1986 Texas A&M Aggies football team represented Texas A&M University as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Jackie Sherrill, the Aggies compiled an overall record of 9–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, winning the SWC title for the second consecutive season. Texas A&M earned a berth in the Cotton Bowl Classic, where the Aggies lost to Ohio State. The team played home games at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	7:00 pm	at No. 15 LSU*	No. 7	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 17–35	79,713	^[1]
September 20		North Texas State*	No. 16	Kyle Field College Station, TX		W 48–28	54,406	^[2]
September 27		Southern Miss*		Kyle Field College Station, TX		W 16–7	54,938	^[3]
October 4	1:30 pm	Texas Tech	No. 14	Kyle Field College Station, TX (rivalry)		W 45–8	62,876	^[4]
October 11		at Houston	No. 14	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX	Raycom	W 19–7	28,277	^[5]
October 18		No. 11 Baylor	No. 20	Kyle Field College Station, TX (Battle of the Brazos)	ABC	W 31–30	74,739	^[6]
October 25		Rice	No. 10	Kyle Field College Station, TX		W 45–10	51,885	^[7]
November 1		at SMU	No. 10	Texas Stadium Irving, TX		W 39–35	58,125	^[8]
November 15		at No. 17 Arkansas	No. 7	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR (rivalry)	ABC	L 10–14	54,912	^[9]
November 22		TCU	No. 13	Kyle Field College Station, TX (rivalry)	Raycom	W 74–10	59,126	^[10]
November 27		at Texas	No. 10	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)	ESPN	W 16–3	75,623	^[11]
January 1	12:30 pm	vs. No. 11 Ohio State*	No. 8	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	L 12–28	74,188	^[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[13]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	7 (1)	7	16	14	14	14	11	10	10	8	7	13	10	8	13
Coaches	3 (5)	7	19	16	15	15	11	10	10	8	7	11	9	7	12

Game summaries

At LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Texas A&M	7	7	3	0	17
• LSU	7	7	14	7	35

Date: September 13
Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Game attendance: 79,713
Game weather: 83 °F (28 °C), Clear, Wind W 9 mph (14 km/h)
TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick, Pat McInally, and Tim Brando

^[14]

North Texas State

Southern Miss

Texas Tech

At Houston

Baylor

	1	2	3	4	Total
Baylor	17	3	7	3	30
• Texas A&M	0	14	3	14	31

Date: October 18
Location: Kyle Field
Game attendance: 74,739
TV announcers (ABC): Corey McPherrin, Lynn Swann, and Becky Dixon

Rice

At SMU

At Arkansas

TCU

^[15]

At Texas

Vs. Ohio State (Cotton Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio State	0	7	14	7	28
Texas A&M	3	3	0	6	12

Date: January 1
Location: Cotton Bowl
Game attendance: 74,188
TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist, Ara Parseghian, and Pat Haden

^[16]

Roster

1986 Texas A&M Aggies football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
TE	`29`	Rod Bernstine	Sr
QB	`14`	Kevin Murray	Sr
QB		Craig Stump
QB	`9`	Duke Newton
RB	`42`	Ira Valentine	Sr
RB	`43`	Roger Vick	Sr
WR	`30`	Karl Pitts	So
WR		Shea Walker
RB		Keith Woodside

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`11`	Johnny Holland	Sr
LB	`65`	Larry Kelm	Sr
DT	`99`	Rod Saddler	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Jackie Sherrill

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Lynn Amedee (OC)
R. C. Slocum (DC)
George Pugh (assistant)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

1987 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Roger Vick	Running back	1	21	New York Jets
Rod Bernstine	Running back	1	24	San Diego Chargers
Johnny Holland	Linebacker	2	41	Green Bay Packers
Todd Howard	Linebacker	3	73	Kansas City Chiefs
Rod Saddler	Defensive tackle	4	90	St. Louis Cardinals
Larry Kelm	Linebacker	4	108	Los Angeles Rams
Steve Bullitt	Linebacker	8	220	Cleveland Browns
Ira Valentine	Running back	12	314	Houston Oilers

^[17]

References

^ "No. 7 A&M off target, falls to LSU". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 14, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Aggies regroup, bounce NTSU". The Paris News. September 21, 1986. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Ags slowly make a point". Austin American-Statesman. September 28, 1986. Retrieved March 27, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Battlestar Aggie destroys Texas Tech, 45–8". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 5, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "A&M, Slater kick habit in Houston". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 12, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Murray whips Aggies past Baylor". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. October 19, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Ags run wild against Rice". Austin American-Statesman. October 26, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Aggies rally over Mustangs, 39–35". Del Rio News Herald. November 2, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Razorbacks pull upset over No. 7 Texas A&M". Wichita Falls Times. November 16, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "A&M gains share of SWC title by blasting TCU". The Orange Leader. November 23, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Aggies pick Cotton again". Austin American-Statesman. November 28, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Murray's miscues key Buckeyes over Aggies". Florence Morning News. January 2, 1987. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1986 Texas A&M Aggies Schedule and Results".
^ "LSU Takes 35-17 Win in Stride: Interceptions Help Defeat Texas A&M". Los Angeles Times. September 14, 1986. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
^ "Southwest Roundup: Texas A&M Trounces TCU, 74-10". Los Angeles Times. November 23, 1986. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
^ "COTTON BOWL: OHIO ST. INTERCEPTS TEXAS A&M, 28-12". The New York Times. January 2, 1987. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
^ "1987 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.

[1] "No. 7 A&M off target, falls to LSU". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 14, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] "Aggies regroup, bounce NTSU". The Paris News. September 21, 1986. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "Ags slowly make a point". Austin American-Statesman. September 28, 1986. Retrieved March 27, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "Battlestar Aggie destroys Texas Tech, 45–8". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 5, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "A&M, Slater kick habit in Houston". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 12, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Murray whips Aggies past Baylor". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. October 19, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Ags run wild against Rice". Austin American-Statesman. October 26, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Aggies rally over Mustangs, 39–35". Del Rio News Herald. November 2, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Razorbacks pull upset over No. 7 Texas A&M". Wichita Falls Times. November 16, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] "A&M gains share of SWC title by blasting TCU". The Orange Leader. November 23, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "Aggies pick Cotton again". Austin American-Statesman. November 28, 1986. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[12] "Murray's miscues key Buckeyes over Aggies". Florence Morning News. January 2, 1987. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[13] "1986 Texas A&M Aggies Schedule and Results".

[14] "LSU Takes 35-17 Win in Stride: Interceptions Help Defeat Texas A&M". Los Angeles Times. September 14, 1986. Retrieved November 9, 2019.

[15] "Southwest Roundup: Texas A&M Trounces TCU, 74-10". Los Angeles Times. November 23, 1986. Retrieved November 9, 2019.

[16] "COTTON BOWL: OHIO ST. INTERCEPTS TEXAS A&M, 28-12". The New York Times. January 2, 1987. Retrieved November 9, 2019.

[17] "1987 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.

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Texas A&M Aggies football
Venues	Kyle Field (1904–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Arkansas Baylor: Battle of the Brazos LSU TCU Texas Texas Tech
Culture & lore	Reveille "Aggie War Hymn" Aggie Band 12th man Aggie Bonfire Junction Boys film Sherman era Highest scoring Division I game
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

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