By John Shinn
The waving towels. The fever-pitched yelling. The maroon-clad fans. The 12th Man. The Cadets. Everything about a Saturday game at Texas A&M;’s Kyle Field leaves an impression.
Those are some of the visual ones Oklahoma has experienced over the years. But when it comes to the Sooners’ hearing, there’s only one thought that comes to mind.
OU tight end Joe Jon Finley remembers his first trip in 2004. A Texas native, he heard about the surroundings before he ever left high school. But it finally hit when he was smack in the middle of it during OU’s 42-35 victory over the Aggies.
“I remember going down there (in 2004),” he said. “I made a call to Jammal Brown and I couldn’t even hear myself talking. I was thinking, ‘This is pretty pointless.’”
Since Kyle Field was expanded to seat 82,600 in 1999, the Aggies’ home has assumed the well-earned moniker as the Big 12’s loudest venue.
The structure features three decks on both sidelines and three more in the north end zone. The layout creates acoustics that seem to keep all the noise inside the stadium.
“I think one of the main things is they don’t get quiet at all,” quarterback Paul Thompson said. “You’ll be up and you’ll be down and they’re always cheering like they’re ahead by 20. So that’s a big thing. The way the stadium is built, the sound is coming right down on you.”
That’s why year in and year out, it’ listed as the Big 12 Conference’s most hostile venue.
But OU coach Bob Stoops is quick to point out he’ll be making his fourth trip there when No. 18 OU (6-2, 3-1 Big 12) faces No. 20 Texas A&M; (8-1, 4-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Sooners are 2-1 in those games. That’s why Stoops doesn’t put stock in Kyle Field’s lore. To him, if it isn’t Owen Field, it’s all the same.
“We are in that environment a lot,” he said. “It is not easy to go to Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Missouri. We had a tough time in Missouri two or three years ago. It’s not the easiest thing when you go on the road.
“All of those places you can make them what you want. And I think it is fair to say that’s not easy to come here for other teams. It’s not easy to go anywhere. When you have good stands and they’re packed, it’s tough. And again I know our record here is pretty decent, (so) it can’t be real easy to come in here. We look at them all the same.”
Stoops might, but players admit there’s something different about playing the Aggies in College Station.
“There are more distractions with this game than any other game in the Big 12 with their traditions,” Thompson said. “We can’t let that get to us.”
If history is any indication, it won’t.
OU handled the deafening noise at Oregon without much problem and rolled right through Missouri last Saturday despite a rabid crowd at Faurot Field.
Playing on the road is tough, but it does have its rewards.
“When we score a touchdown and all of them go silent, that’s the best part to me.” Finley said.
The silence of Kyle field will be music to the Sooners’ ears.
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
