Texas A&M athletic director Eric Hyman said spotty field conditions did not cause injuries
Texas A&M played its second home game at the newly-renovated Kyle Field over the weekend and came out with a 38-10 win over Rice. Despite the win, there was a bit of concern from both A&M and Rice about the stadium’s playing surface.
Kyle Field turf conditions near midfield | @BrentZwerneman pic.twitter.com/qXPUWVjXl3
— Joseph Duarte (@Chronicle_Owls) September 14, 2014
After more than seven inches of rain fell in College Station the day before the game, the grounds crew was busy all night fixing divots and tending to the playing surface. After the game, Aggie fans couldn’t help but wonder if the spotty field conditions caused injuries to wide receiver Speedy Noil or defensive lineman Zaycoven Henderson.
Texas A&M athletic director Eric Hyman wondered the same thing.
“The doctors said the turf had nothing to do with the injuries. The same question you had was the same question I had,” Hyman said, per the Houston Chronicle. “We had seven inches of rain, and whatever field you have is going to be impacted by that. Obviously, you saw during the game we tried to go out there and fix all the spots we could.”
Another look at field conditions at Kyle Field pic.twitter.com/ybvJNbQpyH
— Joseph Duarte (@Chronicle_Owls) September 14, 2014
According to the Chronicle, the grass has only been planted “a month before this weekend” as part of the stadium’s $450 million renovation. Rice head coach David Bailiff, a longtime friend of Hyman, also voiced his concern about the conditions, but commended the grounds crew.
“I thought the grounds crew did about as good a job as anybody could do,” Bailiff said after the game. “They kept the surface safe. Every time they saw a divot, they ran out there and fixed it.”
Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin said after the game that the field conditions of the field will be monitored moving forward.
“I don’t know how much (field conditions) impacted the game,” Sumlin said, per ESPN. “We got a lot of rain (Friday) night. It could have been worse if it was raining. It was something we kept an eye on and if we thought it was going to be a really, really big issue, then there would’ve been decisions made.”
Luckily, A&M’s next home game isn’t until Oct. 11 against Ole Miss. That will give the grass another month to grow and take root in time for the SEC schedule.
For more Texas A&M news, visit AggieYell.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
