Texas A&M led UCLA last night 44-10 with 19 minutes to play. The Aggies had utterly dominated the game, running at will on a hapless Bruins defense and tormenting Josh Rosen to the point where some openly speculated on Twitter whether or not he'd declare for the NFL Draft during the season.
Which made the final 19 minutes of Sunday night's game all the more painful.
UCLA raced back from 34 points down to beat Texas A&M, 45-44. Rosen threw four touchdowns and for a career-high 491 yards. The Aggies, meanwhile, lost starting quarterback Nick Starkel to injury in the second half and inserted true freshman Kellen Mond. It was clear Mond, while a great athlete, wasn't ready to throw the ball against a Power 5 team, but throw he did: Starkel threw 13 passes in two and a half quarters, while Mond threw 17 as his replacement, completing only three. At the same time, the Aggies completely abandoned their running game.
UCLA completed the comeback without forcing a turnover, which means the A&M defense surrendered 396 yards on 10.7 yards per play over those fateful 19 minutes.
A nearly impossible comeback inspired an unprecedented meltdown from the maroon faithful.
But it wasn't just the A&M super fans that vented from their keyboards last night. One rant in specific was posted on Facebook, a rant that could have consequences for Sumlin and the rest of the A&M program.
Tony Buzbee is a former member of the A&M Corps of Cadets and now a Board of Regents member. "I'm only one vote on the Board of Regents but when the time comes my vote will be that Kevin Sumlin needs to GO," Buzbee wrote. "In my view he should go now. We owe it to our school and our players. We can do better."
The Aggies return home to face Nicholls State and Louisiana-Lafayette before their SEC schedule begins with a pair of must-win games: vs. Arkansas at AT&T Stadium and against South Carolina in College Station ahead of a visit from Alabama on Oct. 7.
A&M AD Scott Woodward publicly confirmed Sumlin is on the hot seat over the spring, and now an A&M regent has all but lit that hot seat on fire.