Aggies brought together by tragedy, uncertainty

December of 2011 will undoubtedly be a very memorable one for Aggies interim coach Tim DeRuyter. The month included a wide range of emotions including the disappointment of the firing of Mike Sherman, the honor of getting the job on an interim basis, the stress of uncertainty about who the next coach might be, the excitement of getting the job at Fresno St. and the trauma of losing senior offensive lineman Joe Villavisencio in a car accident. "The toughest part was Joe," said DeRuyter during the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas luncheon Friday at the Westin Galleria Hotel. "He was one of those guys that had an attitude of gratitude. He was everything you wanted everyone on your team to be about. Everything else pales to be honest with you. The other stuff was tough but that was hard and we took a blow to the gut as a team. But we're going to be ready tomorrow to fight in his honor." DeRuyter said the tragedy brought the team together during a time of anxiety brought on by the coaching change. "Guys have mixed emotions when they don't know what the future holds for them," said DeRuyter. "When Joey passed away our team really started to come together and hopefully we'll be able to honor him by playing the game the way we want to." DeRuyter will fly to Fresno St. on Monday to begin his new job. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Aggies defensive back Trent Hunter, a senior, is among a group of Houston-area kids that will be playing at home in the bowl game. Hunter attended Katy High School. "I think I have eight people coming to watch me," Hunter said. "It just feels good to be back in my hometown. A lot of familiar faces around here. But (playing at Texas A&M) has been one of the great experiences of my life. I wouldn't trade being an Aggie for anything." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Northwestern, too, has Houston-area representation on its roster: Sophomore receiver Venric Mark (St. Pius X) Freshman receiver Christian Jones (Westfield) Junior cornerback Demetrius Dugar (Aldine) Junior linebacker David Nwabuisi (Episcopal) Sophomore defensive lineman Will Hampton (Cy-Creek) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Northwestern has not won a bowl game in 63 years. Instead of shying away from talk of the drought, coach Pat Fitzgerald wants his players to embrace it so that they can overcome it. In fact, Fitzgerald purchased a toy monkey and clothed it with a Wildcat 63 jersey. Several members of the team have been responsible for carrying the monkey, which represents the burden they are trying to lift off of their collective backs. "You got a hundred players per team for 63 years," said Fitzgerald. "Do the match. You have 6300 players that haven't gotten it done and I'm one of those guys. Hopefully we'll get it done not only for ourselves, but also for that group." Fitzgerald was a linebacker for the Cats in the mid-1990s and was part of the 1996 Rose Bowl team. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bowl executives expect roughly 68,000 fans at Reliant Stadium Saturday morning, only 2,000 short of a sell-out crowd. The bowl's deal with Meineke Car Care runs through the 2013 game which is also the time the bowl must renew its conference affiliations or create new ones. The hope is that the bowl takes another step up the post-season totem poll at that time. "We just have to do our very best at what we have today," said Texans president Jamey Rootes. "When those agreements are up for renegotiation, now we have a case to deliver. We can say, 'Houston, great market, great bowl game. Let's go up the latter.'"