The Battalion
nday • December 8, 1997
Big
Nebraska runs over A&M 54-15 to claim Big 12 title
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sophomore safety Brandon Jennings brings down Nebraska fullback Joel Makovicka during Saturday’s Big
i !( ampionship game in San Antonio.
By Chris Ferrell
Sports editor
SAN ANTONIO - The Texas
A&M Football Team came into Sat
urday’s Big 12 Championship
game playing for respect. Unfortu
nately for the Aggies, the Nebraska
Cornhuskers were playing for a na
tional championship.
A&M became a sacrificial lamb
which Nebraska happily offered up
to the poll gods as the Cornhuskers
crushed the Aggies 54-15 at the
Alamodome in San Antonio.
The game also helped to avenge
Nebraska’s loss to Texas in last sea
son’s Big 12 title game.
‘All throughout the season that
has been our battle cry,” Nebraska’s
All-American defensive end Grant
Wistrom said. “We’ve always had a
chip on our shoulder because of what
happened last year in St. Louis.”
Nebraska seized control of the
game early, scoring on their first
seven possessions of the game.
“We didn’t want to get
knocked out early,” coach
R.C.Slocum said. “I don’t think
we got knocked out early but we
had some bumps and bruises.”
The hardest blows were deliv
ered by Nebraska quarterback
Scott Frost. Frost, who was upset
earlier in the week when he was
snubbed by voters if favor of Oka-
homa State’s Corby Jones on the All-
Big 12 first team despite rushing
and throwing for 1000 yards, passed
for a season high 201 yards and ran
for 91 more.
The Aggies could not stop Ne
braska’s option attack. Lead by tail
back Ahman Green’s 181 yard, three
touchdown performance, Husker
backs racked up 335 yards on the
ground and scored six touchdowns.
“Defensively, it seemed like we
always had our backs to the wall
and we made a lot of mistakes that
hurt us,” junior linebacker Dat
Nguyen said. “We spotted them a
lot of points.”
Thirty seven to be exact in the
first half as Nebraska scored every
“They are definitely a lot
faster on the field than
they look on film.”
CHRIS RUHMAN
SENIOR TACKLE
time they touched the ball in the
first half. The A&M defense did not
stop a Nebraska drive until the third
quarter when Green fumbled on
the Husker’s first possession of the
second half. Nebraska’s first punt
did not come until the 12-minute
mark of the third quarter.
However, it was not just the
Husker’s offense which hurt the
Aggies. Their defense, the fourth
ranked unit in the nation, turned
in one of their top performances
of the day.
A&M managed only 277 yards of
total offense, of that, only 13 came
on the ground.
The Aggies came out looking to
establish a strong passing game, but
from the first play of the game, a play
in which junior quarterback Bran-
ndon Stewart was sacked by Nebras
ka’s Jason Peter, it was obvious that
the Aggies were outmatched.
“They are definitely a lot faster
on the field than they looked on
film,” senior tackle Chris Ruhman
said. “The holes were opening up
and closing really fast. They threw a
couple of blitzes that we haven’t
seen. But a lot of that was just a lack
of execution on our part.”
The lack of execution was espe
cially evident in the first half. A&M
managed only 83 yards of total of
fense and 63 of those yards came on
one play- a pass from Stewart to ju
nior tight end Derrick Spiller which
set up a 32 yard field goal by senior
Kyle Bryant.
A&M was able to get the offense
going at times in the second half but
in the end it proved too little, too late.
The Aggies will now move on to
the Cotton Bowl January 1st to
face UCLA. Nebraska will look to
make another claim for the na
tional title against Tennessee in
the Orange Bowl.
am should not let
ne loss put damper
n successful season
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Jeremy
Furtick
assistant
sports editor
line:
by a
ledM>wit hurts. I knowhow
sli everyone feels right now.
wdcven though it's been two
fcodyou still led like someone
[on : cheap-shotted you right in
gut.
a
iever. I
uglu
t if we
ild just
/Pit
sefove
uld actu-
y have a
ance in
end. But
Burned
it, the be
aming was
eend and
J never got closer than we
^re ; at kickoff.
But strangely enough, I don’t
Hike I did after the Kansas
Hate or Tech games. I don’t
111 ave the same anger and I’m
)t pointing fingers at anyone
any particular play because I
®ed something Saturday:
braska is awesome.
From the first play of the
ime we were overmatched
id reality started to set in on
iy hope. And the reality was
mple; there is an enormous
ifference between the top
e or four teams in the coun-
y and everyone else. Sure,
Hey can be beaten, and have
/en, but when a team like Ne-
raska comes in completely fo-
ised and firing on all cylin-
irs, well, you saw.
For us to have beaten the
uskers, I thought, everyone on
ur team would have to have a
ireer day. We would have to
lay the game of the century, get
few lucky breaks and put our-
:lves in a position to win in the
Ifiurth quarter. But the one thing
lidn’t count on was Nebraska
ling all of those things also.
We played hard and never
uit, but no one was going to
fksat the Huskers on Saturday,
hey could have played with
lost NFL teams the way they
ere clicking.
But I’m not writing this to
rown-nose Nebraska, I’m try-
ig to make a point. I love A&M,
ut if you rate me by the book,
ti a three-percenter on a good
ay. I don’t get into the yells,
uijjnot big on Bonfire and I’ve
ever said “Howdy.” But no one
^er bad-mouths my Aggies in
nt of me.
I was turned off early by the
traditional Aggie fan. Either you
were so blinded by your love for
A&M you never thought we lost
a game, we just ran out of time,
or you “loved” the school so
much all you could do is com
plain about how this person
needs to be fired and we need
to do it this way to make it like
OF Army. I’m not either of those
types of Aggies and I’ve got
news for everyone - if we had
n’t run out of time from Satur
day the score would be about
900-25 and, no, Coach Slocum
does not need to be fired be
cause we lost three games this
season.
I’m pleading with every Aggie
out there to put aside all the
anger and frustration, quit
blaming certain players and
coaches and stop complaining
about our team and realize one
thing: We are not as good as Ne
braska. But we are a good foot
ball team.
So I recommend we not
dwell on this game anymore.
The season’s not over yet, there
is still a light at the end of the
tunnel. There’s no reason for us
to hang or heads and settle for a
9-4 season when we can put
Saturday’s game behind us and
come out gunning for UCLA in
the Cotton Bowl.
We’re all Aggies, we need to
put aside our differences of opin
ion and band together. We need
to be the ones picking up our
players and coaches instead of
shaking our heads and complain
ing about the season. We’ve only
got a couple of weeks left in the
semester but we need to make
them positive ones.
There are players in your
classes, pat them on the back
and tell them good luck over the
holidays. These guys are just
students like we are, they have
other things to worry about be
sides football. A little encour
agement from their fellow Ag
gies would go a long way. The
team needs to know its fans are
behind them 100 percent.
So instead of worrying about
what happened Saturday, we
need to let the players and
coaches know we’ll be there
New Year’s Day in full force to
help our team, you guessed it,
beat the hell outta’ UCLA.
Jeremy Furtick is a senior
journalism major
Aggies still a long way from playing
with college football’s elite programs
Jamie
Burch
staff writer
S AN ANTONIO — College foot
ball’s elite: Florida State, Penn
State and Nebraska. Each and
every preseason these three teams
top the gamut of prognosticator’s
polls. And by season’s end, all three of
these monsters
of the gridiron
can be found
hovering like a
vulture over
road kill, gun
ning for a cov
eted national
championship.
And then
there’s the rest
of the pack.
They include
the Associated
Press’ “other’s
receiving votes” and those who
have pipe dreams of knocking off
the heralded champs. Smack dab
in the middle of the wanna-be’s is
Texas A&M. Each year the Aggies
begin with aspirations of a top-ten
ranking and a prayer of a National
Title. And by season’s end, a win
ning record against mediocre tal
ent lands the Aggies a 15 to 25
ranking and into a New Year’s Day
Bowl. It’s a never-ending, self-de
structive cycle that keeps the Aggie
faithful falsely believing A&M will
one day belong to the aristocracy
of Division I-A’s best.
The problem with this delusion
is the fact that A&M never has and
never will win the ‘Big Game.’ Case
in point — Nebraska 54, A&M 15.
In Saturday’s Big 12 Champi
onship, A&M found themselves
down 23-0 before Kyle Bryant’s
32-yard field goal with 8:53 re
maining in the second quarter.
Nebraska scored on its first seven
possessions and held the ‘Rushing
Crew’ to minus-five yards rushing
at the half.
A&M coach R.C. Slocum said
he was not pleased with his team’s
effort in the biggest game of the
season.
“I was disappointed with the
way we played,” Slocum said. “I
thought (Nebraska) beat us con
vincingly in every area of the foot
ball game — offense, defense and
special teams.”
The offense’s performance was
so poor that a computer services
account representative from Tulsa,
Okla., had achieved more by half
time than the sputtering eleven.
Jack Webb booted a 30-yard field
goal just over the cross bar for
$250,000. He was presented with a
check from Dr. Pepper and a 1998
Dodge Dakota truck.
Unfortunately, it was not any
prettier in the second half. Down
37-3 at the intermission, the stage
was set for one of the biggest
comebacks in NCAA history. But it
was not meant to be.
Nebraska began the second half
by putting the ball on the carpet on
its second play from scrimmage.
The Aggies took over at the Corn-
husker 45-yard line, but came away
empty, going three-and-out.
Punter Shane Lechler’s 42-yard
boot pinned Nebraska at its own
three-yard line. The Aggies re
turned the favor and forced the
Huskers to punt on fourth-and-
nine from the four. The 39-yard
punt was taken by Dante Hall at
the Nebraska 44 and returned 26
yards to the 18. Again, the Aggies
failed to convert.
On fourth-and-three from the
11-yard line, offensive coordinator
Steve Marshall pulled out the trick
ery. It appeared that back-up quar
terback Randy McCown lined up in
the back field. But when Branndon
Stewart ran out to a receiver slot,
McCown was left to throw the ball.
An incomplete pass to tight end
Derrick Spiller left the Aggies’ of
fense in disarray and disbelief.
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DAVE HOUSE/The Battalion
Freshman linebacker Roylin Bradley dives for Nebraska’s Scott Frost.
“We came here representing all
the teams in the South (Division),”
Stewart said. “We’re a reflection of
how strong the south is this year.
We didn’t do a good job of that. I’m
embarrassed by the way we came
out and played today. Nebraska
was the better team today and de
serves to win the conference.”
So the question remains, will
the Aggies ever be able to consid
er themselves one of college foot
ball’s elite?
Not according to Slocum, who said
because of the numerous schools in
Texas, it’s hard for one school to recruit
the cream of the crop.
“Obviously we need more tal
ent and bigger players,” Slocum
said. “Our defensive line, in par
ticular, is undersized. We need to
get bigger and more physical in
that area. One good thing about
playing Nebraska is that you get a
measuring stick as to where you
are. But there are some things,
some aspects that I don’t know if
we’ll ever catch up. With the num
ber of players they have in their
program, they have an advantage
on us and a lot of other teams.”
Jamie Burch is a senior
speech communication major
Bruins and Ags set to meet in Cotton Bowl
After one year hiatus, team returns to post-season for annual New Year’s Day
DALLAS (AP) — Cotton beck
ons for No. 5 UCLA and No. 20
Texas A&M.
UCLA, the Pac-10 co-champion,
and A&M, the Big 12 run
ner-up, received bids Sun
day to compete in the
62nd Southwestern Bell
Cotton Bowl in Dallas A
on Jan. 1. fM
“The Southwestern
Bell Cotton Bowl Classic is
thrilled to host these two out
standing football teams and univer
sities in Dallas this New Year’s Day,”
said Mike Baggett, chairman of the
Cotton Bowl Athletic Association.
“UCLA clearly is one of the
strongest teams in the country,
while Texas A&M is un
surpassed in its foot-
ball tradition and
game pageantry.
It’s going to be an ,
f A exciting
matchup,”
Baggett said.
UCLA (9-2) is one of Di
vision I-A’s hottest football teams.
The Bruins have won their last nine
K,
games and finished with a 7-1 con
ference mark, their only conference
loss coming in their Aug. 30 season
opener at Washington State.
The only time UCLA
has played the Cotton
Bowl, future Dallas Cow
boys quarterback Troy
Aikman led the Bruins
to a 17-3 win over
Arkansas in 1989.
This will be the first
time UCLA and Texas
A&M have squared off in 42
years. Aggies fans might best re
member the Bruins for the 66-3
whipping they gave Texas Sept. 13,
breaking the back of the Long
horns’ season.
Texas A&M (9-3) will be coming
off Saturday’s 54-15 loss to Nebraska
in the Big 12 Championship game in
San Antonio.
Although this will be the Aggies'
first appearance since 1994, the Cot
ton Bowl is familiar territory for
Texas A&M, having played in six of
the last 12 classics, including con
secutive appearances in 1986-88
and 1992-94.