The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 12, 1998, Image 7

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    ie Battalion
Sports
Page 7 • Monday, October 12, 1998
exas A&M-28 Nebraska-2 1
S(IUl\» lin'iiS
jC. Slocum silences
jitics with victory
BY JEFF WEBB
The Battalion
'exas A&M coach R.C. Slocum finally got
of his back. Although it might have more
ely resembled a full-grown ape than a
key, it is gone.
nd Slocum could not be happier.
1 don’t think there’s any question about it,”
aid. “This is the biggest win of my career.
It makes it more meaningful
that we did it against a team
that we have respect for.”
Critics have always jabbed
at Slocum and the rest of the
A&M coaching staff for not
being able to win the “big
game.” No. 2 Nebraska went
down in a blaze of maroon
glory Saturday, and they don’t
get any bigger than that.
|So much has been said,” he said. “You
je to take it as a coach. You just have to
it and go about your business. I have to
ut. 1 realize how things are until you win
Imelike that.”
iowever, despite what the critics claim, it is
the coaches who win the games. Senior
tend Dan Campbell said he understands
Ipressure on the coaches because he felt it
[member of the senior class.
[This win was dearly needed around
|e,” he said. “There’s been so much pres-
that A&M can’t win the big one, that
fchSlocum can’t coach the big game. Our
Jors have been bearing this burden on our
s for five years now. We did it. We did it,
sall 1 can say.’
.&M had been so close against then-No. 2
[ida State University in the Kickoff Classic
Tier this season and against No. 5 UCLA in
potton Bowl last year.
owever, the Aggies finally put together a
plete game against NU, ending Slocum’s
Jigstreak against top-10 opponents at nine
les and beating the highest-ranked team
la Wed|$ tool history,
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‘/can tell you he has a left of stress off his
Campbell said, “just to finally have peo-
eave him alone about it. We deserve it. As
work as we and the coaches have been
;, we deserve it.”
Jince Slocum entered the Southwest Con-
nce as a coach, people criticized A&M’s
diule and record against top-ranked oppo-
ts. Angry alumni sent letters criticizing the
ball program, and Slocum could not answer
nail — until now.
It takes away some of the things you can
[hammered with about the big one for the
;ram or how far away you are to being able
iompete with some teams,” he said. “They
lays said, ‘Yeah, but ...’ This takes some of
arguments away. At least we’ve won one
■game, or one so-called big game.”
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Senior linebacker Dat Nguyen passed for-
, Jr A&M player Ed Simonini for third place on the
time tackles list with his eight stops Saturday,
jyen only needs 29 more tackles to overtake
mny Holland for the school record (455).
The Last Time...
'... A&M beat Nebraska was in 1955 when
jAggies travelled to Lincoln and handed the
nhuskers a 27-0 defeat.
Nebraska lost a game was against the
■versity of Texas Longhorns in the inaugural
ll2 Championship game in 1996.
[Texas defeated the Huskers by converting a
[tth-and-one play when quarterback James
fWn hit tight end Derek Lewis on a play-ac-
ipass for a first down. Nebraska lost 37-27.
[‘... A&M had two running backs exceed the
tyard mark was against the University of Ok-
[oma last season when Sirr Parker (123
ids) and Dante Hall (139 yards) accom-
shed the feat.
[Hall and freshman Ja’Mar Toombs both
[nt over the mark Saturday, rolling up 113
UlO yards, respectively.
' ... a Nebraska wide receiver had over
[Oyards in a game was Dec. 4,1976, when
|uck Malito had 166 against the University
Hawaii.
iMatt Davison had 10 catches for 167
Ikls on Saturday.
“We’re on the flipside now. I
can’t wait to see what you guys
write now. I’m glad ya’II can’t ask
those silly questions about beating
top-10 teams.”
— Dante Hall, junior running
back, to a group of sportswriters
“Don’t get me started or I’ll start
tearing up again. I just can’t explain it.”
— Dan Campbell, senior tight end
“We were holding everybody in sus
pense. We wanted everybody to show
up today to see how we would play.”
— Steve Kragthorpe, A&M
offensive coordinator
“It’s the biggest win that any of us
here has been around or been a part
of. It’s still setting in right now. That’s
the No. 2 team in the country going
back to Nebraska with an ‘L.’”
— Cameron Spikes, senior
offensive tackle
“It will hurt later on. The win
numbed it a little bit.”
— Dat Nguyen, senior linebacker,
on his thumb, which was injured
on the first play of the game and
required six stitches.
“I was telling the guys this is why we
put in all that hard work in the summer.
— Randy McCown, senior
quarterback
MIKE PUENTES/rm-: Battalion
Mike Kazmierski (No. 92), Ron Edwards (No. 96) and Cornelius Anthony (No. 46) swarm Nebraska fullback John Makovicka Saturday.
With efficient offense and stifling defense, A&M cooked up the perfect recipe for.
Creamed Corn-huskers
BY JEFF SCHMIDT
The Battalion
Coming into Saturday’s game with the second-
ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Texas A&M Foot
ball Team’s motto could have been “Remember the
Alamodome.” The Aggies lost to the Cornhuskers 54-
15 in last year’s Big 12 Championship game in the
Alamodome in San Antonio.
“We caught them last year when they were smelling
the national championship,” A&M coach R. C. Slocum
said at Tuesday’s press conference. “They had lost the
year before in the conference championship game. Their
coach was going to retire. They had everything going
their direction, along with being a very talented football
team. They were a good football team hitting on all cylin
ders when we played them.”
“I think last year was the first time we got a taste of
what a team like Nebraska is all about,” senior tight end
Daniel Campbell said. “The way they played last year in
the Alamodome, we weren’t ready for them. We weren’t
ready for their style of play.”
What a difference a year can make; the Aggies de
feated the defending national champion Cornhuskers
28-21 Saturday.
“To beat a team like Nebraska is unbelievable,” junior
quarterback Randy McCown said. “After the first big
play, I knew we could win it.”
“This is the biggest win any of us has ever been a part
of,” senior offensive guard Cameron Spikes said. “The
No. 2 team in the country is going back to Nebraska with
an ‘L’. It’s got to be the biggest win ever at Kyle Field.”
“We knew we could hang with them,” senior line
backer Dat Nguyen said, “as long as we don’t give
them the big play.”
However, Slocum said he did not use last year’s
game as motivation.
“We really didn’t talk about it much,” Slocum
said, “other than we did take the tapes and look
through and try to show plays where we said. We had
a good call here, but we just had to execute what we
were doing.
“So I think we used it more as a teacher. We didn’t
say, ‘They beat us up last year.’ We didn’t talk about
that at all.”
The homework obviously paid off.
The Aggies used big plays to defeat Nebraska at
their own game. Instead of heroes like Crockett, Bowie
and Travis, the Aggies got help from Taylor, Toombs
and Curry.
Sophomore wide receiver Chris Taylor caught an 81-
yard touchdown pass to put A&M on the scoreboard first.
Freshman fullback Ja’Mar Toombs rumbled for 71 yards
to set up a junior running back Dante Hall touchdown.
Junior cornerback Sedrick Curry got an intercep
tion with 59 seconds left in the game to seal the deal
on the A&M victory.
“This win was dearly needed around here,” Camp
bell said. “There’s been so much pressure that A&M
can’t win the big one. Coach Slocum can’t coach the
big game. Our seniors have been bearing this burden
on our backs for five years now.”
MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion
Quarterback Randy McCown pitches the ball Saturday.
Aggie defense wrecks NU’s celebrated option attack
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BRAD GRAEBER/ I mk Battalion
The Nebraska option, mainly run out of the 1-Formation, leaves
quarterback Bobby Newcombe with three running play options.
BY JEFF WEBB
The Battalion
It was a performance that
would leave former University
of Texas coach Darrell Royal
perplexed. The University of
Nebraska option attack was
shut down.
Perhaps it was Royal, the coach
who led Texas to three national ti
tles after inventing the wishbone
option, who tutored Texas A&M
coach R.C. Slocum on how the op
tion works so he and defensive co
ordinator Mike Hankwitz could
devise a way to slow it down.
“I was pleased with how
soundly our defense executed
the option play,” Slocum said.
“Pretty much all day long we
did a good job of executing our
option assignments and we did
a good job of tackling. Usually,
the option offense gets you
down where you have to make
some good, clean tackles. I
think we did that today.”
Nebraska ran its option of
fense primarily out of the I-For-
mation, which consists of a full
back and tailback lined up
directly behind the quarterback.
At the snap, the quarterback
has four options on what to do
with the ball: he can make a
quick handoff to the fullback
up the middle; he can pitch to
the tailback trailing the play;
he can keep the ball himself; or
he can drop back to pass, an
option rarely used unless a
pass play is called.
A&M held Nebraska’s offense
without a first down until three
minutes into the third quarter,
and that was on a 13-yard pass
to wide receiver Matt Davison.
A&M rotated in eight differ
ent defensive linemen and 10
linebackers to keep rested
players on the field. The Corn
huskers struggled all day try
ing to sustain drives against
fresh Aggie players with their
complicated reaction offense.
“We thought we had a good
game plan, but we couldn’t run
the ball,” quarterback Bobby
Newcombe said. “They had great
speed on defense which made it
hard to run the option. But we
just didn’t execute today.”
A&M played relatively flaw
less option defense, using their
team speed to string out plays
to the sidelines and shedding
their blocks to square up and
make tackles.
Linebacker Warrick Holdman
said before each play, each play
er would be reminded of their as
signments to prevent big gains.
“On every down, we would
say who had the pitchman or
quarterback or whoever. It’s hus
tle, assignment football,” Hold-
man said. “You just have to
make sure to take care of your
assignments. You have to make
sure you stay on the pitch so you
don’t give up the big plays.
see Option on Page 10.