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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1999)
ie Battalion Sports Page 9 • Tuesday, January 19, 1999 [ First-class exit I his last ■ame in t Texas .V&h! uni- orn i, se- lior tight i nd Derrick ipijler pulled in 5 passes o»3 yards in the ^Kia Sugar Bowl. spuiER Big season ends in ‘Big Easy’ >ay what? “We never thought about ing out of it. VfeVe come ., , back so often. mce into the frr 7 door Togettowe always think we can do it again.” — Branndon Stewart A&M quarterback KATHERINE STW ng the two bu •:: “In the first ICtantWter we just didn’t play well. rtlllt was just one of , ,0 Austin -those things.” oi children- | — Dat Nguyen A&M linebacker ial day’s cereffic: > a prayer sen -: ring-in cerem: ol s south stef eechesfromBi Sports Illustrated All-Bowl Team Ja’Mar TOOMBS HEIGHT: 6’1” WEIGHT: 235 lbs. YEAR: Freshman POSITION: FB HOMETOWN: Kilgore, TX 1 TOOMBS Rushed for 62 yards on 10 carries; Caught two passes for 19 additional yards. Dat NGUYEN HEIGHT: 6T” WEIGHT: 213 lbs. YEAR: Senior POSITION: ILB HOMETOWN: Rockport, TX Recorded 14 sacks, inclu ding 10 solos; Made 51st straight start of career. LEFT: Aggie senior quarterback Branndon Stewart completed 22 of 39 passes in the Nokia Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, setting A&M bowl records for both passes attempted and passes completed. ABOVE: A&M senior linebacker Dat Nguyen recorded 14 sacks against Ohio State Univer sity in the Sugar Bowl, his 30th career double-digit sack game and sixth in a row. BY JEFF SCHMIDT The Battalion NEW ORLEANS — Th? Big Easy was not too easy on the Aggies. But more importantly, it was not exactly easy on the Ohio State University Buckeyes. The Buckeyes defeated Texas A&M 24-14, but the Aggies proved to themselves they can play with any team. “We’re not going to be intimidated by any body,” senior tight end Dan Campbell said. “We’re on Ohio State’s and Florida State’s lev el. We can hang with people like that. “That’s what we learned this year, and we passed it along to the younger guys.” OSU was playing with a large chip on its shoul der, looking for a blowout victory over A&M and a sluggish Florida State win in the Fiesta Bowl to vault itself into the national title hunt. Ohio State did not get the victory it wanted, but for awhile it looked like they might. A nine- minute span in the first quarter during which the Buckeyes scored 21 unanswered points cost the Aggies dearly. But after that stretch, A&M relaxed and held the Buckeyes to a single field goal. “I felt coming out in the second half our team settled down on both sides of the ball and played much better,” coach R. C. Slocum said, “but it took us too long to get going.” Campbell said, “The best thing about tonight was we never quit. We never quit all year. We don’t have any quitters on this team. You can only hang your head to a certain extent.” The Wrecking Crew shut down the high- powered Buckeye offense in the second half and the A&M offense put together an 11-play, 68- yard drive — helped by three Buckeye penalties — ending in a touchdown by junior wide re ceiver Leroy Hodge that closed out the scoring. Despite the loss, junior running back Dante Hall predicts big things for the Aggies. “We should be right there in the mix [next year],” he said. “We’ll come back next year gunning for the national title. If we come back with a higher goal in mind, I think we can ac complish it.” STflT line ■ The Sugar Bowl marked the 30th time linebacker Dat Nguyen recorded 10 or more sacks in a game. ■ In 15 career games against Top 25 teams, Nguyen averaged 12.8 sacks per contest. ■ The first-quarter punt block by OSU’s Derrick Ross was the first block of an A&M punt since 1993. ■ Aggie QB Branndon Stewart completed 22 of 39 passes, both A&M bowl records. ■ The second-half shutout of OSU was their first of the year. ;*5SS S-S; g for peoP 1 ® s « nla " 9 l Tall: 845-1 63 I: ssdinfoOf 5 " IFC Wednesday, January 20th at Hurricane Harry's edTURlNG Dysfunkshcin Junkshun OPENING FOR The Scabs aka The Ugly Americans Doors open at 8:00 TICKETS: $8.°° IN ADVANCE $10. 00 AT THE DOOR For any Questions Contact the IFC office at 845-0112 vans IV o Place Tmat Far Featuring the Hit Singles: “No Place That Far” and “Cryin’ Game” '(No Place That Far) glowingly showcases her big, versatile voice with an impressive collection of First-rate songs.” - Billboard College Station: 2004 TEXAS AVE. • 409-693-2619 Bryan: 725 VILLA MARIA • 409-779-0711 «chreco«dslABti. mfJ&Lszk © 1998 BMG Entertainment WWW.tWangthiS.COm SHOP ONLINE: www.hastingsentertainmeiit.com