le Battalion
bri Amo
I'lllis Mill
) Courtes
in tic Reci
fheiguys are heartbroken,
t’sla hard loss to come to
i-ubbock, play hard and
come up short.”
— Chris Taylor
the team’s reaction to the loss
“Being a part of the
recking Crew, I take
rt of the loss because
they scored 21 points”
— Brandon Jennings
the defense’s role in the game
was hoping we could get
down there and get me a
nnbiik L chance to kick another
versions E one, but we didn’t.”
— Terence Kitchens
the team's last drive of the game
;nus. Thi
'om ihei
and meloc
ng througi
ies, maw
iddition l
de:C+)
I “It has nothing to do
with coming out here to
Lubbock. We just didn’t
execute. It’s not what
ley did, it’s what we did.”
— Dante Hall
ithe Aggies' struggles in Lubbock
Kis definitely hurts, but it
on't affect us a bit. We’ve
just got to bounce back.”
— Randy McCown
on how the Aggies will cope with
losing to the Red Raiders
C=avera!
%
nd part]
I, buti
The Battalion
Top 25 Poll
Record
lorida State (5-0)
enn State (5-0)
ebraska (5-0)
m'cb/gan (5-0)
Tennessee (3-1)
frg/nia Tech (3-0)
lorgia Tech (3-1)
irida (4-1)
lorgia (4-0)
iansas State (4-0)
lichigan State (5-0)
Jabama (4-1)
exas A&M (3-1)
larshall (5-0)
ast Carolina (5-0)
lississippi State (5-0)
liami Fla (2-2)
urdue (4-1)
yracuse (4-1)
'isconsin (3-2)
hio State (3-2)
[Texas (4-2)
lississippi (4-1)
JSC (3-1)
Wyoming (3-1)
Associated Press
Top 25 Poll
sam
lorida State
’enn State
Michigan
ebraska
‘Virginia Tech
Tennessee
eorgia Tech
lorida
ansas State
0. Georgia
1 Michigan State
1 Alabama
3. Texas A&M
14. Miss State
Marshall
16. East Carolina
17. Purdue
18. Syracuse
19. Miami Fla
2(1. Wisconsin
21. Ohio State
22. USC
. Texas
. BYU
25. Minnesota
Record
(5-0)
(5-0)
(5-0)
(5-0)
(4-0)
(3-1)
(3-1)
(4-1)
(4-0)
(4-0)
(5-0)
(4-1)
(3-1)
(5-0)
(5-0)
(5-0)
(4-1)
(4-1)
(2-2)
(3-2)
(3-2)
(3-1)
(4-2)
(2-1)
(4-0)
3ig 12Standings
bbraska
^nsas St.
dorado
Iwe St.
Missouri
lansas
Iklahoma
Jxas Tech
fcxas
fexas A&M
Iklahoma St
Paylor
North
W L
5 0
4
2
3
3
2
I
PF
185
150
PA
44
52
South
3 1
2 2
4 2
3 1
2 2
1 4
152 124
102 52
116 119
141 163
162 65
86 88
224 109
141 57
95 83
86 170
PORTS
Page 7 • Monday, October 4, 1999
Lubbock Letdown
GUY ROQERS/The Battalion
Texas Tech running back Sammy Morris stiff-arms senior defensive back Brandon Jennings during Saturday night’s game. Morris had 170 yards rushing to lead Tech to a 21-19 win.
Texas A&M offense sputters in 21-19 loss to Texas Tech
GUY ROGERS/The Battalion
Texas Tech cornerback Antwan Alexander intercepts a pass intended for
A&M wide receiver Bethel Johnson (left) late in the fourth quarter Saturday.
BY DOUG SHILLING
The Battalion
LUBBOCK — There is a reason they play the
game in college football.
On paper, the 13th-ranked Texas A&M Football
Team should have blown through the Texas Tech
University Red Raiders Saturday night in Lubbock.
But as has been the case recently when the Ag
gies head out to West Texas, the Red Raiders found
a way to send them home with a loss.
Tech kept the A&M offense out of the end zone
for the second straight week and used 170 yards
rushing from running back Sammy Morris to upset
the Aggies, 21-19, in front of 53,513 fans, the largest
crowd at Jones Stadium since 1978.
The loss was the Aggies’ fourth loss in five games
against Tech, including their last three at Jones Stadium.
“I’m really disappointed, [but] I can’t say that
I’m surprised,” A&M coach R.C. Slocum said. “I
knew it would be a charged atmosphere. I had a
good regard for Tech’s team. I’ve said all along that
Tech’s team is better than most people give them
credit for.”
The game started out well for the Aggies, as they
took the opening possession of the ballgame and
drove it to the Texas Tech 18-yard line. Three straight
plays for no gain, however, left the Aggies to settle
for a 36-yard field goal by junior place-kicker Terence
Kitchens.
Later in the first quarter, the Wrecking Crew
struck again, scoring for the second straight week.
Senior safety Brandon Jennings blocked a punt by
Red Raider punter Eric Rosiles that was recovered at the
nine-yard line by sophomore cornerback Jay Brooks,
who took it into the end zone for a 10-0 Aggie lead.
By the start of the second quarter, however, the
wheels started to come off for the Aggies.
Tech scored touchdowns on three of their four
possessions in the second quarter to jump out to a
21-10 lead. The Red Raiders dominated A&M in the
second, outgaining them 183 yards to 76.
The Aggies came out strong in the second half, re
covering a fumble on Tech’s first possession on their
own 43. A 44-yard pass from senior quarterback
Randy McCown to senior wide receiver Matt Bum-
gardner set the Aggies up on the Tech nine-yard line.
Once again, however, the Aggies could not punch
the ball into the end zone, settling for a 27-yard field
goal by Kitchens to cut the lead to 21-13.
Two more Kitchens field goals made the score 21-
19 midway through the fourth quarter.
The Aggies had one more chance to win the game
after Tech placekicker Chris Birkholz missed a 49-
yard field goal.
A&M took possession on its own 32-yard line and
drove it all the way to the Tech 27. After a three-yard
loss on first down, an apparent 20-yard pass play to
Bumgardner was wiped out when the Aggies were
called for holding. '
McCown was sacked for a five-yard loss on the
next play, then threw an incomplete pass to junior
wide receiver Chris Taylor on third down, setting up
fourth-and-28 from the Tech 45.
Rather than let Kitchens attempt a game-winning
62-yard field goal, the Aggies decided to go for it on
fourth down. But the threat ended when McCown’s
desperation pass was intercepted by Tech corner-
back Antwan Alexander, sealing the Tech victory.
McCown, who finished the game 20-of-38 for 273
see Upset on Page 8.
Season not over after loss to Tech
L ubbock
— If you’re
looking for
a column that
will effectively
turn that steam
coming from
your ears into
words, this one
isn’t for you.
If you want someone to call for
R.C. Slocum’s reassignment to,
say, that job where he would
have to run around with the giant
Hershey bar at A&M basketball
games, look somewhere else.
Sure, the Aggies blew it Satur
day with a 21-19 loss to Texas
Tech, their fourth loss to the Red
Raiders in five years. And this one
hurt more than usual, considering
A&M was ranked No. 5 in the na
tion coming into the contest, and
Tech had lost to perpetual cellar-
dweller University of North Texas
just two weeks earlier.
As Tech fans carried the Jones
Stadium goal posts into the chilly
Lubbock night, the dejected A&M
fans looking on knew A&M’s na
tional-championship hopes were
quickly escaping as well. Let’s
face it. Barring a whole lot of un
likely upsets, the Aggies could
win out and still be craving Sugar
on Jan.4.
“Forget it [a national champi
onship] — that’s-not even a
thought right now,” A&M running
back Dante Hall said. “That’s
what happens when you don’t
take care of each game, like we
didn’t today.”
There is no defending the Ag
gies’ performance. Tech may get
more pumped for the A&M game
than just about any other, but the
Aggies are just too talented to
play as poorly as they did.
You can probably cancel your
hotel and plane reservations for
New Orleans, but wait a second
before you throw away your
sports pass. The Aggies still hap
pen to be a pretty good team, and
more importantly, they seem to
have the chemistry to help them
stick together after tough losses
like this one.
The problem with starting a
season ranked so highly is that
it’s easy to get tunnel vision. Fans
start to think if the team is No. 5
on Oct. 2, then surely it can climb
throughout the season and end
up playing in the “big one.” Peo
ple get so caught up thinking
about a national title, that the sec
ond their team loses, they are
ready to throw in the towel.
Even if the Aggies had pulled
out a last-second miracle against
Tech, one thing would have been
painfully clear: This was no top-
five team. Not when it could
manage just 52 rushing yards on
27 attempts against a suspect de
fense that two weeks earlier sur
rendered 170 yards on the ground
to North Texas.
The Aggies’ defense stepped
up in the second half, but only af
ter its alter ego. The Bizarro
Wrecking Crew, made an appear
ance in the second quarter. That’s
when the Swiss cheese version of
the Aggies’ defense allowed Tech
183 yards and 21 points.
see Season on Page 8.
GUY ROGERS/The Battalion
A&M linebacker Harold Robertson tackles Morris during the first quar
ter of Saturday’s game.