uc ty of nine
'eland and
archers foum).
lalf of the peoJ
,he organs oh
! d to do so.
lie Battalion
11 soonumbei <We ’ re not losers; we’re
°f deathsp || champions around here,
these hospital; | We don’t just give up.”
740we!ej
medical!,
suitable:: |
be orgr
donofs
— Randy McCown
on A&M bouncing back from
a 51-6 loss to OU Oct. 23
“I
589 families
were aske: |
to donate
272 Offer
agreed::
donate
think today was a posi-
ive note. We can look at
this game and really see
hat we can really do this
if we put our minds to it.”
— Ja’Mar Toombs
on A&M’s 21-3 win over
OSU Saturday
otl. Case Wear “It’s fitting that the 100th
m. which! J win was an enjoyable,
aphy.
propriate time to have a
win. Still, to me, the
. significance is that overall
r(l GK ' n t* 1 ' 5 d ecade > we have
I won a bunch of games.”
lias never bw
n County And
in the proseq
— R.C. Slocum
on his 100th coaching
win at A&M
ized the gay-p
: ic evidence tc
“Just like Coach said,
we’re not used to what
i to ruletoda L, . . . .
be allowed: happened to us last week.
7, It kind of shocked us as a
team, as a whole.”
ird out of a La::';
rea near f
red him to an:
into a coma. 1
— Matt Bumgardner
on A&M’s 51-6 loss to OU Oct. 23
ntences after pieij
ng-
isecutorsofterecj
night Shepards
The Battalion
Top 25 Poll
sten Price, test
raid’s beats
1
1
r Team
Record
if Florida St.
(9-0)
2| Penn St.
(9-0)
Bf Virginia Tech
(7-0)
4, Florida
(7-1)
5f Tennessee
(6-1)
^ Kansas St.
(8-0)
7. Georgia Tech
(6-1)
3[ Mississippi St.
(7-0)
Marshall
(8-0)
10. Nebraska
(7-1)
11.Texas
(7-2)
12. Wisconsin
(7-2)
L3. Alabama
(6-2)
L4. BYU
(7-1)
15. Georgia
(6-2)
16. Michigan
(6-2)
L7. East Carolina
(7-1)
L8. Purdue
(6-3)
19. Michigan St.
(6-2)
>0. Ohio St.
(6-3)
!1. Miami Fla
(4-3)
!2. Texas A&M
(6-2)
!3. Arkansas
(5-2)
!4i Southern Miss.
(5-3)
!5 Boston College
(6-2)
lAssociated Press
Top 25 Poll
;ement of
ast year 5
,lus tax in
h, checks,
(Team
Record
. Florida St.
(9-0)
. Penn St.
(9-0)
. Virginia Tech
(7-0)
.Tennessee
(6-1)
. Florida
(7-1)
. Kansas St.
(8-0)
. Georgia Tech
(6-1)
. Mississippi St.
(7-0)
.Nebraska
(7-1)
o| Wisconsin
(7-2)
1.
Texas
(7-2)
2.
Alabama
(6-2)
3.
Marshall
(8-0)
4.
Georgia
(6-2)
5. BYU
(7-1)
5.
Michigan
(6-2)
7.
Purdue
(6-3)
3.
East Carolina
(7-1)
9.
Michigan St.
(6-2)
D. Ohio St.
(6-3)
L. Texas A&M
(6-2)
2. Miami Fla
(4-3)
3. Mississippi
(6-2)
4.
Notre Dame
(5-3)
5.
Southern Miss.
(5-3)
ig 12 Standings
North
arking
W L
PF
ansas St.
8 0
332
sbraska
7 1
278
alorado
5 3
262
wa St.
4 4
193
issouri
4 4
210
ansas
3 6
205
South
xas
7 2
330
xas A&M
6 2
247
xas Tech
4 4
180
dahoma
4 3
265
da St.
3 4
160
ay lor
1 7
113
PA
89
99
Sports
Page 7 • Monday, November 1, 1999
A&M answers critics in 21
victory over Oklahoma State
BY BLAINE DIONNE
The Battalion
After last Saturday’s debacle at the Uni
versity of Oklahoma, the Texas A&M Foot
ball Team was given no time off.
The Aggies came back to College Station
and had to practice Sunday evening, begin
ning their search for answers to the many
questions about them found smattered
across newspapers Sunday morning.
Evidently, those answers were found.
The Aggies (6-2, 3-2 Big 12) returned to
Kyle Field Saturday and handed the Okla
homa State University Cowboys (3-4, 1-3
Big 12) their third defeat in their last four
games, 21-3.
The Aggie offense hit on all cylinders,
with senior quarterback Randy McCown
leading the way with one of the most effec
tive throwing days of his career, completing
20-29 passes for 242 yards and two touch
downs.
Senior wide receiver Matt Bumgardner
had a big day as well, hauling in seven
catches for 77 yards and two
touchdowns. The oft-injured
Bumgardner said he was
glad to be given an opportu
nity to score, but was quick
to point out he is not the
only A&M receiver capable
of making big plays.
“It’s funny how it works
out sometimes,” he said. “It
almost seems like every
week guys take turns having
big games. I don’t think I’ve
had a catch the last two
games, but I guess it was my
turn [today], and next week
it’ll be somebody else.”
'To finally come
together this year,
and to play a game
like we're capable
of playing, it really
means a lot to
me:
“Last week, we were embarrassed,” he
said. “51 points — that’s not Wrecking
Crew football. We feel like we need to keep
up the tradition of those old Wrecking
Crews, so we just came out and worked as
hard as we could.”
In addition to being important to this sea
son, the win was an historic one for the
Texas A&M Football Program and for A&M
coach R.C. Slocum. It was the 600th victo
ry in the history of Texas A&M football and
the 100th for Slocum in his coaching career.
Since 1960, only two coaches have
reached the milestone faster, Barry Switzer
of Oklahoma and Steve Spurrier of Florida.
Slocum, however, said he was not as
concerned with the milestone as he was
with his team’s ability to rebound from last
week’s loss.
“1 was very proud of the team,” he said.
“They came back, went to work and I think
their effort showed today. 1 thought we had
good intensity and was pleased with the ef
fort of the team.”
Apparently still stinging from the past
m—m—mmm—m week’s questions about his
team’s character, McCown
reacted emotionally after
the game.
“This team is all heart,”
he said. “To finally come to
gether this year, and to play
a game like we’re capable of
playing, it really means a lot
to me.
“You may not see it from
the outside, but from the in
side, we pulled together like
never before. 1 think now
it’s just going to get better
each week.”
Junior offensive lineman
— Randy McCown
A&M quarterback
The Aggies began their scoring with 8:17
left in the first half, as McCown hooked up
with Bumgardner on an 11-yard pass to go
up on the Cowboys, 7-0.
The offense scored twice more, in the
third quarter with a D’Andre “Tiki” Harde
man one-yard run and another McCown-
Bumgardner connection in the fourth —
this one for 14 yards — to put OSU in hole
it could not dig itself out of.
The two second-half touchdowns turned
out to be moot, as the Wrecking Crew was
its dominating self again after a one-week
hiatus, holding Oklahoma State scoreless
until a 36-yard field goal in the fourth quar
ter let the Cowboys avoid a shutout.
After last week’s torching by the Soon-
ers, the A&M defense had something to
prove. Junior linebacker Roylin Bradley said
he wanted to make sure his side of the ball
lived up to the standards of past A&M de
fenses.
Chris Valletta agreed.
“Personally, I think this is when you find
out about your team — how you bounce
back from a loss like that, like we had
against Oklahoma,” Valletta said. “We knew
in our hearts that today had to be a breakout
game and 1 think we showed that.”
As satisfying as their effort may have
been to them, the Aggies don’t have much
time to enjoy the win. In just five days, they
will travel to the University of Nebraska to
face the Cornhuskers in a rematch of the
Aggies’ momentous upset last season.
Sophomore running back Ja’Mar Toombs
said he thinks the Aggies will be up for the
challenge.
“Next week, you can expect to see more
intensity, more emotion and more enthusi
asm,” he said. “Because we’re playing a big
school at their home that we beat last year,
so we know they’re excited for us, but we’ll
be excited for them.”
m
JR BEATO/Thk Battalion
Aggies pull together in victory
A s the Texas A&M Football Team entered its
game against Oklahoma State Saturday, it
arrived as a team at a crossroads. Fresh
off a 51-6 defeat at the hands
of Oklahoma, the Aggies
faced a tough Cowboy team
with a trip to Lincoln staring
them in the face.
Not only were the Aggies
having to bounce back from
that loss, but numerous
questions were hovering over
the team.
What was wrong with the
DOUG
SHILLING
JR BEATO/Thl Battalion
Oklahoma State quarterback BJ. Tiger loses his helmet after being sacked by
junior defensive lineman Rocky Bernard and senior cornerback Jason Webster.
Wrecking Crew? What was wrong with the offen
sive line? Who would step up and lead the team?
Faced with such questions and adversity, the
Aggies took a bold step forward Saturday that
should help them for the remainder of their
season.
Instead of blowing off the rest of the season
and feeling sorry for themselves after the stun
ning defeat, the team came out and did some
thing it had not done all year — played with the
intensity and emotion that made A&M Big 12
Champions last year.
Sure, the Aggies got a rain-soaked 21-3 win
over Oklahoma State and kept their slim Big 12
Championship hopes alive, but as the team
looks back on this game, the final score will be
of little consequence.
The Aggies will remember at this one as the
game where they finally came together and
played as a team.
The much-maligned offensive line answered its
critics and had its best performance of the year. Re
peatedly, the offensive line controlled the line of
scrimmage and blew the defenders off the ball.
The Aggies have gained more yards in a game this
year but not with the attitude as they did Saturday.
Junior offensive lineman Chris Valletta said Sat
urday was an important opportunity for the offen
sive line to prove itself.
“We knew in our hearts that today had to be
our breakout game, and I think we showed that,”
he said. “We know we can run the ball. This offen
sive line prides itself on that and that’s something
you have to have as an offensive line.”
The Wrecking Crew came out and showed that
last week was the exception, not the rule. The
Crew gave up only 260 yards of total offense and
sacked Cowboy quarterback BJ. Tiger eight times.
In its six times in A&M territory, OSU could muster
only a fourth-quarter field goal.
But of all the positive things coming out of Sat
urday’s game, the best was the emergence of se
nior quarterback Randy McCown as the team’s
leader.
His numbers were impressive — 20-of-29 pass
ing for 242 yards and two touchdowns — but
what was important was the leadership he gave
the team.
Playing with a slightly separated left shoulder,
McCown shrugged off the pain and rallied the
see Victory on Page 9.