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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1999)
1: he Battalion i prote a, United Mi United States, soldier, his head wrappd aiited “long live Osama' relieves mastermindedlai Embassies in Kenya anc pie. sama is a great ried to storm a World Fk topped by Taliban soi second quarter, but we no the air knew coming out in the arch at I’ashtuinsLtn econc j ^gif w hat W6 had rt of the city, and sureeiM, , , ,, ,, tt^o to put them away. “Our overall perfor- lance was better; we came out strong. We had a lapse in the h has been empty for lw nail number of Afghani!® — Ja’Mar Toombs < on A&M’s 51-14 win over Missouri yarthquafc “this week on defense, tits Turke >,000 injuii we came out and executed our plays right. We made fewer nistakes than we had the last couple of veeks. Our offense gave us a boost with that I great opening drive.” — Jason Glenn n the defense’s performance in \&M’s 51-14 win over missouri DUZCE, TUrkey (AP)- o workers from 23 dife untries poured into Me tied thousands of soldi® rday in a massive effort ople believed buried b e rubble of Friday's take. The temblor kil ast 374 people and i 300 others. Turks signaled motoris day to shut off their eng le part of a quake-st ivn so a rescue teamcou| good start, a for thecriesofachildb neath slabs of concre ack away, the newlyhotia. ® ... ied up lot blankets and; t hi s week on getting the Emergency crews andr* :v organizations saythf# zation of the relief e* nuts in contrast to the:, ith of the devastating nblor, when relief teani'! red through the quake a “We knew that playing on the road against a challenging opponent, we needed to get off to I’m very proud of this football team and their focus getting the job done.” — R.C. Slocum on the team’s overall attitude The Battalion Top 25 Poll Team Exam Tomorroo Flonda st GIG unri 2 Virginia Tech tM NU1I3. Florida Todsy! 4.| Nebraska . Wisconsin Daily Notes Exam Packs -ull Semester Packs Exam Packs Available tor: IT 209.506 H 202.500 L 113.503- 504 - 114.500 r 106.502 AT 105.500 [Texas arshall ennessee labama 1 Kansas St. l| Michigan I Mississippi St. mgmt 363.50t 3j Penn St. MKTG321.5034! Georgia Tech St ; rdng351.501^1 Southern Miss. r'jBYU Georgia Purdue Arkansas Minnesota Mississippi Texas A&M Louisiana Tech Boston College Record (10-0) (9-0) (9-1) (9-1) (9-2) (9-2) (lO-O) (7-2) (8-2) (9-1) (8-2) (8-1) (9-2) (7-2) (8-2) (7-3) (8-2) (6-3) (6-4) (6-3) (7-3) (7-2) (7-3) (8-2) (7-2) and Austin Dlogy Florida St. (10-0) Virginia Tech (9-0) Florida (9-1) Nebraska (9-1) Wisconsin (9-2) Texas (9-2) Tennessee (7-2) 1 Alabama (8-2) , Kansas St. (9-1) ✓elopment trip toy Michigan (8-2) U.S. Military. ..Marshall (10-0) sitions will be madi Mississippi St. (8-1) will be $3.50. We 5. Penn St. (9-2) | Georgia Tech (7-2) >. Michigan St. (8-2) >. Mississippi (7-2) '. Minnesota (7-3) Southern Miss. (7-3) J BYU (8-2) >. Purdue (6-4) .. Georgia (6-3) !. Arkansas (6-3) f. East Carolina (8-2) k Texas A&M (7-3) >. Boston College (7-2) 7625 h. ss of 2000 r ig 12 Standings North W L PF PA sbraska 9 1 356 114 msas St. 9 1 367 144 'lorado 6 4 313 250 msas 4 7 263 326 l va st. 4 6 219 241 fssouri 4 6 224 305 kas South 9 2 422 226 lahoma 6 3 333 157 *as A&M 7 3 298 192 <as Tech 5 5 215 254 la jSt. 4 5 226 216 ylor 1 9 123 380 Sports Page 7 • Monday, November 15, 1999 Breakthrough p dGERS/Vll| |{ V | 1 vl l()N A&M sophomore running back Ja’Mar Toombs breaks away from a pile of University of Missouri defenders in the Aggies’ 51-14 win over the Tigers Saturday in Columbia, Mo. Unpredictable Aggies bounce back from Nebraska loss BY AL LAZARUS The Battalion COLUMBIA, Mo. — After a week in which the Texas A&M Football Team was forced to recover from a 37-0 loss to Ne braska while dealing with the dismissal from the team of senior running back Dante Hall, it was easy to assume the Aggies would come out uninspired in their game Saturday against Missouri. But to make that assumption would be to forget one of the major themes of A&M’s 1999 campaign. Good or bad, the Aggies have been unpredictable — consistently in consistent. So when A&M reeled off a 17-play, 70- yard opening drive for a touchdown, it seemed difficult to be surprised — though it was the Aggies’ first offensive touchdown in a first quarter all season. And when A&M was promptly shut down by the Tiger defense for the rest of the half — turning the ball over on a fumble and punting five times — it was not a stretch to assume the Aggies were headed for a war of attrition with a Missouri team desperate to salvage a disappointing season with a win in its last home game. In the end, though, the Aggies succeeded at doing something they did not do nearly enough in their three conference road loss es this season. They put points on the score- board. A&M (7 : 3, 4-3 Big 12) scored early and (mostly) late in crushing Missouri (4-6, 1-6 Big 12), 51-14, in front of 57,472 fans at Faurot Field. For the first time this season, the Aggies managed to establish a strong running game against a conference opponent on the road. With Hall suspended from the team for dis ciplinary reasons and senior running back Eric Bernard out with a shoulder injury, A&M started the game featuring its “jumbo” set — the imposing backfield tandem of se nior D’Andre “Tiki” Hardeman and sopho more Ja’Mar Toombs. Although the Aggies’ final rushing- yardage total of 254 was inflated due to 33- and 77-yard runs from promising freshman Joe Weber when the game was already in hand, A&M’s success running the ball on the first drive set the stage for its dominating af ternoon. Toombs pounded the ball up the middle on the Aggies’ opening drive, gaining 24 yards and eventually capping the 7 minute, 16 second drive with the Aggie offense’s only first-quarter touchdown of the season. “We knew we could run the ball on them,” Toombs said. “We wanted to come out and show everyone that the running game the last couple of weeks was not us.” A&M coach R.C. Slocum said the Aggies were aware of the importance of coming out strong on the road. “We knew that playing on the road against a challenging opponent, we need ed to get off to a good start,” Slocum said. “I thought our offense came out and set the tempo by getting points on the open ing drive.” Senior quarterback Randy McCown bal anced out the Aggies’ running attack throughout the game, completing 12 of 21 passes for 201 yards, his sixth 200-yard plus passing day of the season. Chris Taylor caught three passes for 35 yards, while John son, Leroy Hodge and Matt Bumgardner each caught a pair for the Aggies. “We knew it was [Missouri’s] senior day, and we wanted to match their intensity and outplay them,” McCown said. “I thought Ja’ Mar and Tiki had a great week of practice, and that reflected in the game.” Leading only 7-0 at halftime, the Aggies were once again faced with an opportunity to implode in the second half and plummet further in the conference standings. Instead, they responded with their most impressive half of the season, scoring 44 points against a Missouri defense that steadily crumbled throughout the half. After the Tigers went three and out to be gin the second half, the Aggies found them selves at their 45-yard line. Three plays lat er, McCown hit a streaking Bethel Johnson on the right sideline for a-39-yard touchdown pass, giving A&M a two-touchdown lead and setting the tone for the rest of the game. Toombs added two more touchdowns, and punter/place-kicker Shane Lechler boot ed a 32-yard field goal to cap a 24-point quar ter for A&M. Replacing the chronically low-kicking Ter ence Kitchens, Lechler made his only field goal attempt and four extra points in addi tion to averaging 53.4 yards on seven punts — the 10th 50-yard plus game of his career. After missing an extra point in the fourth quarter, though, Kitchens came on to kick the Aggies’ final two extra points. Included in A&M’s 20 fourth-quarter points was safety Michael Jameson’s third interception returned for a touchdown this season, a school record. GUY ROGERS/The Battalion A&M freshman running back Joe Weber (right) eludes University of Missouri safety Clarence Jones in the fourth quarter Saturday. A&M running backs respond under pressure C OLUMBIA, Mo. — Last week was n’t exactly the best week to be a Texas A&M run ning back. The Aggies were coming off their worst rush ing performance of the season, rushing for two yards against the University of Nebraska, and then Monday, A&M coach R.C. Slocum dismissed senior running back Dante Hall from the team. Heading into Saturday’s game against the University of Missouri, the Aggie running backs felt they had something to prove. The Aggies gained some of their pride back as they hit the ground running against the Tigers. A&M rushed for a season-high 254 yards on 48 carries, and more importantly, came out with the at titude of establishing the running game. With Hall gone and senior run ning back Eric Bernard still nurs ing an injury, Slocum threw out a new starting backfield. Although they had played at the same time in a game before, it was the first time Ja’Mar Toombs and D’Andre ‘Tiki’ Hardeman had start ed a game together. The dividends of the TNT back- field payed off immediately. Behind the punishing running of Toombs and the blocking of Tiki, A&M took the opening possession of the ball game and methodically marched 70 yards in 17 plays, end ing with a 2-yard touchdown run by Toombs. It was the first offensive touch down the Aggies had scored in the first quarter all season. That opening drive set the tone for the rest of the day as the Mis souri defense got a steady dose of Toombs and Tiki all day. Toombs finished with 76 yards on 22 carries and three touch downs, while Tiki ended with 48 yards on nine carries and a touch down. While having their best running day of the season, Toombs said the running backs came out to prove a point against the Tigers. “We wanted to come out and show everyone that the running game the last couple of weeks was not us,” Toombs said. “We are bet ter than that. I really came out pumped, especially since Coach Slocum put the load on me to run. Our offensive line was good and Tiki blocked great.” After Tiki and Toombs softened up the defense the first three quar ters, freshman Joe Weber came into the game in the fourth and provided a glimpse at what the fu ture holds for the Aggie running game. On his first carry from scrim mage, Weber broke out over the left side and rushed for 33 yards, the Aggies’ longest rush from scrimmage on the year. It was a mark that stood for all of six min utes. On the Aggies’ third possession of the fourth quarter, Weber took a handoff at the A&M 20 and ran 77 yards to the Missouri 3 yard-line. It was A&M’s longest rush since 1997 when Sirr Parker had an 80-yard run against Iowa State University. Weber finished with 121 yards on eight carries, the first Aggie back to eclipse the century mark this season. Doug Shilling is a junior agricultural journalism major. DOUG SHILLING