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Mi iday, November 27, 2000
Sports
THE BATTALION
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Texas Stampede
BRADLEY ATCHISON/Tiu; Battalion
Texas running back Hodges Mitchell rushed for in Austin. A&M defensive tackle Ronald Fle-
95 yards in the Longhorns' 43-1 7 victory Friday mons pursues the Texas tailback on this play.
Third quarter results in Aggies’Austin nightmare
By Blaine Dionne
The Battalion
AUSTIN —- The latest edition of the
Texas A&M/Texas rivalry was a classic
— for the first half.
At the end of the half, the Aggies (7-
4, 5-3) were within three points of the
Longhorns (9-2, 7-1). A&M trailed its
archrivals due only to a first-play inter
ception returned for a touchdown to put
the’Horns ahead, 7-0, after just two min
utes and 14 seconds of play.
A&M coach R.C. Slocum said after
the game that the early score was an aus
picious beginning for UT.
“No question, an easy touchdown is
not the way you want to start the ball-
game,” Slocum said.
After that touchdown, the Aggies and
Longhorns settled into a defensive battle
that showed no signs of a blowout.
On its fourth possession of the day, the
Aggie offense woke up to the tune of a
49-yard, 12-play, 5-minute and 47-sec-
ond drive, resulting in a nifty 15-yard
Richard Whitaker counter draw play to
tie the score.
The ’Horns took the ball right back
down the field, driving 40 yards in seven
plays for a 34-yard Kris Stockton field
goal to regain the lead, 10-7.
A&M then marched 73 yards, on its
way to another touchdown and its first lead
of the game.
But normally mistake-free A&M quar
terback Mark Farris made his second faux
pas of the day by fumbling on a naked left
option, giving UT possession of the ball
for the rest of the half.
“At the half, I felt we were very much
still in it,” Slocum said. “But they camfe
out in the second half and made big plays.’’
Those big plays came early and oftefi
in the second halt, starting with the Long
horns’ first drive.
After starting on their own 29, the
’Horns were facing first-and-10 on their
See Aggies on Page 6.
Simms and Co. too much for Ags
AUSTIN — Pick an
excuse, any excuse.
There are plenty to go
around, and they all ex
plain a small part of the
dismantling UT handed
A&M Friday in Austin.
The game started
out a great matchup.
The banged-up Ags
were holding up nicely with UT ahead,
courtesy of a fluke interception off the
usually reliable Mark Farris on A&M’s
first play from scrimmage.
Instead of being a fluke, the interception
was a sign of things to come on a day that
saw everything go wrong for the Aggies.
The next sign of trouble came when
A&M was facing second-and-goal on the
Texas 9-yard line. Farris fumbled on an
option right, surrendering the ball and, es
sentially, the momentum to Texas for the
rest of the day.
Embattled Texas quarterback Chris
Simms waited until the third quarter to have
his career day by distributing the ball to his
talented trio of receivers to score at will.
UT’s phenomenal receiver, Roy
Williams, finished the day with four
catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns,
the first on a reverse that broke open the
game for the ’Horns.
Simms had the most successful day of
his young career against the Aggies, tally
ing 383 yards on 16 of 24 passing with
three touchdowns through the air.
Simms, who has been battling with
Major Applewhite all season for the start
ing job, seemed to finally put himself
See Injuries on Page 6.
BRADLEY ATCHISON/The Battalion
Texas quarterback Chris Simms
passed a perfect eight-for-eight
for 234 yards and a trio of touch
downs in the third quarter alone.
Volleyball two-
NCAA awards squad with
second straight regional
By Jason Lincoln
The Battalion *
For the eighth straight time, Texas A&M, volley
ball is headed for the postseason.
The NCAA tournament selection committee
awarded the 25th-ranked Aggies a place at-large in
the 64-team field Sunday evening.
“We just can take a deep breath that this is the end
of our regular season and now we can start a new
thing,” said A&M coach Laurie Corbelli.
A&M will not enjoy the home-court advantage
See Postseason on Page 6.
step finishes Big 12 campaign, clinches NCAA berth
A&M sweeps Longhorns, Wildcats to take second place in Big 12
JASON LINCOLN/Thi: Battalion
The Aggies' second straight sweep of Texas
earned them second place in the Big 1 2.
By Jason Lincoln
The Battalion
Texas A&M volleyball
could not ask for a better finale
to the season: Two of the
biggest matches of the season
at home against two of the
biggest opponents — Kansas
State and Texas.
The Aggies opened their fi
nal home stand Wednesday
night against Kansas State, in a
must-win situation if they
hoped to tie for second place in
the Big 12.
The Aggies made quick
work of the Wildcats, sweeping
them, 16-14, 15-7, 15-9.
On Saturday, in the final
match of the regular-season,
the Aggies swept the Long
horns, 15-7, 15-7, 15-8.
The win marked the first
time A&M has won both reg
ular-season meetings against
the ’Horns since 1979.
“It’s a great way to finish
up,” said A&M coach Laurie
Corbelli. “I knew it was going
to be real important that we
were sharp and that we peak
and doing things the way we
needed to do them.”
Corbelli honored the se
niors in the traditional pre
game ceremony before the fi
nal match.
The seniors then returned
the favor by leading A&M to
the win over Texas in a dra
matic exit to their final match
at G. Rollie Coliseum.
Senior middle blocker
Heather Marshall, who started
every match and played in
every game this season, posted
10 kills and 10 digs.
Senior defensive specialist
Christy Clark led the Aggies
with 13 digs.
Back-up setter senior Claire
Harvey played all three games,
posting 41 assists and seven
kills.
With the pair of wins and
the help of Nebraska’s defeat of
the Wildcats in a five-game
match on Saturday, the Aggies
finished tied for second with K-
State and Missouri.
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