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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2001)
tA iaiyl6,20C ars i — Two e amon« ce raided city ordi- s. tato and )kie celc- y, posted minutes Saturday Tuesday, January 16, 2001 SPORTS THE BATTALION Page 9 Toombs and Ferguson would benefit from staying extra year T \ ; he 2001 version of the Texas A&M football team has already suffered a major dblow and it has n't even made it to National Sign ing Day yet. wn fora ainst the . Donato :k played ’ win by :k were Tampa's :nt ordi- tave said eadine to 28. nus, is a Raymond the NR »ple have ordinance Per 1999, > stay sii wyers are mortality iidges ha> that the; they so mch Ki: ’etcrsbur: ; door an: It was a rief- op 25 ■ociatedP® th first-ptas r ough Jan. 'or a first- a 25th-plaa ■■ IV Two of the Aggies’ most talented offensive players, junior fullback Ja’Mar Toombs and junior wide re ceiver Robert Ferguson, decided ast week to forgo their senior sea- ons and head for the riches of the ' ! ’]|National Football League. Toombs lead the team in touch- lowns this season with 14 and Fer guson set a new single-season ecord for receiving yards, with 885 ft only 10 games. Toombs and Ferguson cited fi nancial strains as the main factor in heir decisions. While it is hard to fault them for toing after the money, both do car- y question marks with them on heir quests. During his time at A&M, [bdmbs gained a reputation as a >ig-game back. His 71-yard rumble igainst Nebraska in 1998 helped >rovide the Aggies with a spark. In 999 against Texas, he almost sin- le-handely willed the Aggies to victory. This season he stepped it up again with his performances against Kansas State, Oklahoma and Mis sissippi State. His tendency of not showing up for the other games is cause for alarm, however. For the season, Toombs gained only 564 yards on 152 carries — an average of only 3.7 per tote. Those are decent num bers, but hardly the numbers of a back ready to tear up the NFL. Another thing going against Toombs is history. Three A&M running backs de clared for the draft early in the 1990s (Robert Wilson, Greg Hill and Leeland McElroy), and none went on to have a distinguished NFL career. On the other hand, Rodney Thomas resisted the call of the NFL and stayed for his senior season. He was drafted in the third round in 1995 by the then Houston Oilers. He is still in the league and was a member of the Tennessee Titans team that made it to the 2000 Super Bowl. Food for thought, Mr. Toombs. Ferguson is a different story. From the first day he came to Ag- gieland, Ferguson was the most tal ented receiver the Aggies ever had. He had the speed, quickness and physical play required to compete at the next level. He set one A&M receiving record and would have rewritten the Aggie record book if he had stayed. Talent was never an issue, but readiness to compete against the top NFL cornerbacks will be. Ferguson is only one year re moved from Tyler Junior College. He adjusted well this year to Division 1 competition, but the jump from junior college to Divi sion I competition is nothing like the jump from Division I to the pros. As good as Ferguson is now, he only would have improved his se nior year and would have had a good chance to solidify himself as the top wide receiver, if not the top player, in the 2002 draft. ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper rat ed Toombs as the 16th-best player on his draft board, with Ferguson coming in at No. 19. Most NFL scouts see both players as second- to fourth-round picks. The talent is apparent in both players and both will probably do well in the NFL. But another year in Aggieland would have cleared up the questions and made the road to stardom a bit easier. Doug Fuentes is a senior journalism major. Texas a&m University Career Center The real world is right around the corner. * Register with the Career Center online and attend an orientation for on-campus interviewing to be ready for spring interviews. * Look for our "Weekly Preview" in each Monday's Battalion to find out about upcoming workshops, seminars and career fairs. For more information come by 209 Koldus, cal! 845-5139 or visit our website at http://careercenter.tamu.edlu Be ready for it Oklahoma Pts 1,749 1,675 1,601 1,507 1,485 1,359 1,266 1,196 1,159 1,157 1,096 762 711 691 681 681 634 7 519 1- 381 1 ; 319 ' 315 7 297 7 273 268 263 10 St. 137 ;ia Tech® 29, Coll-o' t. 16, Soof tsburgh ill t. Joseph" Baylor 4 Oregon 3, Mississippi ;t. John's 7 Continued from Page 7 leupefs popularity by picking off the senior quarter- ack twice during the contest and holding him to only ne touchdown in the game. Despite the onslaught of criticism that piles up on ead coach R.C. Slocum and the rest of the coaching taff, Slocum readied his troops for the biggest battle of is 12 seasons as head coach. He came just short of ending OU’s national champi- nship season and possibly giving the Aggies a shot at nother Big 12 Championship. Slocum had Aggies on both sides of the ball ready to go to battle on that chilly Saturday afternoon, even though the team was devastated by injuries late in the game. Junior fullback Ja’Mar Toombs added several plays to his highlight reel, including a 27-yard rumble into the end zone that will remain in the minds of Aggie football fans for years. When Aggie fans look back at the 2000 season, they should not dwell on the disheartening loss to Colorado that ended a four-year win streak at Kyle Field or the thumping by the Longhorns in Austin. They should remember the Aggies’ 26-10 beating of the No. 8 Kansas State Wildcats and the startling Okla homa game that could have shook-up the Big 12 Con ference and possibly the entire college football nation. VERVIEW Continued from Page 7 i [ack, had at least one starter miss a 1 [ame. A&M’s injury situation was so j, ad that Slocum said it was the worst - e had ever been through in his coach ing career. ubiak nterviews With Texans In the new year, A&M hopes that at least part of history repeats itself as it moves into 2001. After all, Okla homa’s last loss was at the 1999 In dependence Bowl. “It’s definitely disappointing when you lose your final game, not to mention your last three games, but we’re going to learn from this and not let it happen again,” linebacker Bri an Gamble, who will anchor next season’s Wrecking Crew, said. “We’re not going to let it dishearten us or affect our play next year. Okla homa was in this same boat last year at this time, and they were able to build on it. We’re going to use it for motivation and be ready for 2001.” lsatVgmatVgreVmcatVdat It’s not like we’ll give you the answers. Well...yes it is. ib ,bf Standardized tests are predictable. Understanding them is what Kapla'n is all about. Classes start soon. GRE - January 22 and 23 GMAT - February ±0 LSAT - January 17 and 20 MCAT - January 21, 23, and 27 DAT - January 27 TOEFL - January 29 Call today to enroll! 1 -800-KAP-TEST kaptest.com Test prep, admissions and guidance. For life. HOUSTON (AP) — It seems only a matter of time until Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak lands a head coaching job in the NFL. The native Texan is frequently on the candidates’ list when a job comes open and he returned home Monday for an interview with the expansion Houston Texans that could be the most attractive of all to the former Denver and Texas A&M juarterback. “This is a no-brainer for me, something I’ve really looked for the 'past two years so I’m enjoying to day.” Kubiak said after talking with owner Bob McNair and general ' manager Charley Casserly. “I’ve ;;ieen in contact with Mr. (Pat) Bowlen, our owner, about what was ’ going on and whether Houston "would get the opportunity for a team. if “When they did, as a football coach and a guy coming up in this ■ business, I was very interested in what was going on. It’s been a long ]ll Top 2' iociated P- with first- irds throu? 5 points fs' : t for a 25t r ng: Pts 1,025 974 953 895 843 793 788 712 657 591 586 574 472 441 419 397 369 334 286 264 235 124 122 106 48 48 - — 0 0 irn38,^.process and something I’ve really 113 ^-waited on to meet these guys and see L George what’s going on here at home.” , Ban st ; [ Kubiak played high school foot- ^^'iball at Houston St. Pius and then payed quarterback at A&M. He spent nine seasons as a backup to ■John Elway with the Broncos and ^ * mas been the team’s offensive coor- Hinator for the past six seasons. Kubiak interviewed with the Cleveland Browns in 1998, and liore recently with the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots, pe also was a finalist for the Uni- tJ * versity of Colorado job before de ciding to stick with the Broncos. fpIQyffl The Browns and Bills are cur- ibntly looking for head coaches but CRIP Kubiak said he hadn’t been contact- dete s froifl by those teams. Where it matters most. 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