THE BATTALION
Page 7
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“That is one
if the loudest
places I’ve
Jjieard. It’s a
ough place to
play and be able
to hold on and
»
1
eta win.
-A&M quarterback
{fork Farris on the
mosphere in KSU
Stadium
-“It’s frustrat
ing because we
know we're right
there. We played
hard but just
came short."
—KSU linebacker
Terry Pierce on the
'Wildcats near
comeback
NDS
DID
DNDS
k “As a
Wrecking Crew
member, you
ought to really
mnt to be in
that position."
-A&M football
head coach R. C.
Slocum on KSU’s
last play
“It’s very
frustrating that
wegot off to
such a slow
start.”
KSU fullback
Rock Cartwright on
me Wildcats' offense
Bautovich emerges as Crew leader
By Doug Puentes
THE BATTALION
MANHATTAN, Kan. — All
that could be said about Texas
A&M’s 31-24 victory over Kansas
State on Saturday was summed up
by looking at senior safety Wes
Bautovich as he limped toward the
post-game press conference.
Battered, bruised and bloody,
Bautovich gave a sigh of relief as he
sat down on the stoop to field ques
tions, relieved he could finally take
a break.
He led the team with 12 tack
les despite getting down on his
hands and knees in between some
plays to rest.
“It was a busy day,” Bautovich
said. “That’s about the hardest game
I ever played right here. We really
showed what we were about. We
stuck in it, and when push came to
shove, we stopped them.”
Bautovich, pressed into the
starting lineup because senior safe
ty Jay Brooks was inactive because
of a pulled groin muscle, played
like a warrior.
Bautovich and the rest of the
Wrecking Crew bent, but did not
break, as they held off a late charge
from the Wildcats.
The biggest play was a fourth
down stop with 50 seconds left in the
game by junior safety Terrence Kiel
that saved the victory for the Aggies.
Trailing 31-24, the Wildcats
were in good field position after a
52-yard punt return by Aaron
Lockett put the Wildcats at the
A&M 23-yard line, with 2:59 left in
the game.
After converting a fourth down
on the drive, the Wildcats were
faced with a fourth-and-three at
the A&M 5-yard line, with 53 sec
onds left.
KSU quarterback Marc Dunn
took the ball and set out on an
option play toward the left — a play
the Wildcats had run effectively all
game long. He pitched to running
back Josh Scobey who was met by
Kiel. When the dust settled, Kiel
See Bautovich on page 9.
GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION
Senior strong
safety Wes
Bautovich cor
rals Kansas
State’s Aaron
Lockett
Saturday, dur
ing the
Aggies’ 31-24
win over the
Wildcats.
Bautovich,
who stepped
in for an
injured Jay
Brooks, led
the team with
12 tackles
against the
Wildcats.
Aggies hold off Wildcats
Kansas State mounts late rally but comes up short, 31-24
By True Brown
THE BATTALION
MANHATTAN, Kan. — The
Aggies held off a furious fourth-quar
ter rally by the Kansas State Wildcats
and edged out of Manhattan with a
31-24 win in front of 49,935 at KSU
Stadium Saturday.
It took a stop in the final minute of
play on fourth-and-three from the
A&M 5-yard line by junior strong
safety Terrence Kiel to preserve the
win for the Aggies, who handed the
Kansas State Wildcats their fourth
straight loss.
“That was the biggest play of my
career,” said Kiel, who finished the
game with seven tackles. None of
them was bigger than his stop of
KSU running back Josh Scobey in
the final quarter.
It was A&M’s defense that was
the difference, as the Wrecking Crew
set up one touchdown and scored
another in a span of 20 seconds in the
third quarter.
The Aggies (6-1, 3-1 Big 12)
managed just nine first downs and
189 yards of offense against KSU
(2-4, 0-4). The Wildcats are now 0-4
in conference play for the first time
since 1989.
A&M jumped out to a 14-0 lead
early in the game.
The Aggies drove 73 yards on
their second possession and scored
on a shovel pass from junior quarter
back Mark Farris to sophomore run
ning back Oschlor Flemming.
The drive was the Aggies’ longest
of the game. True freshman running
back Derek Farmer carried the ball
on eight of the 13 plays, picking up
42 of his 65 rushing yards. As a team,
the Aggies managed only 5 1 ground
yards to the stiff KSU defense.
A&M scored its second touch
down when Farris found freshman
wide receiver Terrence Murphy on a
44-yard pass just over two minutes
into the first quarter.
It was not until there were seven
seconds remaining in the first half that
the Wildcats got on the board. Scobey
scored on a four-yard option after
breaking a tackle at the 5-yard line.
KSU, who dominated the Aggies
offensively, racked up 358 yards of
total offense. The 258 yards the
Wildcats gained on the ground is the
most against A&M this season, and
all of the Wildcats’ touchdowns came
on the ground.
The game was determined in the
second half, as a pair of fumbles and
one interception by KSU in the third
quarter proved to be the difference.
The Aggies took advantage, scoring
17 points off of K-State’s mistakes.
“The statistics probably say
something about turnovers,” said
Kansas State football head coach
Bill Snyder. “They may have been
our demise as much as anything.”
First, Kiel recovered a dropped
punt by KSU returner Aaron
Lockett at the Wildcat 25-yard line,
giving A&M solid field position.
But as was the case in the second
half, the Aggies failed to move the
ball. A&M settled for a 42-yard
Cody Scates field goal, bringing the
score to 17-10.
Junior linebacker Brian Gamble
set up A&M’s next touchdown, as he
picked off an Ell Roberson pass at the
KSU 21-yard line and returned it to
the 9-yard line.
It took two plays before junior
fullback Joe Weber scored on a 1-
yard run, giving the Aggies a 24-
JO cushion.
“That is what Wrecking Crew
football is all about,” Gamble said.
“It’s about stepping up and making
plays, and we stepped up and made
the plays we needed to.”
The ceiling caved in on KSU 20
seconds later.
Senior linebacker Christian
Rodriguez leveled Roberson on an
option play, and Roberson’s errant
toss to Scobey was picked up by jun
ior linebacker Jarrod Penright.
Penright retuned the fumble 17 yards,
See Survive on page 9.
GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION
Junior quarterback Mark Farris celebrates with
fullback Joe Weber and running back Derek
Farmer following Weber’s 1-yard touchdown run
during the third quarter of the Aggies’ 31-24 win
over the Kansas State Wildcats. The A&M
Wrecking Crew defense stopped the Wildcats
with 46-seconds left in the game at the Aggies’
own 4-yard line.
DNDS
No. 17 A&M notches much-needed win
STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION
Senior outside hitter Michelle Cole leaps after a ball during the Aggies’
Defeat of the Missouri Tigers Saturday at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
By Andy Hancock
THE BATTALION
The matchup between the No.
17 Texas A&M volleyball team
and the Missouri Tigers Saturday
night was a must win but not an
easy win for the Aggies.
Coming off a four-game
winning streak, including
against No. 20 Colorado, the
Tigers were on a roll and look
ing to upset the Aggies.
A&M had a difficult time
penetrating the Missouri
blockers and dropped the first
match 30-28.
Following the first match, the
Aggies had a sense of urgency.
Sophomore middle blocker Tara
Pulaski and senior setter Jenna
Moscovic were elemental in the
Aggies’ wake-up call and were
vocal in motivating the team.
Attributing the first match
loss to mis-positioning, coach
Laurie Corbelli worked to repo
sition the Aggies on the court.
“They do a great job of iden
tifying the attacker and putting
up a very solid bloc. They are
good at blocking the seam, and
we like to hit seam,” Corbelli
said. “We made a big change,
because they didn’t change their
blocking, we changed our direc
tion of where we were hitting.”
“We realized that that was
exactly where the match was
going to be won or lost, by hit
ting and blocking,” she said.
Midway through the second
match, Corbelli’s decision to
reposition the blockers paid off,
as the Aggies capitalized, win
ning 30-21.
However, in the third match
the Tigers again challenged the
Aggies by stepping up their
intensity and gained an early lead
by finding holes in A&M’s back
line. Throughout the third match
the score remained close, but the
Aggies proved superior begin
ning with the serves from junior
outside hitter A.D. Achilefu,
whose powerful serves, accom
panied with a combined 12 kills
between Erin Lechler and Brandi
Mount, proved too much for the
Tigers. The Aggies took the third
match 33-31.
Team play was the nails in
the coffin for the Aggies’ second
home victory, taking the fourth
match easily 30-20.
“We focused in practice on
making me an attacker because
it opens up the other hitters,
luckily they were not on me as
strong tonight as some teams
are,” Moscovic said.
The Aggies’ next contest is
Monday at 7 p.m. against the
Kansas State Wildcats.
“We have been struggling at
home, and I think we came out
with the mind set that we
weren’t going to loose,” Pulaski
said, “it was definitely a turning
point for the team.”
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Aggies sweep
weekend action
Freshman forward Linsey
Johnson continued her stellar
rookie season, scoring her first
career hat trick as the Texas
A&M women’s soccer team
defeated the University of
Missouri, 5-2 Sunday.
The Aggies (8-3-1, 5-1-1 Big
12) also defeated the University
of Kansas by a score of 4-0
Friday night.
Johnson scored A&M’s first
hat trick since 1999 when
teammate Nicky Thrasher net
ted three goals against Kansas.
On Friday, Thrasher scored two
goals in a span of 33 seconds
and goalkeepers Esther
Thompson and Angela Barker
combined for A&M’s fourth
shutout of the season.
Barker then made her first
career start between the pipes
on Sunday, stopping six shots
and earning her first career win.