Isday, November 13, 2001
THE BATTALION
Page 7
a _jjv&M ‘O’ on pace
' 5>Da ith Navy, UTEP
Where did all the offense go?
Larry Kins
til bombini
States weaken
sufficiently |
alliance to mot
lines. Presifa
the air cai®
ter the Talibang
over bin Ladey
n the Sept. || 6 k
i the UnitedSusl
Taliban force*, >,
trol of Kabulii|
tding south toj
Maidan Shak
’• south of U.
hat do the University
ofTexas-El Paso,
Texas Christian
iversity. Ball State, an 0-8
vy team and Louisiana-
Lafayette
have in com
mon? Each
one of those
teams aver
age more
yards per
game than
the 95th-
ranked
DOUG
PUENTES
m the nortyBfense in the country, Texas
the Islamic which averages 319.8
to have dec:? Irds per game.
™ If it were not for offensive
iwerhouses SMU. North
xas and Baylor, the Aggies
jould have the most pedestrian
: ense in the state of Texas.
| What do Army, Vanderbilt,
doming (whom the Aggies
at earlier this season), Kent
ate and Ball State have in
Ammon? All of those teams
ideouts for(k.:ptpoints on the board at a
d his al-Qaida Jgher rate than the team who
ion. ■90th in the country at doing
pposition had »at very thing, A&M.
Taliban front i Using that logic, the Ball
" temtory rati
y moving sot
seemed ready
.sard the last
stronghok
rea around the
capital is
ious terrain
that
and taken
ibul after a stmt
hat started Friday
■ate Cardinals have a more
|xp!osive” offense than the
Ifense that currently calls
of Mazar-e-Slr|gg iel and home.
I While conventional wis-
says A&M has more
■Tensive talent than the
I# Blighty Cardinals, at least the
W mydyuais have been more
Broficient on the offensive
tball game pdeofthe ball.
I I The point is not to debate
Ahichhas the better offense,
[k&Mor Ball State. The point
12th Man Towel a
is that just two weeks ago, the
Aggies were harboring ideas
of winning the Big 12 South
and now their offense is being
compared to the Ball States,
Kent States and Louisiana-
Lafayettes of the world.
The Aggies offense has
been so bad the last two weeks
that they would probably be in
the middle of the pack in the
East Texas high school
District 12-5A, where a good
portion of the talent on
A&M’s team originates.
What has to be done with
the A&M offense? Despite all
the excuses — injuries, young
players in starting roles, lack
of execution — the Aggies
need to be and are better than
the 132 yards of offense
amassed against Oklahoma.
Make no mistake,
Oklahoma does have one of
the best defenses in the Big 12
Conference, if not the nation.
But the A&M offense made
them look like the Doomsday
Defense that used to patrol the
sidelines in Texas Stadium.
If the Aggies could have
thrown in 100 more yards
and more than five first
downs against the Sooners —
not unreasonable requests
mind you — the defense
might not have worn down in
the second half.
While the Wrecking Crew
has played admirably, it can
not continue to carry the team.
If the offense had played with
half the intensity the defense
has this season, the Aggies
Aggws in search
of production
By Brian Ruff
THE BATTALION
Ten yards is all that is needed to achieve
a first down. Saturday against the
Oklahoma Sooners, 10 yards seemed like
10 miles to the Texas A&M offense.
With more than one minute left in the
first quarter, junior fullback Joe Weber took
the handoff and ran down to the A&M 24-
yard line, giving the Aggies the first down. It
would be the last moving of the chains for
the Aggies until early in the fourth quarter.
The Aggie offense completely shut
down in the second and third quarters,
going seven possessions and 26 plays with
out a first down.
“We played a very good defensive team,”
said A&M football head coach R.C. Slocum.
“We just couldn’t get anything going.”
A&M managed only 132 total yards
against one of the nation’s best defenses,
A&M’s lowest offensive output of the sea
son. The previous season low for the Aggies
was against Kansas State, when the Aggies
posted 189 yards against the Wildcats.
“The defensive unit was exceptional,”
said Oklahoma football head coach Bob
Stoops. “Their outstanding play has been a
staple throughout the season. The defense
was sound and disciplined, and there wasn’t
a time when they were out of position.”
The Aggie offense’s only scoring drive
came on it’s third possession, when A&M
was given good field position as Sooner
senior punter Jeff Ferguson shanked a
26-yard punt.
A&M took over on it’s own 45-yard
line and moved the ball 36 total yards on
passes from Farris to senior wide receiver
Mickey Jones and a 12-yard pass to fresh
man receiver Terrence Murphy.
The Aggie drive stalled on a Farris incom
pletion, and A&M was forced to settle for a
GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION
Sophomore wide receiver Jamaar Taylor has a ball go through his hands during A&M’s 31-10 loss
to the University of Oklahoma Saturday. In two games, the Aggies’ offense has scored three points.
43-yard Cody Scales field goal that put the
Aggies ahead 3-0.
Scates’ field goal would be the only
points the Aggie offense would paint on
the scoreboard.
“It was very frustrating,” said A&M sen
ior center Seth McKinney. “No excuses. We
just didn’t get it done on offense.”
The Sooners rattled off 31 unanswered
points after the Aggies jumped out to a 10-
0 lead when junior linebacker Brian
Gamble picked up a fumble and ran for a
17-yard touchdown.
“There is no doubt [Oklahoma] was the
best defense we have played this year,”
See Offense on page 10.
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