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Sports
The Battalion
Page 5 • Friday, November 15, 2002
The season that could have been ...
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ALISSA HOLLIMON • THE BATTALION
Freshman quarterback Reggie McNeal escapes the Oklahoma defense on
Saturday in the Aggies' 30-26 victory. McNeal will start at QB against Missouri.
Coming into the 2002 season, the
Aggie football team was ranked No. 23 in
the nation and had aspirations of winning
the Big 12 South title and the Big 12
Conference Championship.
Instead, the Aggies are heading into
their final home game of the season with
a 6-4 record.
However, three of those losses could
have easily gone the other way had three
plays turned out for the Aggies instead of
their counterparts.
The Aggies took a 24-point lead into
the fourth quarter against Texas Tech.
After the Raiders rallied with 21 points,
the Aggies missed an extra point in the
closing minutes of the game that would
have given the Aggies a four-point lead.
Instead, the Red Raiders tied the game
with a last second field goal, sending the
game into overtime following their 24-
point fourth quarter comeback. The
Aggies would miss another extra point in
overtime, giving the Raiders a 48-47 vic
tory at Kyle Field.
While there is no guarantee the Aggies
would have won the game, it would have
forced the Raiders to score a touchdown
instead of a field goal to win the game.
Fast forward to the Aggies home game
against Nebraska. After losing another
fourth quarter lead to the Buskers, the
Aggies had another chance in the closing
minutes to win the game.
With just more than a minute left in the
game, the Aggies drove down to the
Nebraska 10-yard line. But, on first down,
sophomore quarterback Dustin Long
threw an interception in the back of the
end zone on a pass that was intended to be
thrown away.
If the Aggies scored on that drive, it is
likely they would have held on and won
the game.
Saturday.
Nov. 16
The next week, A&M traveled to
Stillwater, Okla. This time it was not a sec
ond half collapse by the Wrecking Crew.
The Aggies couldn’t get anything going in
the first half on offense or defense, allow
ing the Cowboys to score 28 points and
take a 28-14 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the Aggies rallied to
within five points with just under two
minutes remaining in the game. After
converting on fourth down. Long threw a
deep pass into the end zone to senior wide
receiver Bethel Johnson that would have
given the Aggies the lead. Instead the
Oklahoma State secondary made an out
standing defensive play, forcing the ball
out of Johnson’s arms for the interception.
Had the Aggies converted those three
plays, they would be sitting in the nation
al spotlight with a 9-1 record and looking
for a BCS bowl game.
The “What ifs?” recieved a boost this
past weekend when the Aggies were led
by freshman quarterback Reggie McNeal
against the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners.
However, the Aggies will have to for
get about that this weekend when the
Missouri Tigers come into Kyle Field.
The Tigers have had similar close calls
with Nebraska and Iowa State and need
two more wins to become bowl eligible
themselves.
The big news in College Station this
week was that McNeal will get his first
career start against Missouri which should
make for some added excitement for the
final home game of 2002 at Kyle Field.
“I think based on (McNeal’s) perform
ance Saturday, he deserves a chance to
start,” said head coach R.C. Slocum. “I
intend to keep playing Dustin (Long)
some and just reverse the roles.”
Volleyball team attempting to earn sixth straight win
By True Brown
THE BATTALION
The wins keep piling up for the
Texas A&M volleyball team.
With Wednesday’s road victory
against Kansas, A&M extended its
unbeaten streak to five matches and
equaled its longest winning streak of
the season.
Prior to the streak, the Aggies had
not won more than one match in a row
since their Oct. 2 match against
Oklahoma.
“We’ve got a different feeling
around us, around the team,” said head
coach Laurie Corbelli. “Every person’s
determination is so much more visible.
We’ve got a team that’s really together
and has their goal in sight.”
For now, A&M’s goal is to beat No.
20 Kansas State, a team that handed the
Aggies a 3-0 spanking in Manhattan,
Kan., last month. A&M and K-State
will square off Sunday at 3 p.m in G.
Rollie White Coliseum.
The Wildcats have never won in
College Station and A&M’s team has
done a total about-face since playing
KSU on the road.
“They are a good, good team,”
Corbelli said. “They rarely make an
unforced error. (The loss) may come
back to be a benefit. We’ve had some
time to reflect on how out of it we were,
and K-State knows we are a much bet
ter team than we were up there. We sure
know we are.”
The most important aspect of
Sunday’s match may be where it is.
The overall record between the two
teams is 7-7, but neither school has
ever won at the other’s home gym.
A&M owns a 6-0 record against KSU
in G. Rollie, and also has a win at a
s losing
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neutral site.
The home court advantage is not
something A&M is taking lightly.
“They’re in our house,” said senior
middle blocker A.D. Achilefu.
“Whenever we’re at home, we have the
attitude that the other team is in our
house and they aren’t welcome here. It
doesn’t matter how many games it
takes, as long as we win and hold our
ground in our gym.”
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