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Sports
The Battalion
Page 5 • Monday, December 9, 2002
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By True Brown
THE BATTALION
No more than 24 hours into
his new job as head football
coach at Texas A&M, Dennis
Franchione is already laying
down the law. He met with the
Aggie football team for the
first time Friday afternoon, and
players said after the meeting
there was no confusion about
who was in charge.
“There were some guys
talking amongst themselves,
and he put his foot down and
said ‘When I’m talking, you
guys be quiet,”’ said free safe
ty Jaxson Appel. “I think he
runs a tight program.”
Players said they had a good
first impression from
Franchione, who has compiled a
155-73-2 in his 20-year head
coaching career.
“It’s exciting getting a new
guy in here,” said quarterback
Dustin Long. “He seems like
he’s real excited about having
the job, so we should be headed
in the right direction.”
Under the direction of coach
R.C. Slocum, A&M finished
the 2002 regular season with a
6-6 record, the worst by the
Aggies since 1996.
Appel said Franchione already
made sure his players knew
where he stands as head coach.
“He said he was going to
draw the line in the dirt,” Appel
said. “You were either going to
be on his side or if you crossed
it, he was going to deal with it.
There was going to be no gray
area. 1 really liked the way he
put that.”
Franchione also told the
Aggies he would probably
bring Carl Torbush, his defen
sive coordinator at Alabama, to
A&M. This season, Torbush
and the Crimson Tide had the
nation’s No. 2 defense and the
nation’s best rushing defense.
A&M’s current defensive
coordinator, Mike Hankwitz,
has held the position since 1997.
Appel said most of the play
ers came away impressed with
their new coach.
“I think he’s a good fit for
here,” Appel said. “Sometimes
you get a good vibe from
someone, and 1 think we all got
a good vibe from him. He car
ries himself well, he speaks
well. He seems like a very lik
able, approachable person.”
A&M running back Derek
Farmer was recruited heavily
by Franchione at Alabama, but
committed to the Aggies on
signing day in 2001. Now, the
two have found themselves on
the same team.
“I’m excited about getting
to play for Coach Franchione,”
said Farmer, who has led the
Aggies in rushing the last two
seasons. “He’s a great guy. I’m
looking forward to this season,
and hopefully he can get us off
to a good start this season.”
Farmer, who hails from
Tyler, said he signed with A&M
so he could be closer to his
mother and so she could come
and see him play more often.
Still, he said he had a solid
impression from Franchione
and his staff while he was
being recruited.
“They were all great peo
ple, always up front,” Farmer
said. “He is a guy that you can
trust, and he trusts you. I felt
comfortable with him and his
staff. He did a tremendous job
(while he was at Alabama) and
really turned their program
around.”
JOHN C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION
A&M freshman tight end Quinlin Germany answers questions from the media on Friday regarding the hiring
of Dennis Franchione as A&M’s new head football coach. Franchione met with the team on Friday afternoon.
Aggies escape Prairie View in 20T
Oklahoma wins Big 12 Title
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By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
PRAIRIE VIEW- The Texas A&M men’s basketball
team (5-1) escaped upset-minded Prairie View A&M (1-2)
by beating the Panthers 83-78 in double overtime Saturday.
The Aggies pulled out a hard fought victory in front of 4,026
hostile fans at W.J. Nicks Building in Prairie View.
The crowd was boisterous from the opening tip off to the
waning seconds of the second overtime period. Every time
out saw dances break out in the stands and deafening roars
of “PVU.”
“It was definitely a tough environment to play in,” said
freshman swingman Antoine Wright. “[Prairie View] came
out playing hard and fed off the crowd.”
A&M appeared to be pulling away with the game when
its lead reached 1 1 at the 7:08 mark of the second half with
JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION
A&M freshman Antoine Wright dunks over a Panther defender.
the score 54-43. The Aggies could only manage seven points
in the final seven minutes while Prairie View, urged on by the
crowd, inched closer to the Aggies. The Panthers reeled off
seven unanswered points in the final two minutes to tie the
game at 61.
With barely more than one second remaining. Prairie
View senior guard Gregory Burks reversed in the air and
flipped the basketball from his waist over his shoulder. The
ball went off the backboard and in to tie the game and sent
the crowd into a deafening frenzy.
“It just went in for him,” said senior guard Bradley
Jackson. “I couldn’t believe some of the shots they were hit
ting, but he hit it.”
After calling a timeout, Aggie senior Keith Bean tried to
pass the length of the court to Wright, but the ball was
thrown too long and went out of bounds. Prairie View got the
ball back under its offensive basket with no time running off
the clock. Wright blocked a three-point attempt by Burks to
send the game to overtime.
A&M junior Kevin Turner opened the scoring 31 seconds
into the first overtime period, draining a three-pointer from
the comer. Prairie View fought back and tied the game 71-71
on a three-pointer by junior Malachi Thurston, who had a
game-high 24 points.
In the second overtime, the Aggies started to roll once
again with Turner hitting a three-pointer front the comer. This
time the Panthers could not hit their shots to keep the game
tight. Wright sealed the win when he buried two free throws
with nine seconds left to give the Aggies a five-point edge.
Wright had his second straight double-double by scoring
21 points and collecting 12 rebounds. It was also Wright’s
fourth 20-point effort in only six games.
“I knew from the beginning of the game that I was going
to come out and be aggressive and try to attack the glass,”
Wright said. “I knew that that was definitely their weakness
and I was trying to exploit it.”
The Aggies never could shake the Panthers during the
game. At halftime, the score was 32-31 in favor of the
Aggies in part because of 10 turnovers by A&M.
“We just fight a little harder, dig a little harder, and find
ways to get it done,” Watkins said. “We know we have to go
back to the drawing board and get better, and we will.”
HOUSTON (AP) — With no national
championship berth on the line, Oklahoma
and Colorado didn’t pack the house for
Saturday night’s Big 12 title game.
At least the Sooners are headed for
one of college football’s coveted Bowl
Championship Series spots, a nice con
solation prize for missing out on the
Fiesta Bowl.
Nate Hybl threw two touchdowns
passes and Quentin Griffin rushed for a
championship game-record 188 yards
and two touchdowns as the eighth-ranked
Sooners beat the 12th-ranked Buffaloes
29-7 to win their first Big 12 title.
A disappointing announced crowd of
63,332 attended the game, although
Reliant Stadium appeared far less than
its 69,500 capacity.
The victory probably will send
Oklahoma (11-2) to the Rose Bowl
against Washington State (10-2).
The Sooners played for the Big 12
title in 2000 and lost to Kansas State
before going on to beat Florida State for
the national championship in the
Orange Bowl.
Brian Calhoun, starting for injured
running back Chris Brown, ran for 122
yards for the Buffaloes, who were trying
to become the first back-to-back Big 12
champions after last year’s 39-37 victory
over Texas. But it wasn’t to be.
Hybl threw touchdown passes of 3
yards to Trent Smith in the first quarter
and 21 yards to Mark Clayton in the
second quarter as the Sooners took a 13-
0 halftime lead.
Colorado kicker Pat Brougham
missed field goals of 41, 32 in the first
half and 33 yards in the third quarter.
Jeremy Bloom gave Colorado brief
momentum in the third quarter with an
80-yard punt return early in the quarter,
cutting Oklahoma’s lead to 13-7.
The Sooners then scored 16 straight
points to ice the game. First, Griffin
broke 36 yards late in the third quarter.
The Sooners started the fourth period
with 5:14 drive that set up a 28-yard
field goal by Trey DiCarlo with 7:53 left
in the game and Griffin broke free again
with 3:49 left in the game.
Griffin laid the groundwork for the
See Big 12 on page 8
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Volleyball team advances
in NCAA Championships
The Texas A&M volleyball team swept
No. 23 Utah Friday in the first round of
the NCAA Championships, being held
on the campus of the University of
Southern California at the Lyon
Recreation Center.
The Aggies have now advanced to the
second round for the tenth consecutive
season and will play the winner of the
No. 25 San Diego-No. 1 USC match on
Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Lyon Center.
The Aggies were led by Laura Jones' 12
kills and Melissa Munsch added 10 kills
and 15 digs.
"Our serving and passing has been
something that has been very strong for
us in our past wins," said A&M head
coach Laurie Corbelli. "We knew that
would be key tonight, and the team
came out focused and carried out the
game plan very well."
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