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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2003)
: 0 i AP TOP 25 1.0U (47) ZI /liami (2) i Ohio SI (8) 4.! kxjthem Cal (4) !x Michigan (2) 6. ' exas 7. Kansas St B. 9.' Irginia Tech 10 FtoridaSt 11 j Pittsburgh 12 LSU 13 Tennessee 14. 15 Notre Dame 16 ArizonaSt. 17. Cotofado 18. Nebraska 19) Florida 20 Wake Forest Record 2-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 1-0 30 20 20 20 10 20 20 20 10 10 20 20 1-1 20 21. Washington 1-1 ■TCU 20 fllowa 20 24. NC State 1-1 Pvs 1 3 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 10 13 12 18 19 20 24 23 21 22 25 14 ■ South Carolina 20 — pjinst place votes in parentheses) BAIT SPORTS TOP 25 ! fi Flecord Pvs 1.0U (8) 2-0 1 2.$outhemCal(1) 2-0 4 3 Miami 2-0 3 4. (>! no State 2-0 2 5. Texas 1-0 6 6.K 2-0 5 7. Kansas St 30 9 81 Virginia Tech 2-0 8 9.C mm 2-0 7 10. Florida SL 2-0 11 11. LSU 2-0 12 12. F > ittsburgh 1-0 10 13. Tennessee 2-0 13 14. Notre Dame 1-0 18 15. Wisconsin 2-0 17 16. Arizona Si 1-0 19 17. Colorado 2-0 23 18.(tie) lava 2-0 — 18.(tie) Florida 1-1 21 20. Nebraska 2-0 24 21. Wake Forest 2-0 — 22. Washington 1-1 20 23. NC State 1-1 14 24.iTCU 2-0 pm 25. Texas A&M 2-0 (As voted by The Battalion sports staff. Rrst place votes in parentheses.) “They couldn’t stop us run ning the ball.” . - Utah coach Urban Station Meyer “With me and Jamaar (Taylor) back there, it’s just a matter of time before we take one to the house.” - A&M kick returner Terrence Murphy “He ran like he wanted to win the ballgame.” - A&M safety Jaxson Appel on Utah RB Brandon Warfield “We still have work to do.” - A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal “We just need time.” - A&M coach Dennis Franchione “My job was to read the line and if I saw run, I was sup posed to come up and help make the play” - A&M cornerback Jonte Buhl on Utah’s last play Sports The Battalion Page 1B • Monday, September 8, 2003 Aggies escape with win Last-second stop preserves win over Utah John C. Livas • THE BATTALION Texas A&M wide receiver Terrence Murphy hauls in one of his four receptions during the Aggies' 28-26 win against Utah on Saturday. Murphy, who scored on an 80-yard run in the first quarter, averaged 31.4 yards per touch against the Utes. By Jeff Allen THE BATTALION Trailing by two points with six sec onds left on the momentarily frozen clock, the University of Utah’s come back hopes crashed headlong into Texas A&M defensive back Jonte Buhl. Buhl stopped Utah quarterback Brett Elliott just short of the end zone on a two-point conversion attempt and denied the Utes a chance to force overtime. The stand was the defensive play of the game for the Aggies and sealed A&M’s 28-26 win over Utah. “It was just gut-wrenching to have to watch,” said A&M wide receiver Jamaar Taylor. “It’s like watching your favorite soap opera, not knowing what’s going to happen in the end.” Had it not been for Taylor’s partner at wide receiver, junior Terrence Murphy, the story may never have reached its climax. After struggling last week against Arkansas State, A&M — at least for the first quarter — found exactly what it was looking for on offense. Murphy got the scoring started for the resurgent Aggies early when he took a handoff from sophomore quarterback Reggie McNeal, who was making his second consecutive start of the season. Murphy took the end-around for 80 yards and an early 7-0 lead. “(Murphy) does the same things in practice and it translates on the field,” Taylor said. “We ran that play plenty of times in practice, and he ran just as hard as h^ rim it during.the g<lme.-” The Aggies built on that score with the help of another long play involving Murphy, this time through the air. McNeal, who took every snap against Utah, connected with Murphy for 50 yards. The long throw set up the Aggies’ second touchdown, a one-yard run by fullback Keith Joseph. The Aggies (2-0) amassed 206 total yards by the end of the first quarter, near ly as many as the entire game against Arkansas State. Those yards helped build a 21-0 halftime lead. However, the Utes (1-1) chose not to go so quietly in the second half. “It’s not a football team if they don’t come back,” said Utah coach Urban Meyer. “I’m disappointed because we lost the game on one two-point play.” The Utes did that in the second half. Running back Brandon Warfield set the tone when he opened the half with a 30-yard carry, highlighting the Utes’ first scoring drive. The yards were the first of 140 on the ground for Warfield in the half and the better chunk of his game- high 181. Warfield would also account for three of Utah’s four touchdowns. However, kicker Bryan Borreson missed the extra point. “Warfield ran extremely well, he ran hard, he ran tough,” said A&M defensive back Jaxson Appel. “He ran like he wanted to win the football game.” Three fumbles, including one at the Utah one-yard line, kept A&M’s defense on the field for most of the second half. “I don’t think we were overconfident See Escape on page 3B Despite win, questions arise for Ags on defense By Troy Miller THE BATTALION John C. Livas* THE BATTALION A&M defensive lineman Johnny Jolly holds onto Utah running back Brandon Warfield. Warfield ran for 181 yards against the Aggies' porous defense. Two weeks into the Dennis Franchione era the Aggies are 2-0 after beating Utah 28-26, but every time a question is answered another question mark rears its ugly head. It seems the answer to the starting quarterback job might have been addressed since sophomore Reggie McNeal played the entire game. Redshirt freshman Courtney Lewis had 16 carries for 100 yards compared to junior Derek Farmer’s five carries, qualifying Lewis as the heir apparent at running back. Junior wide receiver Terrence Murphy solidified himself as the next viable superstar in maroon and white after racking up 251 all-purpose yards and averaging a whopping 35 yards this season every time he touches the ball. The offensive line also improved drastically between the first two games, but new worries cross to the other side of the ball and focus on the Aggie defense. a In the first half, we stopped them, and in the second half, we didn’t make those plays. — Jaxson Appel A&M safety It was apparent that the Aggie defensive line looked weak against Arkansas State, but with the offense the Indians put on the field it really didn’t stick out. Against Utah, though, the defense was exploited. The Aggie defensive line was con tinually pushed off the line, and the pass rush was virtually nonexistent, giving Utah quarterback Brett Elliot plenty of time in the pocket. “They really didn’t do anything dif ferent after halftime,” said sophomore safety Jaxson Appel. “Their game plan was to run the ball. In the first half, we stopped them, and in the second half, we didn’t make those plays.” The loss of Texas A&M senior line backer and leader Jared Morris hurt, and the defense was gassed after playing 97 snaps compared to the 54 snaps taken by the offense, but it was neither of those factors that led the defense to allow the second half comeback. A&M’s poor tackling allowed Utah senior running back Brandon Warfield to pile up 181 yards on 36 carries. Warfield repeatedly broke tackles in See Defense on page 3B Krambeer goal sends Aggies past Utes on account tudent ID to nd Sony a re By Michael Crow THE BATTALION i| Freshman Kat Krambeer made the most of her first collegiate goal. After more than 75 minutes of scoreless play, the Texas A&M forward produced a game-winning score, beating Utah goalkeeper Ashley Mason and boosting the Aggie soccer team to a 1-0 home victory on Friday, m “It felt great,” Krambeer said. “Laura (Probst) set an amazing ball, perfect speed. It made my job easy.” The clutch goal deflated Utah, which had been holding its own in a contest dominated by defense. A&M coach G. Guerrieri said Krambeer’s athleticism con tributed to the dramatic finish. Li “Speed kills, and tonight it was the killer,” Guerrieri said. “And for Kai to be able to notch her first col lege goal and make it a game-win ner just makes it that much better.” During the first half, neither team accomplished much offen sively, as the ball usually remained at midfield. Guerrieri said he’d anticipated this type of game. “It was a struggle in the middle of the field, as far as going back and guerrieri forth with pos session,” Guerrieri said. “We knew that they were a really strong defending team, and I’m really pleased (with the win), because that’s a hard team to score on.” The No. 6 Aggies created sever al scoring opportunities in the sec ond half but were unable to capi talize. Junior forwards Emma Smith and Cristina Echavarry were impressive offensively, but their combined seven shots were either smothered by Utah goalkeeper Ashley Mason or slightly off the mark. A&M finished the game with 15 shots compared to the Utes’ seven. Mason finished with four saves. Utah coach Rich Manning said he was pleased with the effort from his young players, considering how dominant the Aggies have been at home historically. “They have been so good here for so long,” Manning said. “For a team such as ours that hasn’t been here before, it can give you the impression that you’re up against it before you even get on the plane. And once you get here, you see the fans, the environment, the confi dence their players play with. I think that makes it doubly tough.” With Friday’s win, A&M improved to a record of 93-10-0 all-time on its home turf. One of the most intimidating aspects of the Aggies’ game, regardless of venue, is their relent less defense. Bolstered by sopho more goalkeeper Kati Jo Spisak, the defensive unit has allowed only one goal in three games thus far this season. “On defense, we’re just con cerned about that shutout,” Spisak said. “If (opposing teams) don’t score, then it’s a win for us.” Despite Friday’s shutout, Guerrieri continued to compliment a Utah program (2-1-0) that he believes many have underrated. “That’s an NCAA playoff team, and that’s a team that just thumped a very good Michigan team last week,” Guerrieri said. “That’s a tough team to beat.” A&M has a week off before returning to action Friday to com plete their four-game homestand when they host the University of South Carolina. Friday’s match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. JP Beato III • THE BATTALION A late goal by A&M forward Kat Krambeer gave the Aggies a 1 -0 decision over Utah at the Aggie Soccer Complex on Friday.
