Texas A&M
Sam Houston
Texas A&M 59, Sam Houston State 6
Sep 06, 1997 | Football
September 06, 1997
Entering the 1997 season, Texas A&M head coach R.C. Slocum held a 7-1 record in season opening games. After the Aggies finished the Sam Houston State Bearkats by the score of 59-6 at Kyle Field, Slocum moved his record to 8-1 and the Aggies showed they could rebound from 1996's 6-6 season.
The division I-AA Bearkats were not in awe of the 58,619 fans in Kyle Field, as the team from down the road in Huntsville jetted to an early 3-0 lead. It took 17 plays and 7:09 for the Bearkats to drive to a 30-yard field goal by James Dummer.
"That first drive killed us," A&M senior defensive lineman Brad Crowley said. "Their first couple of drives were long. After that, the guys picked it up. We started to play Wrecking Crew-style defense, which forced them to go three and out."
Slocum echoed those sentiments.
"You're concerned because you want to knock them in the dirt from the start," Slocum said. "But I've been around long enough to know that in the first game of the season your opponent will be scheming and you may struggle. You always have to take that first game with a grain of salt. They were making plays that we knew could be corrected."
Sirr Parker found the endzone first for the Aggies as he capped a four play, 54-yard drive late in the first quarter. Senior placekicker Kyle Bryant added the point after, and the Aggies took a 7-3 lead. A&M would not relinquish the advantage.
The Bearkats added a 22-yard field goal early in the second quarter, and would not find paydirt for the remainder of the afternoon.
With 5:27 remaining in the half, sophomore running back Dante Hall answered with a 5-yard run to paydirt. Combined with Bryant's PAT, the Aggies extended their lead to 14-6.
But the Aggies were not finished with their scoring. As the first half was coming to a close, Bryant connected on a 40-yard boot to give the Aggies a 17-6 advantage at the half.
A different Aggie squad ran onto Kyle Field in the second half. The Wrecking Crew kept a steady blitz on the Bearkats, while the Aggie offense began a scoring clinic.
Heading the lecture for the Aggies was Hall and Parker. Hall, who was on course for a career day, used the third play of the Aggies' opening drive to scurry 50 yards to the endzone for his second touchdown on the day. With Bryant's PAT, the Aggies held a 24-6 lead.
Aggie defensive back Sedrick Curry set up the home team's next score when he intercepted Bearkats' quarterback Chad Schramek's errant pass. Curry returned it 23 yards to the Bearkats' 14-yard line.
Four plays later, Parker recorded his second touchdown on the afternoon on a 5-yard run. A&M extended the lead to 31-6.
Junior running back D'Andre Hardeman added a 5-yard touchdown, which was followed quickly by Parker's third, as the Aggies took a 45-6 lead into the fourth quarter.
Slocum played seven true freshmen in the contest and running back Burnest Rhodes found paydirt on a 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
Junior Michael Williams ended the Aggies scoring with a 9-yard touchdown late in the game.
"We got accomplished what we wanted to get accomplished," Slocum said. "We had some rough spots, but we wanted to look at some scheme stuff and play a lot of players. Those were the things we wanted to accomplish and we did that."
