Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech - Postgame Notes and Quotes
Oct 24, 1998 | Football
October 24, 1998
Texas A&M Postgame Notes
The Aggies win today ended a three-game losing streak to Texas Tech. A&M coach R.C. Slocum is now 6-4 against the Red Raiders and Spike Dykes.
Slocum's record against top 25 teams improves to 14-15, with an 8-4 mark against ranked teams at Kyle Field.
Today's victory was the 90th of Slocum's career, improving his record to 90-26-2 with a 58-12-2 record in conference games.
The Aggies are 7-1, their best start since 1994, when they finished 10-0-1. The Aggies are 4-0 in conference play for the first time since 1994. The Aggies seven-game winning streak is their longest since since they started the 1994 season 7-0. A win next week against Oklahoma State would make A&M 5-0 in league play for the first time since 1993. A&M also won nine straight games in 1993.
A&M is 47-4-1 at Kyle Field in the 1990s. Slocum's record at Kyle Field improves to 52-5-1.
A&M is 11-of-12 on fourth-down conversions this season, best in the Big 12.
The A&M Wrecking Crew held Tech running back Ricky Williams to a season-low 94 rushing yards on 21 carries. As a team, Tech rushed for a season-low 94 yards on 33 carries.The Red Raiders came into the game averaging 230.9 rushing yards per game.Tech's. Tech's 205 total yards equaled its season low of 205 against Oklahoma State. Tech came into the game averaging 430.4 total yards per game.
A&M rushed for 153 yards on 38 carries. The Tech defense came into the game allowing only 95.7 rushing yards per game. Tech's only opponent to rush for more against its defense was Oklahoma State (51-195).
Dante Hall finished the game with 67 yards rushing on 26 carries, ending his streak of 100-yard rushing games at three straight.
Junior Sedrick Curry's third quarter interception was his third of the season, and the sixth of his career. He is A&M's No. 2 active interceptor behind senior Rich Coady's eight.
A&M's 14-10 lead at halftime marked the first time since 1993 that the Aggies have led Texas Tech at the break. That season, A&M's lead was just 10-6, but the Aggies went on to a 31-6 win in Lubbock.
Texas Tech's Jaret Greaser's 55-yard field miss at the end of the first half was the first FG miss of the season by an A&M opponent. A&M opponents had connected on five straight before today's miss. In fact, A&M opponents had hit 24 of their previous 26 field goal attempts over the past two seasons.
All 10 points by the Red Raiders came after Aggie turnovers in the first half. A&M QB Randy McCown fumbled on the first offensive play of the game and Tech quickly converted into three points. Later another McCown fumble led to a Tech touchdown. A&M's three first half turnovers were its most in a game since the Aggies coughed up three fumbles in the second quarter last season against Texas Tech. Prior to Saturday's game, the Aggies had given up just six turnovers and led the Big 12 in turnover margin at +1.57 per game.
All-American punter Shane Lechler harkened back to his high school quarterback days when completed a short touchdown pass to tight end Dan Campbell on a fake field goal. In the past two weeks, Lechler has completed two passes for 37 yards and a touchdown. They were the first two passes of his career.
Chris Taylor's 27-yard punt return in the first half was the longest of his career.
The Aggie defense has allowed only two runs of more than 20 yards all season. A 23-yarder by USM's Dawayne Woods is the season-long by an A&M opponent, followed closely by a 22-yarder by Joel Mackovicka of Nebraska.
Former President George Bush reviewed the Corps of Cadets March In and was a guest in Coach R.C. Slocum's guest box.
Also in attendance at today's game was former SWC Defensive Player of the Year Quentin Coryatt, older brother of A&M's Sean Coryatt.
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Texas A&M Postgame Quotes
Texas A&M head coach R.C. Slocum --- "It was a hard-fought game. We tried to make it exciting by turning over the ball in the first half. I'm disappointed with our turnovers and the missed field goal. (on big defensive play on Hart) Those kinds of things come up in big ball games. I'm pleased he was out of bounds. We mixed up zone coverages and tried to keep some pressure on the quarterback. (on fake field goal) I take calculated risks. I think it was a good play and it worked. With Lechler at holder, and at punter, I've got take advantage of that. Now that you look back, it was a big play. But at the time, you didn't really know how big it was. I think we have good quickness on defense. Those great defenses we had always had good speed. We were never really big. You start to think of Aaron Wallace, William Thomas and Antonio Armstrong with some of those guys. I'm glad we got that game behind us. We had Toombs at halfback, Dante at tailback and Rhodes, who had been out with a muscle pull. When Dante got hurt,and Rhodes with his injury, we started thinking about what would happen if Rhodes went down. There is so much that can happen. Tech has two losses and Texas only has one. We've got long race ahead of us."
Safety Rich Coady --- (on whether Hart ws in-bounds on late pass play) ""Whether or not he caught it, I don't care. We've had some fluky calls. Whether he caught it, I don't know. Beating Tech puts us up two games , really three with the tie breaker. But there is still a lot of football left."
Defensive back Sedrick Curry --- (on play on Hart in end zone): "I knew that (Hart) was their go-to guy so the play didn't surprise me. I had great position in the end zone. The refs made a great call. Check the history of the games. We knew it would be a fist fight and we just had to hold them off."
Defensive back Brandon Jennings --- (on final Tech drive) ""Defensively, we were relly nervous. Dat and I got everybody together and said 'somebody's got to make a big play.' Sedrick Curry made a great play. It was a great call by the ref and I second his motion."
Fullback Ja'Mar Toombs --- "It proves we can put all bad things behind us and keep our composure. I think the Wrecking Crew is the best defense in the nation."
Quarterback Randy McCown --- "To play as poorly as our offense did today and come out with a win says a lot for the character of our team. The turnovers hurt us. I thank God for the Wrecking Crew. They played their butts off today. Unfortunately, sometimes you have games like this. I missed a couple of plays. Tech set us up to make big plays, but other than Dante, we didn't execute any big plays."
Offensive Coordinator Steve Kragthrope --- "We had done well coming in to today. We had not turned the ball over until today. Our defense did a great job holding them to 10 points. (on fake field goal) "R.C. had that idea and it was a great call. We were fortunate because everything had to line up perfect for us to get that opportunity. Shane Lechler is 2-for-2 with a touchdown. We were fortunate to win today."
Tight End Dan Campbell --- (on touchdown catch on fake field goal): "It seemed like it took the ball forever to get there. It seemed like 30 minutes. It was a great play and a great call by coach Slocum. I could't have been more open. It put six points on the board. It is kind of an extra or bonus to get points off special teams. We put it in practice on Thursday. We worked on it and we thought we thought we might run it. But you talk about those things a lot. I was really surprised when coach called it. I'm glad to have this done and off my back. It's been three years. I am sick of all the trash that goes along with it. It was a thorn in my side. It was a thorn in the team's side. But I'll take the victory. This opens the gap. We now have a two-game lead over everyone in the south. On whether or not Hart was out of bounds or not, there has been plenty of bad happen to us so I guess it was their turn. I'm sorry it happened to them."
Linebacker Dat Nguyen --- "Ricky Williams is a great running back. He's little but he might be the best in the country. We had a great game. Coach did a good job calling the plays. Our philosophy is always to stop the run."
Running back Dante Hall --- "I don't think we escaped today. Our defense did a great job. We knew it would be tough going in and we stuck together as a team and got it done. This is the first time I've beaten Tech. We knew something would happen today but we overcame it. When we did turn over the ball in the second half, they didn't score. We have a lot of faith in our defense."
Punter Shane Lechler--- (on trick play) "It worked good in practice and we were in a scoring position today. I was surprised because we were sitting at 3-0 and I thought coach would want to tie the game. It was very unlike coach Slocum to call a fake but it changed the momentum of the game."
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Texas Tech Postgame Notes
Texas Tech's team captains for the A&M game were: Rob Peters (Katy, Texas), Donnie Hart (Wolfforth, Texas), Montae Reagor (Waxahachie, Texas), Taurus Rucker (Denison, Texas) and Kyle Shipley (Arlington, Texas)... Texas Tech won the toss and elected to defer the possession to the second half. The Red Raiders kicked-off and defended the South goal.
Texas A&M's fumble caused in the first quarter marked the second fumble by a Texas Tech opponent on its first drive this season (North Texas was the other). Keith Cockrum (Goldthwaite, Texas) caused the fumble (his second of the season) and John Norman (Midland, Texas) recovered it (his first of the season and the second of his career)... Chris Birkholz (Temple, Texas) kicked a career-long-tying 46-yard field goal in the first quarter. He also connected on a 46-yarder against Fresno State.
Senior defensive end Montae Reagor (Waxahachie, Texas), with his tackle for a one-yard loss in the 2nd quarter, surpassed the Texas Tech single season record for tackles for loss. Zach Thomas recorded 16 in the 1996 season. Reagor has 18 this season in eight games for losses of 51 yards. He also extended his career records for tackles for loss (45) and sacks (24.5).
Senior Jeremy Hernandez (Midland, Texas) punted in the second quarter, marking his first action since the action since the Baylor game earlier this season...he had four punts for an average of 41.8... Senior Jaret Greaser (Amarillo, Texas) attempted a 55-yard field goal at the end of the first half, marking his first field goal attempt since the first half of the North Texas game. He suffered a strained right groin in that game.
With Texas A&M leading 14-10, Texas Tech trailed going into the fourth quarter for the second straight game and the second-time this season...
Sophomore running back Ricky Williams (Duncanville, Texas) had a season low 94 yards on 21 carries. His previous low on the season was 97 yards on 25 carries against Oklahoma State. Williams now has 1,262 yards in 1998.
Senior receiver Donnie Hart (Wolfforth, Texas), with his 27-yard reception in the 4th quarter, moved into second-place on the Texas Tech career receiving yards list, passing Wayne Walker (2,007 yards from 1985-88). He finished the day with 2 catches for 34 yards, giving him 2030 yards in his career... Hart did not catch a pass in the first half, his first catchless half of the season.
Hart's 24-of-33 catches this season are for first down or TD, including 2-for-34 today against Texas A&M. He has caught a pass in 19-straight games that he has participated in dating back to the Kansas game in 1996.
The 17-10 loss to Texas A&M, which was the first since 1994, is Texas Tech's second loss by less than seven points in 1998. The Red Raiders fell to Colorado 19-17 on October 17. In the series with the Aggies, the past five games have been decided by seven or less points.
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Texas Tech Postgame Quotes
Texas Tech head coach Spike Dykes --- "It was a tough game, a tough loss. Losing is never any fun. I really admire our guys, though. We played a great defensive game. We wanted to stay close and have a chance to win at the end. I really admire A&M. They are a great defensive team and they did what they had to do to win the game. The fake field goal was a great call. Donnie Hart is too good of a football player to not throw him the ball in the first half. That was nobody's fault but mine. I'm not going to say anything about the call in the endzone late in the game. That's just football. You have to live with those things whether its good or bad. Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don't. We were going to go for two at the end of the game if we scored. We had our play ready and everything. We've got to get back off the floor now and figure out a way to win. This is a really tough conference. We had a tough game last week and a tough game this week. We play another tough team next week. I love these guys and I never saw as much hurt as I saw after this game. We've got a lot of heart and we're going to be okay. A&M's got great players and great team speed. They've got a good scheme and play real hard. I really respect them. This game is what college football is all about. A great stadium, a great crowd and two great teams."
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Statement from Field Judge Larry Weeks regarding pass attempt from Tech's Rob Peters to Donnie Hart late in the fourth quarter
"The receiver did catch the ball, but both the receiver and defender came down out of bounds."
