Texas A&M
LOUISIANA TECH
(#18) Texas A&M 28, Louisiana Tech 7
Sep 12, 1998 | Football
September 12, 1998
After a terribly long drought, the Bryan/College Station area finally got just what it needed last Saturday night, giving the farmers good reason to rejoice.
No, not the rain. We're talking about an A&M win.
For the first time in four games and nearly 10 months, the Aggies' postgame locker room was all smiles - the result of a workmanlike 28-7 victory over Louisiana Tech before 55,073 soaked fans at Kyle Field.
It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was ugly at times.
The officiating was questionable. The weather was dismal. Holding onto the football was a nightmare (the Aggies fumbled six times, but lost only one). And the game itself, which featured 16 penalties and 77 pass attempts, seemed to be as long as Kenneth Starr's presidential report.
But none of those things really mattered to the A&M players, coaches and fans. Dating back to last year, the Aggies (now 1-1 in 1998) had lost consecutive games to Nebraska, UCLA and Florida State. So, any win seemed like a thing of beauty.
It took a great defensive effort and a ball-control offensive attack that eventually wore down the out-manned Bulldogs (now 0-3). Of course, the rain didn't hurt A&M's cause, either.
The Aggies took full advantage of the remnants of Tropical Storm Frances, which dumped more than six inches of rain on Kyle Field from Thursday through Saturday. The entire game was played in a steady, dreary drizzle that played in A&M's favor and limited the pass-happy Bulldogs' potent passing attack.
Louisiana Tech, which entered the game with the nation's No. 2 passing offense at 559 yards per contest, was limited to just 239 yards through the damp air on Saturday night.
What's more, trash-talking, record-setting wide receiver Troy Edwards, who had accounted for 21 catches and 405 receiving yards against Nebraska, was held to just 67 receiving yards by the Aggies - 238 yards below his average. Edwards' longest reception of the night went for only 16 yards. He came into the A&M game averaging 18 yards per catch.
"(Edwards) did a lot of talking at the beginning of the game," A&M defensive back Rich Coady said, clearly implying that the Bulldogs' All-American receiver had little reason to talk "smack" as the game wore on. "He's shown he's a good receiver, but I don't know how much he proved (Saturday) night."
Part of the reason for Edwards' dramatic dropoff had to do with the weather conditions. But the A&M defense was every bit as steady as the drizzle, holding the Bulldogs to their lowest point total since 1995.
As it did against the high-powered Florida State offense in the Kickoff Classic, the Wrecking Crew did not allow any big, back-breaking plays. Louisiana Tech's longest offensive play went for just 23 yards on a pass from Tim Rattay to Sean Cangelosi.
"Our plan going in was to not give up the big plays," said A&M head coach R.C. Slocum. "I thought we did that. Overall, I was very pleased with the way our defense played."
Another part of the Aggies' game plan was centered around keeping the Bulldogs' offense off the field as much as possible. And, for the most part, A&M's ground-oriented offense did just that.
The Aggies struggled offensively at times, but still rushed for 210 yards and accounted for 349 yards of total offense on the slick surface. Most importantly, A&M ran 22 more offensive plays than Louisiana Tech and held the ball more than 11 minutes longer than the Bulldogs.
In the sloppy, soggy conditions of Saturday night, that was more than enough for the A&M defense to protect. Even against one of the most dangerous passing offenses in the country.
"(The A&M defense) ran a great scheme and had great speed at every position." Louisiana Tech head coach Gary Crowton said. "They are good at causing turnovers, and they hit you in the mouth every time. We approached the game a little more conservatively than usual because of the field conditions, but both teams have to play in the same conditions."
Of course, while the conditions were the same for both teams, it seemed much brighter on A&M's sideline. Perhaps it was the result of all the beaming smiles that have been absent since last Thanksgiving.
"In this day in college football, you don't take any win for granted," Slocum said. "Any time you get a win, I'll count it. And I was glad to get this one."
