Texas A&M
NORTH TEXAS
(#17) Texas A&M 28, North Texas 9
Sep 26, 1998 | Football
September 26, 1998
After Saturday's offensive struggles, there will probably be considerable debate regarding who should start at quarterback for Texas A&M in this weekend's Big 12 opener. But regardless of who emerges as the Aggies' main man under center against Kansas, the most important thing he should remember is:
Just throw the ball to Chris Cole.
Cole rescued the Aggies' lethargic offense with three long touchdown catches - one from starting quarterback Branndon Stewart and two from "reliever" Randy McCown - as A&M grinded out an uninspiring 28-9 victory over North Texas before 56,072 mostly restless fans at Kyle Field.
"Without Chris Cole, there's no telling where we'd be," A&M's Dante Hall said. "He was something else."
The rest of the A&M offense, however, often appeared to be somewhere else. In fact, Hall summarized the overall offensive performance against the winless Eagles (0-4) with one word: "Pathetic," he grumbled.
Statistically speaking, it was the most productive day of the season for the Aggies (3-1). A&M, which entered the game with an offense ranked 108th nationally, produced 432 yards and averaged nearly seven yards per snap against North Texas.
But, with the exception of Cole, the Aggies were far more puzzling than dazzling. And far more frustrating than flashy.
"I'm disappointed in our play," said A&M head coach R.C. Slocum, who improved his career record to 19-0 in non-conference games at Kyle Field. "I thought we were very sloppy. We've got a whole lot of work to get done to get ready to play in the Big 12."
Ironically, the Aggies started the game in extremely impressive fashion. A&M scored on its first offensive play of the night when Stewart hit Cole across the middle for a 60-yard touchdown.
The one-play drive took just nine seconds. and it appeared that the rout was officially on. After all, the Aggies had just made scoring against the Eagles look incredibly easy. And perhaps that was part of the Aggies' problem.
"We did come out and score on the first play, which was a great way to start," A&M offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe said. But that can do two things for you. First, it can give you a spark. Or, especially if you're playing a team like North Texas, it can kind of make things seem too easy....You're thinking, `Shoot, we can throw six or seven more of these (long touchdown passes) tonight.' But you can't think that way."
Apparently, though, that's exactly what the Aggies were thinking. And instead of throwing six or seven more touchdown passes, Stewart was pulled out of the game late in the second quarter with A&M clinging to a 7-3 lead.
Following his first touchdown pass, Stewart was just 3-of-9 for 20 yards. And by late in the second quarter, the Aggies turned to McCown to provide a spark.
That's exactly what the junior provided. McCown entered the contest with 2:39 left in the first half and promptly drove the Aggies 80 yards in nine plays, hitting Cole on a 35-yard TD pass to put A&M up 14-3.
McCown, who would later throw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Cole in the third quarter, was 11-of-13 for 167 yards. He was also particularly effective running the football, scrambling for several big gains.
In the postgame setting Saturday night, the A&M coaches quickly diffused any talk of a possible quarterback controversy between Stewart and McCown.
"We have a quarterback luxury. We have two guys at quarterback who we feel very comfortable with, and it's a luxury to be able to use the guy with the hot hand. Tonight, that was Randy."
Of course, the hottest player in an A&M uniform on this muggy night was Cole. The junior from Orange provided virtually every big play the Aggies made on offense, finishing with six catches for 174 yards.
The Wrecking Crew held the Eagles to just 226 total yards and an average of only 3.2 yards per snap. And, as has been the case all season long, the A&M defense took away the big play. North Texas' longest play went for just 24 yards.
But afterward, even the defensive players seemed somewhat dejected.
"Defensively, I think we're playing pretty well," A&M senior safety Rich Coady said. "But we were pretty sloppy out there, too. I felt like we could have shut that team out, but we let them score a field goal after a long drive in the first half and then gave up the touchdown there at the end of the game."
Eliminating some of the penalties would be helpful, too. The Aggies were penalized 11 times for 123 yards.
Nor can the Aggies stand for another offensive performance like they had Saturday night. North Texas could very well be the worst team on A&M's schedule.
"We're going to get it all together," Cole said. "I have no doubt about that. We weren't hitting on all cylinders in this one, but we will be once conference play begins. I think it's only going to get better from here on out."
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