September 18, 1999
POSTGAME NOTES
C.T. HAS HUGE NIGHT ... --- Junior wide receiver Chris Taylor shattered the A&M record for longest pass play (and the longest offensive play in school history) when he reeled in a 96-yard scoring strike from Randy McCown. The former record pass-and-catch was a 92-yarder from Gary Kubiak to Don Jones in 1981 vs. Louisiana Tech. The previous long offensive play was a 95-yard rush by D'Andre Hardeman against Baylor in 1997. Taylor also established career bests for catches and yards with six for 177. Taylor's receiving yardage was the fourth-best in school history. His previous bests were five catches (vs. Ohio State) and 99 yards (vs. Kansas State).
... SO DOES MCCOWN --- Senior quarterback Randy McCown had the fifth-best passing performance in A&M history against Tulsa with 320 yards on 13-of-30 passing. It was also McCown's career high for passing yards. McCown averaged a whopping 24.6 yards on 13 completions.
AGGIES PLAY TAKE-AWAY --- The Aggies produced six take-aways against Tulsa and now have nine take-aways in their first two games. Since the conclusion of the 1996 season, the Aggies are a whopping +37 in turnover margin.
USING ALL HIS WEAPONS --- Senior quarterback Randy McCown completed eight first-half passes to seven different receivers and all eight completions were for 10 or more yards.
JENNINGS GRABS EIGHTH CAREER INTERCEPTION --- Senior Brandon Jennings' first-quarter interception was the eighth of his career. He is A&M's leading active interceptor.
AGGIES AND INTERCEPTIONS --- With four interceptions tonight, the Aggies have now grabbed at least one INT in 11 consecutive games (16 INTs).
R.C. IN HOME OPENERS --- In his 11th season at the helm of the Aggies, R.C. Slocum has compiled a perfect 11-0 record in home openers.
RUN-STOPPERS --- The Wrecking Crew has allowed just 50 yards rushing in the first two games of the season (10 vs. Louisiana Tech, 40 vs. Tulsa).
HOME SWEET HOME --- R.C. Slocum's Aggies have won 14 straight games at Kyle Field, and Slocum is 55-5-1 at home during his 11 seasons at A&M. During the 1990s, Slocum's 92.0 winning percentage ranks No. 4 nationally (behind Florida State, Florida and Nebraska). Slocum has never lost a non-conference game at Kyle Field.
FIELD GOAL SUCCESS --- The Aggies have converted 15 consecutive field goals dating back to the eighth game of the 1998 season (5 by Terence Kitchens, 10 by Russell Bynum).
FIRST HALF SCORING --- The Aggies scored 31 points in the first half against Tulsa, marking the second straight games that A&M has tallied 30-plus points in the first half. Last season, A&M broke the 30-point barrier for the entire game just twice all season.
"THE ZONE" ERA OPENS AT KYLE FIELD --- Tonight's game with Tulsa marked the opening of Bernard C. Richardson Zone, Texas A&M's long-awaited $32.9 million endzone expansion. When completed later this season, "The Zone" will seat 22,000 fans and increase Kyle Field's seating capacity to 82,500. For tonight's game, only the lower deck and The Zone Club were open.
12TH MAN --- Beau Schmidt, a 6-5, 218-pound sophomore from Carrollton, Texas, will be today's 12th Man Kickoff team representative.
CAPTAINS --- Tonight's A&M captains were: seniors Shane Lechler, Sedrick Curry, Shea Holder and Eric Bernard (Tulsa, Okla.).
POSTGAME QUOTES
RANDY MCCOWN, TEXAS A&M QUARTERBACK --- "We came out tonight and looked good at times and bad at others. We are fortunate to get a win tonight and we have to be more consistent. Maybe now that we don't have an off week, we can get a little better rhythm going."
(on the 96-yard TD pass to Chris Taylor) --- "It was just a play action fake. The safety bit on the fake and I just laid the ball out there for him (Taylor) to run under it. He did a good job of getting to the ball."
CHRIS TAYLOR, TEXAS A&M WIDE RECEIVER --- "All the credit goes up front. The offensive line did a great job of protecting and Randy McCown put the ball right on the money. My job was easy. I didn't even have to break stride. It was a great call by our coaches."
JASON WEBSTER, TEXAS A&M DEFENSIVE BACK --- "I thought it was a decent effort by our defense tonight. I was especially pleased that we were able to create some turnovers. The offense did a good job of taking advantage of their opportunities."
R.C. SLOCUM, TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH --- "I was pleased with our overall performance. I thought we started off rough, but then got into a good tempo. I was pleased we were able to force turnovers and the offense capitalized on those opportunities. I was pleased that a lot of players got into the game with their families in the stands."
STEVE KRAGTHORPE, TEXAS A&M OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR --- "We came into the game looking to make big plays. We hit some and missed some, nothing ventured, nothing gained. We attempted some in the first half and missed on some, but we stayed with our game plan. The defense did a great job of causing turnovers for us. We did what we needed to take shots at their defense."