October 16, 1999
AGGIES SCORE THREE TDS IN 1:50 -- Finding themselves trailing 10-3 just before halftime, the Aggies scored a pair of touchdown in the final :52 to take a 17-10 lead into the intermission. Once in the second half, the Aggies added another touchdown on their second offensive play, which gave A&M three touchdowns in just 1:50 of game time.
TODAY'S VICTORY BY TEXAS A&M IS --
A&M's 599th all-time win
the 99th career coaching victory by R.C. Slocum
A&M's 17th straight win at Kyle Field (fourth-longest streak nationally).
A&M's 91st win of the 1990s, the winningest decade ever by a Texas school.
McCOWN HAS CAREER-BEST DAY -- Quarterback Randy McCown threw for a career-best 362 yards against Kansas, the third-best passing day ever by an Aggie quarterback. McCown completed 21-of-30 passes for the 362 yards, which stands behind only Branndon Stewart's 385 yards vs. Colordo in 1996 and Edd Hargett's 376 yards vs. SMU in 1968. It was McCown's second 300-yard plus passing game this season and his fourth 250-yard plus effort. McCown's 21 completions also were a career-high, eclipsing his previous best of 20 against Texas Tech earlier this year. McCown runs his career passing yardage to 3,341 yards, sixth in school history, while his 17 career TD passes ranks seventh. McCown compiled 380 total offensive yards today (362 pass/18 run), the second most in school history behind Edd Hargett's 418 yards (42 run/376 pass) against SMU in 1968.
LECHLER WATCH -- Today's 41.5-yard punt average by Shane Lechler marked the 33rd time the A&M senior has averaged 40 or more yards in a game during his career. Lechler is closing in on the NCAA record of 36 career games with a 40-yard average set by Mississippi's Bill Smith from 1983-86. By the way, both of Lechler's punts against Kansas were downed inside the opponent 20.
TIDBITS -- The 78-yard touchdown connection from QB Randy McCown to WR Chris Taylor was A&M's second-longest pass play of the season (behind the school record 96-yarder from McCown-to-Taylor vs. Tulsa). ... The 30-yard run by Eric Bernard in the third quarter was A&M's longest rush of the season (previous long was a 24-yarder by QB McCown vs. Louisiana Tech). ... Texas A&M game captains were: seniors Shane Lechler and Randy McCown and juniors Roylin Bradley and Ronald Flemons. Kansas won the toss and elected to receive. The Aggies kicked off into "The Zone." ... A&M's 12th Man Kickoff Team representative was: Eric Stanford, a sophomore from Waco's Robinson High School...Bethel Johnson's 31-yard kickoff return was the longest of his career and the longest by an A&M player this year...Johnson finished the game with a 105 all-purpose yards (31 PR/12 KR/62 REC).
BROUGHTON'S BIG DAY -- Junior tight end Roderrick Broughton had a career-high five receptions for career-best 54 yards, the most receptions by a tight end since Derrick Spiller had five catches for 43 yards against Ohio State in the 1999 Nokia Sugar Bowl. The last time a tight end had more catches in a regular seson game was Greg Schorp with eight receptions for 85 yards against Louisville in 1992.
TAYLOR IMPRESSIVE AGAIN -- Junior receiver Chris Taylor had four receptions for 143 yards, his second 100+ receiving game of the year. Against Tulsa, Taylor had a career-best six catches for 177 yards, the fourth best game in school history. His 78-yard TD reception was the third longest of his career. He is the only player in school history with three receptions for 78 yards or longer. The last A&M receiver to post two 100-yard games in the same season was Albert Connell in 1996. Only two other players in school history have had at least two career games with 140+ receiving yards -- Mike Whitwell (three times in 1980-81) and Connell (twice in 1996).
HALL CLIMBS LADDER -- Senior running back/return specialist Dante Hall had 44 all-purpose yards today (22 rushing/22 punt return yards), tying him for second on A&M's career list at 4,706 with Curtis Dickey (1976-79). The record is 5,138 by Darren Lewis (1987-90). Hall's 22 punt return yards gives him 943 in his career, moving him into second place on the school chart and passing Carl Roaches, who had 924 yards in 1972-75.
JOHNSON SHINES -- Sophomore receiver had a career-high five receptions for 62 yards. His previous high for catches was four in his debut against Louisiana Tech this year.
KITCHENS ROLLS ON -- Placekicker Terrence Kitchens made 2-of-3 field goals, running his season total to 15-of-20. Kitchens, who entered the game as the nation's No. 1 placekicker, needs only seven more to pass Scott Slater's school record of 21 (27 att.) set in 1986. Kitchens is a perfect 24-of-24 on extra points.
MOVING THE BALL -- The Aggies finished with 522 yards of total offense (362 pass/160 rush), A&M's second-best ever in a Big 12 game. Last year against Baylor, the Aggies ran up 535 yards. Today's game marked the second time this season A&M has surpassed the 500-yard mark (606 vs. Tulsa).
GETTING DEFENSIVE -- Kansas gained just 249 total yards, the seventh straight A&M opponent at Kyle Field to gain fewer than 300 total yards. The last opponent to surpass 300 at Kyle Field was Nebraska with 345 last season.
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REFEREE TERRY TURLINGTON--
(on roughing the kicker call in the 2nd Quarter against Kansas) What I saw was a shank off the punter's foot, and the player was blocked into the punter, and I called roughing the punter.
TERRY ALLEN, KANSAS HEAD COACH--
"In the first half, if things go our way we may be up 10 or 14 points by half. We were thinking that we would go in at half tied, but (Mitch) Bowles fumbled and their offense made a great play to end the half. We are playing a lot harder in the past two weeks than we were earlier in the season. I am proud of the way we are playing hard. (on the roughing the kicker call) We watched some films and thought we could get to their punter. We almost got there. That is just the way it goes sometimes. (on QB's Dylen Smith) He can throw. He can run the option. He is a guy that makes things happen for us. (on Zone Expansion) It is wonderful. Obviously, we had not been here before, but it really adds to the 12th man atmosphere especially if you are trying to score down there."
DYLEN SMITH, KANSAS QUARTERBACK--
" I think that we can move the ball on anybody in the league. It can not get much tougher than Texas A&M and Kansas State. (on the A&M defense) They have a sound defense. They blitzed a lot, but I thought we prepared and were able to move the ball on them. They have a lot of speed, make big plays, and don't make many mistakes."
MITCH BOWLES, KANSAS RUNNING BACK--
"(on the momentum shift at the end of the first half) We tried not to let that bother us. The fumbled kickoff return was a big play. I thought we came out and had a big first half. Sometimes our offense is on and our defense is off, or our defense is on and our offense is off. If we could come together and play as a team, we will be alright."
ANDREW LECLAIR, KANSAS LINEBACKER--
"It was tough when they scored 14 points right before the half. We tried to keep our heads up. We just have to keep playing hard and not let things like that get to us. It is tough to beat a team like A&M when we make those kinds of mistakes."
FULLBACK JA'MAR TOOMBS:
(on the running game) "I'm not satisfied at all. I know how hard our line works and how hard our running backs work. They [the offensive line] did a great job today, so I put most of the blame on the running backs. We'll work hard this week and try to get better for the Oklahoma game."
CORNERBACK JAY BROOKS:
(on the defensive performance) "We were a little overexcited when we came out. We weren't really concentrating enough on our techniques in the first half. We made some adjustments at the half and got back to the basics. In the second half, everything worked out for us and we played well."
WIDE RECEIVER BETHEL JOHNSON:
(on the big day through the air) "We talked about it all week. Coach [Kragthorpe] told us that if we executed we'd be able to make some big plays today. I was really happy because we worked so hard on it all week."
QUARTERBACK RANDY MCCOWN:
"I don't think we played that bad. Kansas came out and played hard. We have a few things to work on, but we had over 500 yards of offense. We knew if we could get a feel for the game, our momentum would carry us into the end zone. We wanted to establish the long ball, and that's something we were able to do. All our receivers made some good catches and ran good routes. We didn't get flustered, but we relaxed and did what we knew we were capable of doing."
PUNTER SHANE LECHLER:
(on the roughing the kicker penalty) "It was a low snap. They were loading up the right side, and I could tell there was going to be pressure. It wasn't blocked, though. He came down and hit my right leg. It was a huge penalty play for us. That can make or break a team sometimes, but we got the call on this one. I would expect to get that kind of call every time if that much contact was made."
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN CHRIS VALLETTA:
"We're happy right now. We just won a football game, but we're not satisfied. It's a comfortable win, but you can never be satisfied. We were down by 10 points and it was a challenge to come back. I think if we can overcome these types of challenges we will progress each week."
HEAD COACH R.C. SLOCUM:
(on the slow start, and then ending up with 522 yards of offense) "You never know. The interesting thing that I've noticed about all the games that I've been a part of is that they're all different. There are twists and turns, but you can't worry about it. You just have to keep playing, and you have to sell that to the kids. You might just be a few plays away from something good happening."
(on how the Aggies played) "I feel good anytime we win. You can analyze and cut it up and speculate, but by far the most important thing is whether you win or lose. When you look back at a game, there are always things that you see that you could have done better. Our schedule gets significantly more difficult. Last year at this time we were coming off a 24-21 win over Kansas, and I was getting a lot of these same questions. Then we went out and beat Nebraska. I don't feel that differently now than I did then. Going to Oklahoma, I think we will have to play better to win."
(on McCown's performance) "I thought Randy McCown played well, overall. At times, with my perfectionist nature, I saw things that needed to be corrected. But, other than those couple of things, I thought he had a good game."
(on throwing more now than in the past) "One reason is now we're better throwing the ball than we have been. In the past, we've faced the same type of defensive schemes, but we didn't have a good alternative with our passing game. I think we're demonstrating that we can make big plays through the air. We had 522 yards of total offense, and I thought we could have had more."
(on the trip to OU) "This is our second big conference game on the road where the opponent has had an extra week to prepare. Normally, teams are reluctant to put on new things when there's only a week to prepare, but with two weeks, you can do that. I'm concerned. It will be a tough game. I've said all along that I thought that Oklahoma could be the surprise of the conference. Last year, I thought their defense was was talented as any defense we faced except for Florida State. Offensively, now they've got a good a quarterback and they've settled on an offensive scheme, and they know what they want to do. I see the Oklahoma game as a big challenge for us."