Texas A&M
Southern Miss
Defense Keys Aggie Win Over Southern Miss, 23-6
Sep 25, 1999 | Football
September 25, 1999
Jay Brooks and Michael Jameson each returned interceptions for touchdowns, pacing the 5th-ranked Texas A&M football team to a 23-6 win over the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles Saturday afternoon before 65,264 fans at Kyle Field and a regional television audience.
A&M's "Wrecking Crew" defense held the Golden Eagles (2-2) to 129 yards of offense on the day, including 18 rushing yards on 23 carries. In three games, the Aggies' opponents have mustered only 70 yards on 73 attempts on the ground, and just 691 yards of total offense, an average of 230.3 per game.
"We tried to mix it up," junior linebacker Jason Glenn said. "We tried to put pressure on them and force mistakes, and it worked for us. But we are never satisfied with just a good defense. We need the old style play of the Wrecking Crew; that great, dominating defense."
After the game's opening kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, Texas A&M put together an 18-play, 78-yard drive that consumed just under seven minutes of clock time. Terence Kitchens capped off the drive with a 23-yard field goal to give the Aggies an early 3-0 lead.
The score remained the same until midway through the second quarter, when Kitchens again connected on a field goal, this time a 28-yarder into "The Zone."
Senior cornerback Jason Webster intercepted a Jeff Kelly pass deep in A&M territory and returned it to the Aggie 36-yard-line with 20 seconds left in the half. The Aggie offense moved the ball into Southern Miss territory at the 44-yard-line before Kitchens connected on his third field goal of the game, this time a 62-yarder to give A&M a 9-0 lead as the half expired. Kitchens' 62-yarder was the longest ever by an Aggie without the aid of a kicking tee and tied for the second longest in NCAA history without a tee (record is 65 yards by Martin Gramatica vs. Northern Illinois, 1998).
"I didn't think about it," Kitchens said. "I just tried to kick it real solid. I know that I had a shot because I kicked some from there in practice."
Golden Eagle junior Cable Davis replaced Kelly midway through the third quarter, and it didn't take long for the Aggie defense to force another mistake. Brooks picked off Davis' second pass of the game and returned it 41 yards into the end zone for a touchdown and a 16-0 A&M lead.
USM struck back as the fourth quarter began, when Davis connected with Todd Pinkston on a 54-yard touchdown strike, cutting the Texas A&M lead to 10 with just over 14 minutes to play. The two-point conversion was no good.
A&M's defense closed out the scoring with 8:32 left in the contest, as Jameson picked off Davis at the Southern Miss 26-yard-line and ran it in for another defensive touchdown.
Ja'Mar Toombs led the ground attack for A&M, picking up 94 yards on 20 carries. Dante Hall rushed 16 times for 23 yards. On the day, the Aggies rushed for 165 yards on 55 carries.
"Their defense is really fast," Toombs said. "The outside stuff wasn't working. We had to exploit the middle because of their speed. If it hadn't been for our defense, this game would have been closer."
Chris Cole was A&M's leading receiver, posting three catches for 42 yards, while Leroy Hodge hauled in two passes for 34 yards. Randy McCown completed 12-of-29 passes on the afternoon for 134 yards.
With the victory, Slocum's 97th of his A&M career, the Aggies notch their 15th-straight at Kyle Field. The Texas A&M football program is now just three wins shy of 600.
We are happy to get out of here with a win," Slocum said. "We knew Southern Miss would be a very tough task, and they have a great defense. We needed a great defensive effort today, and I was proud of the wrecking crew. I thought our defensive coaching staff did a great job of preparing our defense. We did a good job of shutting down their offense with the exception of the long pass."
The win moves Texas A&M to 3-0 on the season. The Aggies hit the road next Saturday to face Texas Tech at Jones Stadium in Lubbock. Kickoff for the game, which will be televised nationally by FOX Sports Net, is set for 6 p.m. (CDT).
