September 09, 2000
The Farris to Ferguson connection is something A&M fans hope to see a lot more of after its Kyle Field debut Saturday night.
Making his first start in front of the home faithful, sophomore quarterback Mark Farris completed 14-of-21 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Robert Ferguson, on the other hand, hauled in seven catches for a whopping 174 yards and two scores. The duo helped lead the Texas A&M Aggies to their 20th straight home victory with a 51-3 win over the Wyoming Cowboys before 69,273 fans at Kyle Field and a national television audience.
A one-two punch, in the air and on the ground, allowed A&M big plays from both aspects of its offensive attack. The Aggies, who tallied nearly 500 yards of offense, threw for 100 more than they rushed for in averaging nearly eight yards per play. Despite dominating the time of possession war, Wyoming was held to just 213 total yards.
"We played a good game tonight and it's good to get that first win under our belt," Farris said. "We didn't have a lot of plays in the first half, but we made the most of our opportunities. We put points on the board. We did a lot of good things as a team tonight and we still have some things we need to get done this week."
An impressive game-opening drive saw the Cowboys methodically march down the field, marching 52 yards in 12 plays before settling for a 40-yard field goal by Aaron Elling. On the ensuing kickoff, Wyoming attempted an onside kick but touched the ball before it went the allotted 10 yards. A&M received excellent field position as a result and did not disappoint.
Farris would start off with a bang, finding senior wide receiver Chris Taylor over the middle on 1st down for 21 yards. Following an incomplete pass, redshirt freshman Richard Whitaker raced 23 yards on a sweep around the right side for his second touchdown in as many games. The 35-second drive gave A&M the lead for good at 7-3.
The Aggies would capitalize on a Wyoming mental error to add to their lead early in the second quarter. A punt by freshman Cody Scates hit Cowboy special teamer Aaron Calahan in the foot at his own five, and freshman Dawon Gentry recovered for A&M. Junior Ja'Mar Toombs bowled into the end zone on the ensuing play for his first score of the night.
With two minutes to play before halftime, Farris completed a 1st-down shovel pass to Toombs for 14 yards and followed that up with completions of 11, 10 and 19 yards to move the Aggies down to the Wyoming 5-yard line. After a two-yard loss, Farris found junior transfer Robert Ferguson for a seven-yard touchdown and a 21-3 halftime lead.
The longest play of the game came on A&M's first of the third quarter. Farris found Ferguson wide open deep down the right sideline, good for a 93-yard touchdown pass. The completion was the second longest in school history, behind only Taylor's 96-yarder last year from Randy McCown. With 11:15 to play in the quarter, the Aggies held a commanding 28-3 lead.
We played an all-around team game tonight," Ferguson said. "Everybody played well. This is the type of score we want to see on the scoreboard each week. We just need to continue to work hard and play hard each week. We've got the ability and we showed a little bit of that tonight."
Farris would complete his work on the evening midway through the third quarter, engineering an 80-yard, 10-play drive that would put A&M up by 32 points. A 20-yard completion to Ferguson and a nice quarterback keeper set up Toombs for a 1-yard plunge, his second touchdown of the game. It was his third multi-TD effort in the last four regular season contests.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Colby Freeman would score his first career touchdown early in the fourth quarter, calling his own number from the 4-yard line. Another redshirt freshman, running back Maurice Harris, carried for 37 yards on the drive.
Terence Kitchens added a 40-yard field goal with six minutes to play, and fullback Amon Simon hit paydirt from one yard out to close out the scoring.
"This was a good home opener for us," A&M head coach R.C. Slocum said. "I saw a lot of positive things but we still have a lot of work to get done. I was pleased with the way the team prepared during the week."
The Aggies return to action Saturday when they play host to the Texas-El Paso Miners in their final non-conference tilt before the Big 12 season begins. Kickoff at Kyle Field is set for 7 p.m. (CDT).