September 22, 2001
AGGIE POSTGAME NOTES
ABOUT THE WIN --- Today's A&M victory moved head coach R.C. Slocum's career record to 10-3 in conference openers ? It is the sixth time in Slocum's 13 seasons that the Aggies started the year 3-0.
ABOUT THE CROWD --- Attendance at today's game was 82,601, the fourth-largest crowd in Kyle Field history. The top three attendance games are the 2000 Oklahoma game (87,188), the 1999 Texas game (86,128) and the 2000 Texas Tech game (83,644). The 2000 Kansas State game is now fifth at 80,659. The Aggies have surpassed the 80,000 mark four times in their last six home appearances.
THE BLOCKED PUNT-- Senior Wes Bautovich blocked an Oklahoma State punt late in the third quarter and freshman Eric Crutchfield recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown, A&M's first punt recovery for a TD since 1999, when Jay Brooks returned a blocked punt nine yards for a touchdown. Last year, A&M blocked four punts (all by Brooks), eventually converting all four into touchdowns.
TODAY'S FIRSTS-- A pair of true freshmen saw their first action of the season today - tight end Thomas Carriger (Skidmore, Texas) and running back Derek Farmer (Tyler, Texas) ? Farmer had a solid debut, rushing for 50 yards on 10 carries?seven members of the 2001 A&M signing class have seen action this fall. In addition to Carriger and Farmer, linebacker Brandon Johnson, defensive back Byron Jones, wide receiver Terrence Murphy, wide receiver Terrence Thomas and linebacker Randall Webb have all seen action. ? Sophomore Jamaar Taylor's 19-yard touchdown reception was the first TD catch of his career. ? Redshirt freshman Eric Crutchfield's punt block recovery for a touchdown was the first of his career.
ON THE DEFENSIVE-- The Aggies limited OSU to just 199 yards of total offense, its best defensive performance since the Wrecking Crew held Southern Mississippi to just 129 yards in the third game of the 1999 season. The last Big 12 opponent to gain fewer total yards was Oklahoma in 1998, when the Sooners gained just 172 yards at Kyle Field. OSU gained just 64 yards rushing, the lowest total by an A&M opponent since Texas Tech gained just 23 yards on the ground at Kyle Field last season. The defensive effort was spearheaded by defensive end Rocky Bernard, who had 12 tackles and two sacks, and noseguard Ty Warren, who had six tackles and two sacks?.linebacker Jarrod Penright also added a sack, giving the Aggies five on the day.
12TH MAN KICKOFF TEAM --- Eric Stanford, a junior from Robinson High School in Waco, represented the A&M student body on the 12th Man Kickoff Team today.
RED, WHITE AND BLUE OUT--- A grass roots movement by A&M students resulted in the Red, White and Blue Out of today's game between Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. Fans in the third deck were wearing red t-shirts, middle deck wore white and lower deck was wearing blue in support of freedom and in memory of the lives lost in last week's terrorist attacks. The organizers reported selling 70,000 t-shirts in the last week and a half and the proceeds from the sale of the t-shirts ($150,000) will go to the New York City Fireman and Police Relief Fund. Organizing the effort were: Nick Lutton '02, Eric Bethea '03, Cole Robertson '03, Josh Rosinski '02 and Kourtney Rogers '03.
AGGIE CAPTAINS--- A&M's captains today were: junior tight end Michael de la Torre, junior running back Joe Weber, sophomore punter Cody Scates and senior safety Jay Brooks.
AGGIE POSTGAME QUOTES
CENTER SETH MCKINNEY: "It could have been a lot better than it was. We could potentially be dominating."
DEFENSIVE BACK JAY BROOKS: "The defense played well together and the linebackers and defensive line had a great game."
QUARTERBACK MARK FARRIS: "That's the best I've ever seen our defense play. They won the game for us. We've got to be able to run the all and play defense. (On Derek Farmer) That guy is a player. He's got quick feet and runs to daylight well. He's got a chance to be really good. We know we could have played better. Games are won in the second half."
LINEBACKER CHRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ: (on way defense responded to Slocum's prodding this week) "It was one of the best performances I've seen. (Can they sustain it all season?) We're gong to go out and play hard."
DEFENSIVE END ROCKY BERNARD: "Coach Slocum was pretty rough on us this week. It was pretty intense out there. Now instead of talking about it, we've actually seen it. We can go out and do it every week."
WIDE RECEIVER JAMAAR TAYLOR: (On TD catch) "I basically just ran it in. It wasn't that hard. (On Notre Dame) It's just another team."
HEAD COACH R.C. SLOCUM: "I thought we definitely looked better on defense. I was pleased with the effort. That's what I expect to see from our defense. The defense played with more intensity and when you play hard, you make plays. It wasn't a different scheme, the defense just turned up its level of intensity and played with great effort. (On special teams) It was good to see us have some success on special teams. I thought we gave good effort in all phases. Cody Scates did a nice job on his placekicks and I thought he had some good kickoffs into the wind at critical times. (on establishing run) I like to see that. It makes me smile when we run the football like that. There were times against Wyoming when we were able to do that but we couldn't sustain it. We have the makings of a good offensive line. We short-circuited some, but the makings are there. (on Derek Farmer) I'm impressed with Derek Farmer. He's got toughness and vision. I've said all along that I felt this guy has a bright future. I hate it that he had that turnover, but he was giving great effort. He's got good vision, he sees the holes and he runs north and south. (On Red, White and Blue Out) I'm so proud of the students at Texas A&M. To come up with the idea, get the shirts printed and distributed, publicize it -- it's quite an accomplishment. I'm so proud, as I always am, of our student body. It was a beautiful thing and to be able to do it at such a historic time is something. My challenge as a coach is to have a team that represents these fans as they should be represented. The atmosphere gets better every year and every game."