October 05, 2002
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES
- Dustin Long completed 21 of 37 passes for a career-high 367 yards and 7 touchdowns, setting an A&M and Big 12 Conference record for most TD passes in a game. Tech's Kliff Kingsbury set the previous Big 12 record with six last week against New Mexico, while Gary Kubiak had an A&M school-record six against Rice in 1981. Long's four first-half passing touchdowns tied the school record for a half, matching Kubiak's four first-half tosses against Rice in 1981. Long's passing yardage today is the third most in A&M history behind Branndon Stewart's record of 385 against Colorado in 1996 and Edd Hargett's 376 against SMU in 1968. Long's seven TD passes went to six different recievers.
- A&M has player four overtime games in its history, but has lost its last two. The Aggies fell to Mississippi State, 43-41, in overtime in the 2000 Independence Bowl, but prior to that, A&M beat Kansas State, 36-33, in the 1998 Big 12 Championship game and defeated Oklahoma State, 28-25, in 1997.
- In a statistical quirk regarding A&M's final touchdown in regulation, Stacy Jones is credited with a receiving touchdown and one-yard receiving, but no reception. Greg Porter is credited with an eight-yard reception and Dustin Long is credited with a nine-yard touchdown pass.
- Jamaar Taylor's 82-yard TD reception from Dustin Long in the third quarter was the ninth longest pass play in school history and was the longest since Mark Farris hit Robert Ferguson with a 93-yard scoring strike against Wyoming in 2000. Taylor finished with 128 yards in six catches, his second straight 100-yard receiving game (he had 5 for 118 last week vs. Louisiana Tech). His career best was 146 yards on 9 catches last year against Colorado.
- Bethel Johnson's 57-yard touchdown catch from Dustin Long was Johnson's first TD reception since 1999 and was the fourth of his career. Johnson's added his second TD catch of the game (fifth of his career) with a 15-yard grab in the second quarter. The last A&M receiver to have two TD receptions in a game was Jamaar Taylor last year against Colorado (both in the second quarter). The A&M record for single game TD catches is three, shared by three players (more recently Chris Cole against North Texas in 1998).
- A&M scored on its first offensive play of the game, a 57-yard pass from Dustin Long to Bethel Johnson. The last time A&M scored on its first play was against North Texas in 1998, when Branndon Stewart hurled a 60-yard TD pass to Chris Cole. Prior to that, the last time A&M scored on the first offensive play was against Rice in 1978, when Mike Mosley completed a 52-yard touchdown pass to Gerald Carter. It also marked the first time A&M has scored on its first possession since it scored on its first two possessions against Notre Dame last season, ending a first-possession scoreless streak of 12 games. A&M's first punt came with 6:41 left in the second quarter.
- Greg Porter's 4-yard touchdown reception was the first touchdown catch of his career and the first TD catch by an Aggie tight end since RoDerrick Broughton's 20-yard TD catch against Tulsa in 1999.
- Derek Farmer rushed for 132 yards on a career-high 27 carries, his second straight 100-yard game and the fourth of his career. It was the second most rushing yards of his career behind his best of 133 yards on 17 carries last year against Iowa State. His previous most carries was 21 earlier this year against Pittsburgh and last year against Kansas State.
- A&M's 47 points are the most ever by the Aggies in a loss. The previous record was 41 points in a 43-41 loss to Mississippi State in the 2000 Independence Bowl. The last time A&M had more points in a game was in 1999, when they beat Missouri, 51-14 (a span of 17 games). Tech's 48 points are the most A&M has allowed since falling to Oklahoma, 51-6, in Norman in 1999. It's the most points allowed by A&M at Kyle Field since a 57-28 loss to Texas in 1977.
- Byron Jones posted his second interception of the season in the third quarter and returned it 27 yards. Jones officially has two career pickoffs, although he had three in the GalleryFurniture.com bowl last year, earning defensive MVP honors.
- Sammy Davis posted a game-high 15 tackles, including one sack and an additional tackle for loss. He also caused one fumble and recovered another.
- Tech's Wes Welker's 88-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter was the longest ever allowed by the Aggies. The previous long was 83 yards by SMU's Jerry Levias in 1966. The last time A&M allowed a punt return for a score was in 2000, when Oklahoma State's Gabe Lindsey went 57 yards for a score in Stillwater. Welker finished with 166 yards on six punt returns, the most yards ever allowed by A&M. The previous record was 138 yards on 10 returns by SMU's Doak Walker in 1945. Welker also caught 10 passes for 120 yards and had 41 rushing yards on four carries. His 327 all-purpose yards are the most against A&M, breaking the old mark of 293 set by SMU's Mike Richardson in 1968 (244 rush/49 receiving).
- Tech's 544 total offensive yards were the most allowed by A&M since Oklahoma gained 552 in 1999. Tech also passed for 474 yards, the most allowed by the Aggies since BYU threw for 536 in 1996. Both of those games were on the road.
- A&M's 517 total offensive yards were the Aggies' most since they gained 535 yards against Baylor in 1998.
- Tech's Kliff Kingsbury's 49 completions were the most ever against A&M. The previous best was 45 by Louisiana Tech's Tim Rattay in 1999.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M DUSTIN LONG: "I don't look for just one guy to throw to. I go through all my reads and find who is open. It's always exciting to make the go-ahead touchdown. But the bottom line is that we didn't get it done and didn't score as much as we needed to."
TEXAS A&M RECEIVER BETHEL JOHNSON: "I knew how important it was to set the pace. I wanted to get the offense going from the very beginning. I feel in the end God has a plan for us and we'll just keep faith in Him and trust Him. Dustin Long came out and did what he had to do. He played really well and put up great numbers. But that doesn't make much difference when you lose."
TEXAS A&M RECEIVER JAMAAR TAYLOR: "This is just another step in the process. We are aiming to be a high-potency offense."
TEXAS A&M DEFENSIVE BACK SAMMY DAVIS: "The execution was the key. Our offense played really well and we just didn't do what we had to do. Fatigue has a little to do with what happened at the end, but we can't be tired and we can't make excuses. We just needed to play better. Kliff (Kingsbury) was just clicking. They played better than they did last year."
TEXAS A&M WIDE RECEIVER GREG PORTER: (on clutch catch to keep final scoring drive going in regulation) "It was a play that had been successful throughout the game. Dustin had been looking at the running backs, but that time he looked downfield and found me. It was a back and forth game and was probably the craziest game I've ever played in. Our offense moved the ball and Texas Tech deserves all the credit."
TEXAS A&M KICKER JOHN PIERSON: "All week long I had a great week of practice. It was day-to-day. The extra point last week gave me a big boost of confidence. The snaps and holds were great. It was my fault. I guarantee you it'll never happen again. I thought the first one was good but it just missed going through. The second one I pulled from the beginning and I knew I missed it right away."
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH R.C. SLOCUM: (on possibly replacing Pierson in OT) "He kicked well all week and before the game. He kicked well all game until the end. Tech made some great plays and some great receptions. (on Wes Welker) It's hard as the game goes on to check just one player, but I know their offense did well and he was a big part of it. You expect to win a game if you score that many points. We just came up one point short. Maybe it would have been different if we had made the extra point in regulation. We talked about punting away from Welker, but when you do that you always risk a punt being blocked so we just stayed with our plan. He made a big play. Dustin Long has made excellent progress as a quarterback. I was really pleased. I planned on playing Reggie (McNeal) all along but it just didn't work out that way. You know these games are always going to go down to the wire. I'm never confident until the end of the game. It was a combination of Kliff (Kingsbury) playing great and us not playing well. We didn't execute but then again, he's a great player. They made the big plays and did a great job of doing what they had to do. It's tough to lose your first conference game, but when bad things happen you have no choice but to regroup. We still have a long way to go and we can still do great things."
TEXAS TECH POSTGAME NOTES
KICKING OFF: Texas Tech won the opening coin toss for the third time this season and elected to receive. Texas Tech won the coin toss last week against New Mexico marking the first time this year Tech has won back-to-back coin tosses.
- The trip to Kyle Field is the second in Mike Leach's career at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders lost to A&M 33-15.
- Today's game is marks just the second time this season that Texas Tech has not been televised. The only other game that has not been on television was a 24-14 win at SMU.
WELKER MOVES UP CHARTS: Junior Wes Welker turned in a career-high 327 all-purpose yards (120 receiving, 41 rushing, 166 return). Welker also moved up the Big 12 and Texas Tech career charts in punt returns yards and on Tech's punt returns list. He tied Tracy Saul for second on the career punt returns list with 90, while moving to third on the Big 12 chart for punt return yards with 1043 yards which is second on Tech's list. Welker's 166 punt return yards is the most Texas A&M has ever given up in a game.
OFFENSE PUTS UP NUMBERS: Today's 48 points marked the fourth-straight game the Red Raider offense has scored 40 or more points in a game. The Red Raiders have scored 187 points the last four contests. Tech scored 42 points in the win over Ole Miss and 48 points in the loss to NC State, while tallying 49 in the win at New Mexico.
NOTABLES
- Senior wide receiver Anton Paige scored Tech's first points of the game when he caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Kliff Kingsbury. The touchdown catch was his sixth of the season and 10th of his career moving him into a tie for seventh place on Tech's all-time touchdown receiving list. Paige recorded his longest career pass reception on a 35-yard pass from Kingsbury in the second quarter.
- Senior cornerback Joselio Hanson picked up his second interception of the season late in the first quarter. The defensive pick was the third of his career.
- Junior Carlos Francis grabbed his eighth career touchdown pass with 7:55 remaining in the second quarter.
- Junior Wes Welker caught his eighth career touchdown in the fourth quarter. He then scored a touchdown on a punt return in the fourth quarter, marking his fifth career punt return for a touchdown. The 88-yard punt return was the longest ever given up by Texas A&M.
TEXAS TECH POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS TECH HEAD COACH MIKE LEACH: "It feels good. This is a huge win, there's no question about it. A&M is one of the greatest teams with the greatest traditions in the country. At some point, we have to stop being in the position to have to make amazing comebacks. It was unfortunate that anyone had to lose. We have worked long and hard to feel like we are in every game. I can't pick one specific hero for this game. We had a lot of heroes. This can give us a lot of confidence going into the games we have left. We have to be able to repeat this next week at Iowa State. (on winning TD) (Nehemiah) Glover is kind of a squirmy guy and is hard to tackle, so I wanted to get him the ball and hopefully they would overrun him or lose him and that's what happened."
TEXAS TECH KICKER ROBERT TREECE: (on field goal to send it to OT) "It was a lot of pressure but I really didn't feel it. I felt a lot of confidence from my teammates and my coaches. Kicking for overtime was more pressure than the extra point in overtime. There is no doubt that we are never out of a game with Kliff and the rest of the guys. This was the best college football game I've ever seen. Extra points are guaranteed. JV and varsity players make them all the time. Winning was the greatest feeling in the world. Coming out of high school, I wanted to be an Aggie so its especially nice to come in here and beat them."
TEXAS TECH QUARTERBACK KLIFF KINGSBURY: "This is the most thrilling victory. I wanted to come here out of high school and I've been thinking about this for four years. We have had confidence all year. To win in one of the toughest atmospheres boosts our confidence even more. It is nice to be on the winning side of an overtime game. I think this is my best game ever. It was great to come in and get this victory."