GAME 1: UL Lafayette (0-0) at Texas A&M (0-0)
Aug 25, 2002 | Football
August 25, 2002
Texas A&M vs. Louisiana-Lafayette Game Notes
MATCHUP --- UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (0-0) at Texas A&M Aggies (0-0)
KICKOFF --- 6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 31, 2002
SITE (CAPACITY) --- Kyle Field, College Station, Texas (82,600 capacity)
RADIO INFORMATION --- The game will be broadcast by the 60-plus station Texas A&M Radio Network. For a complete list of stations, go to: AggieAthletics.com. Calling the game on the A&M Radio Network are Dave South (play-by-play), former All-America cornerback Kevin Smith (commentary) and former A&M sports information director Tom Turbiville (sideline reports).
TV INFORMATION --- The game will not be televised. Video highlights are available via satellite feed after the game at 9:45 p.m. on Galaxy 3R, Transponder 7.
ULL-TEXAS A&M SERIES --- The Aggies and Cajuns have faced off on the gridiron four times since 1990 with A&M holding a 3-1 advantage. Texas A&M has outscored the Ragin' Cajuns 163-21 in the three previous games at Kyle Field. In the most recent meeting, the Aggies shutout the Cajuns 66-0, which was the fourth of head coach R.C. Slocum's six career shutouts at Texas A&M ... The game is the season-opener for both teams. Slocum has compiled a 10-3 record in season lid-lifters.
NATIONAL AWARDS WATCH LISTS --- Five Aggies have been mentioned on the "watch lists" for various national awards.
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For more information on Texas A&M's national award candidates, please go to: AggieAthletics.com/nationalawards
OPENING WITH A BANG --- The Louisiana-Lafayette contest on Aug. 31 will mark the Aggies' 2002 season and home opener.
In his 13 previous seasons as A&M head coach, R.C. Slocum has compiled a 17-3 record in season and home opening games. Slocum is 10-3 in season-openers and a perfect 13-0 in home openers since 1989.
AGGIES TOUGH ON LA. TEAMS --- The Aggies have posted a 13-2 record against teams from the state of Louisiana in the R.C. Slocum era (since 1989), and have won five straight games against teams from the Pelican State. A&M will face Louisiana-Lafayette in the season-opener and Louisiana Tech on Sept. 28.
NON-CONFERENCE GRAVEYARD --- Kyle Field has been a graveyard for non-conference opponents since R.C. Slocum took over the head coaching reins at Texas A&M in 1989. Slocum's teams are unbeaten against non-conference foes at Kyle Field with 28 straight wins against such opponents.
CLIMBING THE CHART --- The Aggies haven't had a losing season since 1982 or 19 consecutive seasons, which ranks as the 24th longest non-losing streak in NCAA Div. I-A history. Among active streaks, it ranks No. 7 nationally. Since 1970, only 11 schools have had non-losing streaks longer than the Aggies.
SENIOR CITIZENS --- The 16-member senior class of 2002 might be the most accomplished senior class at Texas A&M since 1998 when Dat Nguyen and crew won the Big 12 crown.
Here are some facts:
- 2002 seniors have started a combined 216 games during their careers (an average of 13.5 starts per senior).
- Thirteen of 16 have started at least one game on offense or defense. Another player, Chance Pearce, has been the Aggies' starting deep snapper for 36 straight games.
- Ten seniors have 10 or more career starts to their credit, led by three-year starter Brian Gamble's 35 starts.
- The class features nine fifth-year seniors.
- The seniors have compiled a 23-13 overall record, including a 15-3 mark at Kyle Field.
- The seniors have gone bowling three straight seasons. If the Aggies qualify in 2002, the '02 seniors will be the sixth senior class to go bowling all four years of their careers ('78, '92, '93, '00, '01).
EXPERIENCED AGGIES --- A whopping 28 players on the 2002 roster have started at least one game during their A&M careers.
ATTENDANCE RISING --- Texas A&M drew an average of 82,711 fans to Kyle Field during the 2001 season, which led the Big 12 Conference and ranked as the ninth-highest average attendance in college football.
ZONE IMPACT --- Texas A&M has shattered its season home attendance record in each of the last three seasons since the completion of the Bernard C. Richardson Zone complex in 1999. Prior to "The Zone," A&M's home average attendance record was 66,623 in 1987, but since then the record has risen to 73,126 in 1999, 77,579 in 2000 and 82,711 in 2001.
HOME SWEET KYLE --- In 13 seasons with R.C. Slocum as head coach, the Aggies have compiled a sparkling 69-8-1(.891) record at Kyle Field. The Aggies have posted eight undefeated home records during that time, including seven perfect 6-0 home worksheets. Prior to Slocum's tenure, A&M had posted just eight undefeated season records at Kyle.
PROTECTING THE HOME FIELD --- Under R.C. Slocum, the Aggies have fashioned the two longest home-winning streaks in school history.
TOP NOTCH COACHING --- Members of R.C. Slocum's coaching staffs have a history of being hot coaching commodities, as evidenced by four of Slocum's former coordinators serving as head coaches at the NFL or college level.
Fifteen of Slocum's former staffers hold positions in the NFL, ranging from general manager to position coach to player personnel to scout.
Last year's A&M coaching staff, which featured four new assistants, returns intact in 2002, which hasn't happened since the 1996 season.
Here's a list of former assistants and their current position (* - member of Slocum's original staff in 1989):
BABERS ON BCA BOARD --- Second-year A&M offensive coordinator Dino Babers accepted a seat on the Black Coaches Association Board of Directors in August.
ANOTHER WINNING SEASON --- With a 7-4 record going into its bowl game, Texas A&M has clinched its 19 consecutive winning season (.500 or better), dating back to 1983. It is the seventh longest active streak in college football, and is a school record.
TOUGH VS. THE RUN --- The Aggie defense did not allow a 100-yard rusher last season, which continued the Wrecking Crew's trend of stifling opponent running games. A&M has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 13 straight regular season games dating back to Oklahoma State RB Reggie White's 112-yard effort in the ninth game of the 2000 season.
Over the past three seasons, A&M has allowed only five 100-yard rushers in 33 regular season games.
SHUTTING DOWN THE BIG 12'S BEST --- The Wrecking Crew faced 10 of the Big 12's top 15 rushers last season. Here's how the group fared against the Aggie defense:
CHANGES IN 2002 --- Shifting positions since the 2001 season were: junior Richard Whitaker from running back to defensive back; senior Dwain Goynes from wide receiver to running back; and redshirt freshman Bryant Singleton from wide receiver to defensive back.
Players who saw action in 2001 with new jersey number are: junior Jamaar Taylor from #82 to #2 and junior Tim Van Zant from #49 to #83.
The Aggies had a late addition to the team when freshman WR Anthony Wright joined the team in August. Retiring from the team in August was sophomore TE Joey Perot.
DUPLICATE JERSEY NUMBERS --- Texas A&M has duplicate jerseys Nos. 15 (DB Adam Black, WR Anthony Wright); and 89 (DL Brandon Fails, TE Haven Massey).
SAMMY DAVIS AND THE RAT PACK --- Headlined by two-time All-Big 12 cornerback Sammy Davis Jr., and fellow three-year starters Terrence Kiel and Sean Weston, the Aggies' defensive secondary might rank as one of the best groups of the R.C. Slocum era.
Last season, the Aggies ranked No. 9 nationally in pass efficiency defense, while allowing just seven TD passes and picking off 14 opponent aerials. Davis, Kiel and Weston have combined to start 71 career games in the secondary.
The Sporting News rates A&M's secondary as the best in the Big 12 and second-best in all of college football.
Here's a closer look at the A&M DBs:
- Sammy Davis, CB --- Big 12's leading active pass thief with nine career pickoffs ... rated one of the front-runners for the Thorpe Award, which is given annually to the nation's top DB ... has started 26 games, including 24 straight.
- Terrence Kiel, SS --- Led the team with 92 tackles in 2001 ... rated the nation's No. 3 "assassin" or strong safety by ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit ... has 168 career tackles and five career pickoffs ... has 22 career starts.
- Sean Weston, CB --- Has broken up 22 opponent passes in two seasons as a starter ... has 22 career starts.
- Jaxson Appel, FS --- Won the free safety job during fall camp ... impressed the A&M coaching staff with his aggressive hitting and savvy.
JOHNSON READY TO HIT FIELD--- After sitting out the final 10 games of the 2001 season, there's probably no player on the Aggie roster more anxious to hit the field than wide receiver Bethel Johnson.
The senior from Corsicana, Texas was supposed to the Aggies' bellcow at wide receiver in 2001, but instead Johnson fell victim to a ruptured spleen in the second game of the season.
Johnson is the first Aggie to enter his senior season with more than 75 catches and 1,000 receiving yards to his credit. Johnson goes into 2002 with career totals of 77 catches and 1,022 yards.
Johnson has shown impressive range during his A&M career. As a sophomore in 1999, Johnson was the team's top deep threat with a team-leading 19.0 per catch average. The following season, he was the consummate possession receiver, producing 26 first downs on 42 catches.
RECORD-SETTING FARRIS --- In 25 regular season games at QB, senior Davey O'Brien Award candidate Mark Farris has left an indelible mark on the A&M record book. Virtually every A&M passing record is within his reach.
He is just the third QB in A&M history to reach 4,500 career passing yards. He is the first Aggie QB to post consecutive seasons with more than 200 completions and the second to post consecutive 2,000 yard passing season
SENDING PLAYERS TO THE NFL --- Texas A&M stands as the Big 12's top producer of National Football League talent with 44 players in the NFL, according to CBSSportsline.com's Alumni Tracker.
SLOCUM AT A GLANCE --- In his 14th season as the Aggies' head coach, R.C. Slocum (McNeese State, '67) has compiled a 117-41-2 (.738), ranking him No. 6 in winning percentage among active Div. I-A head coaches and A&M's all-time winningest coach.
- Slocum is 75-23-2 (.760) in conference games, 69-8-1 (.891) in games at Kyle Field and 43-24 (.642) in road games.
- Slocum, a four-time Coach of the Year, has led the Aggies to one Big 12 Conference crown, three SWC Championships, two Big 12 South Division titles and 11 bowl games, including five on Jan. 1st.
- Ten of Slocum's 12 teams have finished the season ranked in the Top 25.
- Slocum's teams compiled a 29-game SWC unbeaten streak running from 1991-95.
- This is the 30th year he has been associated with A&M football, the longest of any football coach in school history. He was an assistant from 1972-80 and once again from 1982-88, interrupted only by a one-year stint as defensive coordinator at USC in 1981.
- With the Aggies' win over Texas in 1997, Slocum became A&M's winningest head coach by passing Homer Norton, who posted 82 wins from 1934-47 and won the 1939 national championship.
- He closed out the Southwest Conference ranked as the No. 1 coach in SWC history in overall and SWC winning percentage.
AGGIES SINCE 1989 --- Since taking over the Texas A&M football program in 1989, head coach R.C. Slocum has developed the Aggies into one of the nation's winningest teams.
SLOCUM IN GOOD COMPANY --- R.C. Slocum's 117-41-2 record in his first 13 seasons ranks as the eighth-fastest start in Div. I-A history, and puts him on a list with some pretty heady company. Nebraska's Tom Osborne, who won 127 games in his first 13 seasons, tops the list and is followed by Oklahoma's Barry Switzer, Penn State's Joe Paterno, Florida's Steve Spurrier, Oklahoma's Bud Wilkinson, BYU's Lavell Edwards, the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg and Slocum.
SLOCUM PACES BIG 12 COACHES --- Aggie head coach R.C. Slocum has won four conference championships, which is more than any other coach in the Big 12 Conference. Slocum won three Southwest Conference crowns from 1991-93 and also won the 1998 Big 12 Championship.
SLOCUM KEEPS ON WINNING --- In his 14th season at Texas A&M, head coach R.C. Slocum is one of the few coaches who has never felt the sting of a losing campaign. Among coaches with 10 or more years experience, only Slocum and Tennessee's Phil Fulmer have never had a losing season. Slocum's .500 or better streak of 13 seasons ranks No. 3 nationally behind Florida State's Bobby Bowden (24 seasons) and Syracuse's Paul Pasqualoni (15 seasons).
SLOCUM SINCE 1990 --- Texas A&M's R.C. Slocum is the nation's second-winningest coach since 1990 behind Florida State's Bobby Bowden.
