October 11, 2003
Postgame notes and quotes from Texas A&M's 73-10 win over Baylor Saturday at Kyle Field...
Texas A&M Postgame Notes
Record-Breaking Day-
- The 10 touchdowns scored by the Aggies are the most by A&M in a game since 1944 when the Aggies scored 11 against Miami (Fla.) in a 70-14 win.
- The 73 points are the most by the Aggies against a conference opponent since the formation of the Big 12 Conference. The previous high was 56 in a 56-17 win over Iowa State at Kyle Field in 1997.
- The last time A&M scored more than 73 points was in 1986 when Jackie Sherrill's Aggies beat Jim Wacker's TCU Horned Frog 74-10 at Kyle Field. The 63-point margin of victory tied for 10th most in school history (1986 TCU game).
- The 73 points are the most by the Aggies since a 73-0 shellacking of Missouri in 1993. Ironically, that game came on the heels of a 44-14 road loss to Oklahoma. Today's win came on the heels of a record-setting 59-28 road loss to Texas Tech.
- The 719 yards gained by the Aggies rank as the second-most in school history. The school record is 774 yards against Louisiana-Lafayette in 1990.
First Drive Success --- The Aggies scored on their initial drive of the game for the first time this season against the Bears. After a Ronald Jones interception return gave the Aggies the football on the Baylor 9, the Aggies scored three plays later on a 6-yard pass from Reggie McNeal (Lufkin, Texas / Lufkin HS) to tight end Andy Matakis (Corpus Christ, Texas / Flour Bluff HS). A&M scored at the 10:42 mark of the first quarter, its earliest score of the season.
Scoring Success --- The Aggies scored more than 30 points for the first time since the upset of top-ranked Oklahoma, 30-26, last season. The 73 points were the most by either team in the Baylor-A&M series, which began in 1899. The previous high by the Aggies was 53 points in a 53-0 win in 1912. The 59 points also mark a high for the Aggies against a conference foe since joining the Big 12 Conference. The previous high output against a Big 12 opponent was 56 points in a 56-17 win over Iowa State at Kyle Field in 1997.
The Aggies were already at 38 points after the first half (38-10 advantage), marking the first time A&M had scored 30 or more first half points since Sept. 18, 1999 when the Aggies took a 31-7 advantage over Tulsa into halftime en route to a 62-13 win over the Golden Hurricane at Kyle Field. The last time A&M scored more points in the first half of a game was 1997 when the Aggies rolled to a 45-0 halftime advantage over Louisiana-Lafayette at Kyle Field en route to a 66-0 victory.
Two Aggies Eclipse Century Mark in Rushing Yards --- A pair of Aggies - freshman Courtney Lewis and junior Derek Farmer -- rushed for over 100 yards in the same game for the first time since the Aggies' 28-21 win over No. 2-ranked Nebraska in 1998 (Dante Hall, 113 yards/Ja'Mar Toombs, 110 yards). Lewis (Houston, Texas / Madison HS) rushed for a game-high and career-best 158 yards on 12 carries, while Farmer (Tyler, Texas / Lee HS) added 117 yards on 11 totes. Lewis' total was the seventh-best rushing game by a freshman in school history, and his 86-yard touchdown run was a freshman record (previous record was 82 yards by Bucky Richardson vs. Southern Miss in 1987)
Taylor Tallies School-Record Sixth 100-yard Game --- Senior wide receiver Jamaar Taylor (Mission, Texas / Mission HS) notched the six 100-yard receiving game of his career, which increased his own school record. Taylor grabbed 5 passes for 145 yards, including a 91-yard touchdown from Reggie McNeal. Taylor's career statistics improved to 108 catches (passing Rod Bernstine into No. 3 on school list) for 1,705 receiving yards (passing Tony Harrison into No. 2 on school list). Bethel Johnson is the school record holder in both categories with 117 catches for 1,740 yards from 1999-2002.
Long Plays by the Aggies---
- The 91-yard touchdown pass and catch from Reggie McNeal to Jamaar Taylor tied for the fourth-longest in school history (91-yard from Jim Kaufmann to Ken "Dude"McLean vs. Texas, 1965). It was the longest by A&M since a 93-yarder from Mark Farris to Robert Ferguson against Wyoming in 2000.
- The 86-yard touchdown run by Courtney Lewis ranks as the sixth-longest in A&M history. It was the longest rush by A&M since 1996 when D'Andre "Tiki" Hardeman set the school record with a 95-yarder against Baylor.
Firsts --- Senior Tommy Perry logged the first carry of his careeer *** Reggie McNeal's 2-yard touchdown plunge in the second quarter was the first rushing touchdown of his career *** Redshirt freshman Chad Schroeder logged the first touchdown catch of his career, a 42-yarder from Dustin Long *** Sophomore Anthony Wright grabbed the first two catches of his career *** Redshirt freshman QB Ty Branyon logged the first two pass attempts of his career, completing one *** Sophomore Ronald Jones' (Dallas, Texas / Skyline HS) first quarter interception (returned 26 yards) was the first of his career *** Sophomore Jaxson Appel (Friendswood, Texas / Friendswood HS) posted the first interception return for a touchdown of his career with a 64-yard return of a pickoff of Baylor's Aaron Karas aerial. It was Appel's third INT this season, and the seventh of his career.
For the Record --- Redshirt freshman tight end Andy Matakis (Corpus Christi, Texas / Flour Bluff HS) scored the second receiving touchdown of his career on a 6-yard TD pass from Reggie McNeal in the first quarter *** Senior Tommy Perry, from Tyler Lee High School, was the 12th Man Kickoff team representative against Baylor *** game captains against Baylor were junior Terrence Murphy, sophomore Archie McDaniel, senior Tim Van Zant and senior Oschlor Flemming.
Baylor Postgame Notes
- This is 100th meeting between Baylor and Texas A&M. The Aggies lead the all-time series 62-29-9 and have won 13 consecutive meetings. Baylor is winless in its last 18 games against A&M (tie, 1990).
- Texas A&M leads the all-time series 29-10-3 at College Station. The Aggies have won nine straight against the Bears at Kyle Field.
- Baylor yields season highs of 38 first-half points and 73 total points.
- Third-most points ever allowed by Baylor, most since 77-0 loss at Texas in 1913. School record was 89-0 loss at Louisiana State in 1908.
- Also third-worst loss in school history behind those two games.
- Baylor allows 400-plus yards rushing for the first time since surrendering school-record 641 against Nebraska in 2001.
- Most total yards allowed in school history, breaking previous mark of 688 against Nebraska in 2001.
- Fewest yards rushing since 41 at Texas in 2002.
- Fewest total offensive yards since 127 at Texas in 2002.
- P Daniel Sepulveda ties career high for punts (9) and establishes career highs for punting yards (431) and punting average (47.8) for minimum of five punts.
- WR Marques Roberts' second-quarter TD reception was his first of the season and the fourth of his career.
- WR Robert Quiroga has caught at least one pass in 20 consecutive games.
- WR Marques Roberts has caught at least one pass in eight consecutive games.
- QB Aaron Karas has completed at least 10 passes in 10 consecutive games.
- OS Willie Andrews' third-quarter interception was his second of the season and the third of his career.
- WR Dominique Zeigler's fourth-quarter reception was the first of his career.
- RB Rashad Armstrong held under 50 yards for first time since rushing for 8 yards Oct. 26, 2002 against Kansas State (9 consecutive 50-yard games).
Texas A&M Postgame Quotes
FREE SAFETY JAXSON APPEL: "It was a good win for us, I think we needed it. The main thing we did is we came out and we didn't let them back in the game. Our whole goal all week was to stop their first drive in the third quarter. We came out and we did that and we are pretty excited about that."
On interception returned for a touchdown: "We were in Crimson, which I have the fullback, he is my guy. Coach Smith told me before the game that if I read it right I could get an interception. I just thought about what he said. I read it, I came on down, it was a bad pass and I just intercepted it and ran with it."
WIDE RECEIVER JAMAAR TAYLOR: (On the offense gaining confidence) "Yeah I think that was big for us to gain confidence in our offense, especially in our running game. We did a great job running the ball, and that adds another dimension if you can run the ball well. It obviously opens up the passing game. As a receiver I am all for that. We have a big game next week. The Blackshirts, (Nebraska's defense) they have a great defense. This was a key game for us knowing that Baylor beat Colorado last week. This was a big win for us."
On the 91-yard touchdown catch: "We had seen some things, and we took advantage of some of the things the coaches saw. It was a great call by Coach Fran. He was telling me about it and asked if I could get it done. I told him I could get it done. Reggie threw the perfect pass, I didn't break stride, I made the catch and scored a touchdown."
RUNNING BACK COURTNEY LEWIS: "Well the offensive line did an excellent job today maintaining their blocks. I just read the holes and burst threw the holes and tried to score."
On his long touchdown run: "The defense was over pursuing on the play, I just cut it back as soon as one man rossed my face, I just bounced it outside and ran as fast as I could to get it in."
On the confidence before facing Nebraska next week: "It gives us a lot of confidence. Showing that we have all the tools to win a big game like Nebraska. It should be great."
Baylor Postgame Quotes
BAYLOR LINEBACKER STEPHEN SEPULVEDA: "It is a big let down for us. After a big win you get your expectations up and you get excited about playing again. We came out, and Texas A&M is a great team. They just kicked our butt. You have to give them credit. They came out and played hard and beat us. You have to hand it to them. You never expect to get beat like this. I don't know what kind of person would come in and expect something like this. We go into every game expecting to win. They outplayed us, and that is the way it goes."
Talking about A&M's offense: "It was stuff we'd seen. We didn't execute the game plan. We have to improve on that next week. We have to practice hard this week and get ready for Kansas. Coach said last week after a big win, it is great but you have to put it behind you. After a big loss it is really tough and like the big win you have to put it behind you."
On Texas A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal: "He is a good player. He played well. We played with them the first half, and it is tough when things start going wrong. Somebody has to step up and make a play. Something has to happen to swing the momentum back in your favor. It just didn't happen for us today."
BAYLOR HEAD COACH GUY MORRISS: "You couldn't have seen this one coming, I guess. I didn't think it would be this bad. I think this week was the opposite of the week before. Last week everything went our way, and today nothing went our way. We couldn't put the breaks on to get it stopped. Things kept getting worse and worse. It snowballed on us."
On where things started going wrong: "It actually started with the flat tire on the team bus on the way over here today. It all started with the intercepted pass (by A&M free safety Jaxson Appel). It was bad, and went to worse. Give credit to Texas A&M, it looks like theywoke up. They just whipped our tails. I am not going to make any kind of excuses. We didn't play very well, we didn't execute very well, we didn't tackle well, we didn't cover well, and it just got away from us."
On Jaxson Appel's interception return: "That was a huge play for them. I think that was the turning point in the game, if there was one. I am going to have to talk to Aaron (Karas, Baylor quarterback) about it. I will find out about it tonight or tomorrow whenever I get a chance to see the tape. It looked to me that he just tried to wing it out there. We cant do that. If you are going to throw it away, you have to get it out of bounds, or take the sack. Don't put yourself in the situation to give them the momentum with a touchdown. That was just a bad decision on his part (Aaron Karas). I told them, that as high as we were last week, we couldn't dwell on that one (victory over Colorado). It is the same thing for this week. We can't dwell on this one too long. We have to get it out of our system and find a way to get over it."