Aggies Return Home to Face No. 18 OSU
Oct 20, 2003 | Football
October 20, 2003
Texas A&M's game notes for Saturday's regionally-televised contest with Oklahoma State at Kyle Field...
Oklahoma State COWBOYS (6-1, 2-1 Big 12)
at
Texas A&M AGGIES (3-4, 1-2 Big 12)
KICKOFF --- 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2003
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), Tim Cassidy (commentary) and Chris Valletta (sideline reports).
TV INFORMATION --- The game will be regionally televised by ABC. Calling the game will be Dr. Jerry Punch (play-by-play) and David Norrie (commentary).
SERIES INFORMATION --- Last season's 28-23 Cowboy victory snapped a six-game winning streak in the series by the Aggies...A&M leads 13-5 in the overall series, which dates back to 1913...Since the formation of the Big 12 Conference, the Aggies have compiled a 6-1 record against the Cowboys...A&M has won three straight against the Cowboys at Kyle Field. The last time OSU won in College Station was 1983 when Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys took a 34-15 decision over Jackie Sherrill's second A&M squad.
AGGIES RETURN TO KYLE FIELD FOR GAME 8 VS. COWBOYS --- The Aggies return to the friendly confines of Kyle Field for game 8 against the top 25-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys (No. 18 Associated Press / No. 19 USA Today/ESPN) on Saturday. A&M has compiled a 3-1 record on their home turf this season. Game time for the regionally-televised contest (ABC) is set for 2:30 p.m. The Aggies (3-4 overall, 1-2 vs. Big 12) are coming off a 48-12 loss to Nebraska in Lincoln, while OSU (6-1, 2-1) tallied a wild 51-49 win over Texas Tech in Stillwater.
AGGIES IN THE MIDST OF A YOUTH MOVEMENT --- A look at the 70 players first-year Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione took to battle against Nebraska last Satuday reveals a youth movement for the Aggies. Franchione took just 13 seniors to Lincoln last week (19 percent), five of which were walkons or former walkons. A&M started three seniors on offense and four on defense). Underclassmen made up 56 percent of the travel roster with 39 freshmen or sophomores on the trip. The Aggies took 20 freshmen (redshirt or true) on the trip (29 percent), making it the most represented of the four classes. The Aggies' starting 22 featured 10 freshmen or sophomores, including three who were making their first career starts. Franchione also took 16 former or current walkons.
BLACKCAT TRIO DRAWS STARTING ASSIGNMENT --- For the first time in anyone's memory, Texas A&M had three defensive starters from the same high school in the same game last week against Nebraska. The trio of former Bay City Blackcats - junior cornerback Byron Jones and sophomore linebackers Nurahda Manning and Archie McDaniel - combined to make 21 tackles, including 3 for loss of yardage, and forced a fumble. Another Blackcat, wide receiver John Roberson, made the trip but did not play. Earlier this season, another threesome from the same high school - Tyler Lee's Cody Scates, Derek Farmer and Justin Warren - started together at punter, running back and linebacker, respectively.
A&M'S OFFENSIVE FRONT SHOWS UNCOMMON CONTINUITY --- A&M's starting offensive line fivesome of center Geoff Hangartner, guards John Kirk and Aldo De La Garza, and tackles Alan Reuber and Alex Kotzur have started in six straight games for the Aggies. The last time the Aggies were able to start the same five linemen for six straight games or more was 1998 when the starting five of Seth McKinney, Cameron Spikes, Semisi Heimuli, Rex Tucker and Andy Vincent started all 13 games for the Aggies.
A-BACK CARTER HAS BREAKOUT GAME VS. HUSKERS --- First-year A-back Jason Carter is beginning to fulfill the promise he showed as the standout of the Aggies' Maroon & White game last spring. Carter had the most productive day of his career against Nebraska with 185 all-purpose yards on five touches (37 yards per touch). He gained 113 yards on two kickoff returns, had two rushes for 49 yards and one carry for 23 yards. He also had an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The versatile Carter is the only player on the A&M roster to with a rush attempt, reception, punt return and kickoff return to his credit this season. Carter shifted from quarterback to A-back, which is a hybrid of wide receiver and running back, during spring drills and shined during the spring game with 181 all-purpose yards. In that game, Carter rushed for 20 yards and a touchdown on five carries, caught three passes for 32 yards, returned five punts for 55 yards and carried two kickoff returns for a total of 74 yards.
PLACEKICKER PEGRAM IS SOLID IN SECOND SEASON --- Sophomore placekicker Todd Pegram has been a consistent force for the Aggies in 2003 after a shaky first season in 2002. Pegram has righted the ship after starting off his A&M career just 5-of-12 in field goal attempts through the first six games of 2002. Since then, Pegram has connected on 18-of-22 field goal attempts, including 11-of-13 in 2003. Pegram ranks No. 3 in the Big 12 and No. 16 nationally in field goals per game a 1.57 average. Pegram is connecting on 84.6 percent of his field goal tries in 2003, which would rank atop the Aggies' season field goal accuracy list if he had the requisite number of field goals made (12).
JONES RANKS AMONG LEADERS IN PASSES DEFENDED --- Junior Byron Jones has emerged as one of the nation's top pass defenders. Jones ranks among the national leaders in passes defended with 12 after seven games (11 passes broken up, 1 interception). Jones is the team leader in PBUs with 11 and ranks No. 4 in tackles with 42. He has already surpassed his 2002 season total of nine PBUs.
TAYLOR SETS SIGHTS ON RECEIVING YARDS RECORD --- With just 26 career games under his belt, senior Jamaar Taylor is poised to become Texas A&M's career leader in receiving yards. Taylor goes into the Oklahoma State game needing 36 receiving yards to pass Bethel Johnson's (1999-2002) school record of 1,740 yards. Taylor's career stats stand at 108 catches for 1,705 yards and 10 touchdowns. Johnson set the existing receiving yards mark in 35 games over a four-year span.
TEAM EFFORT KEYS AGGIES' RUSHING GAME RENAISSANCE --- Led by a two-headed tailback, its most mobile quarterback since Bucky Richardson, and an improved offensive front, the Aggies have experienced a renaissance in its running game in 2003. The Aggies are averaging 205.6 rushing yards per game with an impressive 5.3 yards per carry average through seven games this season. It is the Aggies' best per game rushing average since 1996 when they gained 230.3 yards per game on the ground and it's the best per carry average since 1990 when the Darren Lewis-led Aggies gained 5.8 per tote. Redshirt freshman Courtney Lewis and junior Derek Farmer have combined to give the Aggies 822 rushing yards from its running back position, while sophomore quarterback Reggie McNeal has emerged as a rushing threat with 306 yards on the ground. Much credit also goes to a youthful offensive front that features just two returning starters.
JOLLY GOOD PLAYER --- A bright spot on the Aggies' defensive front has been the play of first-time starter Johnny Jolly, who is the top tackler among the front seven and ranks No. 3 on the team in tackles with 52. The sophomore from Houston Forest Brook HS is tied for the team lead in tackles for loss with 7 for -23 and has batted down 7 opponent aerials.
C. LEWIS MOVES UP FRESHMAN RUSHING YARDS LIST --- Redshirt freshman running back Courtney Lewis continues to move up the Aggies' freshman season rushing yards list and has positioned himself to be A&M's first 1,000-yard rusher since Dant? Hall in 1998. Lewis has produced a team-best 577 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns on 92 carries (6.3 per attempt) in seven games. His 577 yards are already the seventh-most by an A&M freshman and his 9 touchdowns rank No. 3 in the freshman record book. Against Baylor, Lewis produced a career-high 158 yards, which included a freshman record 86-yard touchdown run. His 158 yards ranked No. 7 on the freshman single game rushing list.
TAYLOR HAS HIT CENTURY MARK SIX TIMES --- With 5 catches for 145 yards against Baylor, senior wide receiver Jamaar Taylor increased his school record for career 100-yard receiving games to six. It was his second century receiving game of the season. Taylor leads the team in receptions and receiving yards with 25 for 456. His game averages of 5.0 catches and 91.2 receiving yards per game rank No. 10 and No. 6 in the Big 12 Conference.
MURPHY LEADS NATION IN YARDS PER TOUCH --- Wide receiver/kickoff returner Terrence Murphy leads the nation in average gain per touch with an impressive 22.6 per touch average (among the nation's top 100 all-purpose yards producers). Murphy has 13 kickoff returns for 415 yards, 19 catches for 280 yards and 4 carries for 120 yards.
MURPHY MAKING HIS MARK IN RETURN GAME --- A relative newcomer to kickoff returns, junior Terrence Murphy has started the 2003 on a record-setting pace. Through seven games in 2003, Murphy, who had one previous kickoff r2eturn in his career, has gained 415 yards on 13 returns and ranks No. 2 nationally with a 31.9 average.
A&M-NEBRASKA POSTGAME NOTES
- The Texas A&M offense surrendered a season-high eight turnovers against Nebraska, which were turned into 34 points by the Cornhuskers. It was the most turnovers by the Aggies since 1996 when A&M gave away eight in a 29-22 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette (then Southwestern Louisiana). A&M threw five interceptions, its most since 1993 when the Aggies threw five against Oklahoma in a 44-14 loss to the Sooners in Norman.
- Junior Jason Carter's 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was the first by the Aggies since 1997 when Sirr Parker scored on a 78-yarder against Iowa State.
- The kickoff return sparked Carter to the most productive day of his career. He produced 185 all-purpose yards on five touches (37 yards per touch). He gained 113 yards on two kickoff returns, had two rushes for 49 yards and one carry for 23 yards.
- Prior to the Nebraska game, sophomore Reggie McNeal had never thrown more than one interception in a game. McNeal was picked off three times by Nebraska.
- Senior Jamaar Taylor was held without a reception for the first time in his career. He remains 36 yards short of breaking the school record for career receiving yards.
- Sophomore Todd Pegram was 2-of-2 on field goal attempts against Nebraska, which raised his season totals to 11-of-13 on FG tries.
- Junior punter Jacob Young was, once again, impressive while filling in for preseason All-America Cody Scates, who did not make the trip to Lincoln. Young averaged 45.6 on five punts, which included a career-best 69-yarder. Young also filled in for Scates in the first two games of the sason while Scates recovered from hernia surgery.
- The Aggies' 26-yard field goal in the third quarter marked the first points scored against the Huskers in the third quarter this season.
- A&M's 109 passing yards were a season-low and were the lowest passing output since 2001 when the Aggies could manage just 58 yards through the air against Oklahoma in Norman.
- A&M's offensive output of 243 yards was also a season-low and ranks as the lowest since last year's Virginia Tech game (156 yards).
- Sophomore Todd Pegram's first quarter field goal was A&M's first score in Lincoln since 1972...Sophomore Nurahda Manning made his first career start at weakside linebacker. He responded with a career-best seven tackles...Redshirt freshman Courtney Lewis, A&M's leading rusher, made his first career start...Lewis and junior running back Derek Farmer started together for the first time.
- The 12th Man Kickoff Team representative was Beau Adams, a redshirt freshman linebacker from Tomball, Texas...game captains were: senior Sean Weston, sophomore Jaxson Appel, junior Derek Farmer and junior Geoff Hangartner.
TAYLOR & MURPHY CONTINUE ASSAULT ON RECORD BOOK --- Jamaar Taylor and Terrence Murphy rank as the most prolific receiving tandem in school history, in terms of career receiving yards and have their sights set on the receptions mark. The duo has produced 3,102 receiving yards in their three years in the maroon and white, which passed the previous best of 2,785 yards by Bethel Johnson and Greg Porter (1999-2002) earlier this season. Taylor and Murphy rank No. 3 in career receptions among duos with a combined 199 catches. They trail Rod Bernstine and Shea Walker, who grabbed 203 catches from 1983-86 for the Aggies.
12TH MAN IS STANDING READY --- First-year Aggie head coach Dennis Franchione's first Texas A&M squad is receiving solid contributions from several members of the 12th Man squad, which is comprised of nearly 70 non-scholarship players. The 12th Man tradition started in 1922 when a student was called out of the stands to fortify the injury-depleted Aggie squad in the Dixie Classic bowl game. Today, A&M students stand throughout games to show their readiness to enter a game if called upon. In addition, Franchione awarded scholarships to three former walkons during the open week prior to the Virginia Tech contest.
12TH MAN RETURNS TO ROOTS --- Harkening back to the all-walkon 12th Man Kickoff teams of the 1980s, first-year head coach Dennis Franchione used a kickoff coverage team three times against Baylor made solely of current or former non-scholarship players.
ACTION JAXSON CONTINUES DEFENSIVE TEAR --- Sophomore safety Jaxson Appel has been on a tackling tear this season, ranking among the national leaders in tackles with an impressive 12.1 average per game. Appel has posted a whopping 85 tackles in the Aggies' first seven games. He has already passed his 2002 season total of 69 stops, which was a freshman record for a defensive back. Appel has posted double-digit tackles four times this season, including a career-best 18 stops against Virginia Tech. A do-it-all defender, Appel also leads the team in interceptions with 3, has broken up 3 other passes and forced and recovered a fumble.
MLB MORRIS INJURES KNEE, LOST FOR THE SEASON --- Senior middle linebacker Jared Morris had surgery to repair a torn patella tendon in left knee on Sept. 7 and will be lost for the season. His loss robs the Aggie defense of its most experienced defender in its front seven. A fifth-year senior, Morris had made 21 starts at linebacker and was the team's leading active tackler with 181 career stops.
SCATES NAMED TO RAY GUY WATCH LIST --- Preseason All-American punter Cody Scates, who made his 2003 playing debut against Virginia Tech, was one of 32 punters named to the 2003 Ray Guy Award watch list by the Greater Augusta Sports Council. Scates missed the first two games of the season due to hernia surgery, but returned to action against Virginia Tech Scates is the Big 12's top returning punter after averaging 43.7 yards per boot in 2002. Last season Scates also dropped 17 boots inside the opponent 20-yard line and forced 11 fair catches. Scates has a career average of 41.6 yards per punt with 57 coffin corner efforts and 35 fair catches. An excellent all-around athlete, Scates also handles kickoff duties for the Aggies and has been the primary placekicker during his career. In punt and kickoff coverage Scates has compiled 20 career tackles.
COACH FRAN RANKS AMONG THE WINNINGEST COACHES --- The 26th head football coach in Texas A&M history, Dennis Franchione is in his first season in Aggieland and his 21st season as a collegiate head coach. With a career record of 158-77-2 as a head coach, Coach Fran ranks as the seventh-winningest active Div. 1-A head coach in college football (by total wins). His 67.1 career winning percentage ranks No. 8 among active head coaches with a minimum of five years of service. Texas A&M is the seventh stop for Franchione as a collegiate head coach, and has coached previously at Southwestern (Kan.) College (1981-82), Pittsburg State (1985-89), Southwest Texas State (1990-91), New Mexico (1992-97), TCU (1998-2000) and Alabama (2001-02).He also served as an assistant coach at Kansas State (1978-80) and Tennessee Tech (1983-84). The dean of Big 12 head coaches, Franchione has won eight conference championships and a divisional crown in his 20 seasons. Last season, Franchione's Alabama squad had the best record in the SEC West but were ineligible for the crown.
AGGIES' SCHEDULE RANKS AS NATION'S TOUGHEST --- Texas A&M's 2003 schedule ranks among the nation's toughest, in terms of cumulative schedule and future schedule, according to the NCAA. The Aggies' 2003 opponents have combined for an impressive 61-21 record and an .744 winning percentage. Texas A&M's remaining opponents have compiled a 28-7 record for an .800 winning percentage. A&M's first seven games rank as the nation's ninth-toughest schedule, according to the NCAA. Those teams have combined for a 33-14 record and a .702 winning percentage.
ACADEMIC SCHOLARS --- Thirty-four members of the Aggie football team received Texas A&M/Verizon Athletics Scholar Awards at the annual CHAMPS Awards Banquet last spring. To be considered for the award, the student-athlete must achieve a cumulative GPR of 3.00 or higher or a semester GPR of at least 3.00.
A&M PRODUCES NFL TALENT --- With 31 former players on National Football League opening day rosters, Texas A&M ranks as the second-most prolific producer of NFL talent in the Big 12 Conference, according to the NFL.
