April 03, 2004
The Texas A&M football team scrimmaged for a little over two hours on Saturday at Kyle Field and Coach Dennis Franchione termed the scrimmage pretty typical.
"This was pretty typical for a first scrimmage in the spring," Coach Fran said. "We were rough around the edges, but we have a great tape to teach from and help get us better. We got a lot of the kicking game covered and I thought that was very good."
Jason Jack, a redshirt defensive lineman from Humble, knocked down a pass on the first play from scrimmage to set the tone.
"I am encouraged by what I saw on defense today," Coach Fran added. "I thought the defensive backfield did not bust any assignments and I thought they tackled well. The defensive line knocked down some balls and we have some height along the front and I hope they knock down a lot of balls."
Aggie linebacker Archie McDaniel, from Bay City, picked up one fumble and ran it back 28 yards for a touchdown and defensive back Jonte' Buhl picked off one pass.
The first team units were faced with the offense getting the ball on the seven-yard line and the defense held their ground to force a field goal. Sophomore walkon placekicker Layne Neumann, from Hondo, kicked a 36-yard field goal and Todd Pegram, a junior this fall from Plano, kicked a 27-yard and 45-yard field goal before missing on a 48-yard try.
"The offense was very inconsistent, but we are rotating a lot of players at every position," Coach Fran said. "Chris Alexander had some nice runs and he runs with power. He did have a fumble at the one-yard line and we can't have that."
Alexander, a redshirt freshman from Humble, had 84 yards on 14 carries. He scored from one yard out and also had a powerful eight-yard TD rumble. Sophomore running back Courtney Lewis, from Madison High School in Houston, rushed for 88 yards on 16 carries and redshirt freshman running back Derrick Brown, from Klein Oak High School, rushed for 46 yards on 15 carries.
Ty Branyon, a sophomore from Austin, Stephen McGee, a true freshman quarterback from Burnet, and T.J. Sanders, a redshirt freshman from Goddard, Kansas, directed the offense.
"We have three inexperienced quarterbacks out there and they were up and down. I am not disappointed, we will take this and build on it," Coach Fran stated.
Branyon was 5-of-18 for 51 yards, while McGee was 7-of-20 for 53 yards and Sanders was 3-of-5 for 20 yards. Senior Terrence Murphy, from Tyler, caught three balls for 30 yards. Chad Schroeder, from Austin Westlake High School, and Terrence Thomas, a senior from Washington High School in Houston, added some catches as well. McGee hooked up with redshirt freshman tight end Joey Thomas, from Austin Westlake High School, for a 29-yard gainer early in the scrimmage.
The Aggies will work on Monday and Tuesday before returning to Kyle Field next Thursday for another scrimmage, weather permitting. In two weeks, the Aggies are scheduled to play the Maroon & White Game, presented by AT&T Wireless, on April 17 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the athletic ticket office located in the Zone at Kyle Field.