April 08, 2004
Jason Carter tallied more than 200 all-purpose yards during a two hour scrimmage by the Texas A&M football team Thursday at Kyle Field.
Carter, a senior wide receiver from Caldwell, Texas, returned the opening kickoff from four yards deep in the endzone for a touchdown. He continued to pile-up the yards as he caught six passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
"It was good to see," A&M coach Dennis Franchione said. "We couldn't get the ball past the 25 last week on kick return. The big buzz word around here is to improve. We've only had two practices and it was short amount of time. Last week's film proved to be a good teaching film."
Quarterbacks Stephen McGee and Ty Branyon saw most of the action, and T.J. Sanders also received several snaps.
McGee, a freshman who joined the squad in January after graduating from Burnet High School early, completed 13-of-18 pass attempts for 186 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Branyon, a non-scholarship quarterback, was 14-of-18 for 173 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior receiver Terrence Murphy caught five passes for 84 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore Chad Schroeder caught five passes for 44 yards.
Newcomer DeQawn Mobley made the most of his lone reception by taking it 54 yards for a touchdown. The entire Aggie offense, including those on the sideline, sprinted to the endzone to congratulate Mobley. Branyon was the quarterback.
"I'm happier with the offense, but I'll go home wondering about the defense," Franchione said. "We had some pretty good passing numbers and that was with the defense getting some sacks. They kept us from good continuity.
"We weren't quite as good running the ball, we were better passing."
Pacing the running game for the Aggies was sophomore Courtney Lewis who carried eight times for 74 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Derrick Brown was 10 for 37 yards with a touchdown, while freshman Chris Alexander was 7 for 37 yards.
Defensively, Jason Jack, Johnny Jolly, Jorrie Adams, Thomas Carriger, Mike Montgomery, and Joseph "Red" Bryant recorded sacks.
Jack also batted down a pass attempt by McGee.
After Carter returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, McGee converted a 3rd down and four by connecting with Murphy for a 61-yard touchdown pass on the left side. Kicker Todd Pegram converted the point after attempt.
Pegram was perfect on all four of his PATs.
One of the longer rushes of the day came from Lewis who on first down and 10 from the opponents 48-yard line was handed the ball and started left before changing directions and taking a 30-yard jaunt down the right side of the field. Franchione went back to Lewis on the next play for a 6-yard gain. Later in the drive, on 2nd and goal from the 1-yard line, Lewis ran for a touchdown.
One of the final drives of the scrimmage featured placekicker Layne Neumann connecting on a 41-yard field goal attempt.
"Layne has worked his way into the mix," Franchione said. "He kicks with height and helps your coverage. I feel good about his progress and he provides good competition for Todd Pegram."
Franchione noted that freshman tight end Joey Thomas will be lost for the remaining spring workouts after breaking his arm early in the scrimmage.
The Aggies will workout next week on Tuesday and Thursday before capping the spring drills with the annual Maroon and White Game presented by AT&T Wireless on Saturday, April 17 at 3 p.m. at Kyle Field.