Aggies Open Big 12 Play with 42-30 Win over Wildcats

Saturday, October 2

College Station

TBA

Texas A&M

3-1 , 1-0

Kansas State

2-2 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Kansas State

Texas A&M

Oct 02, 2004 | Football

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

October 02, 2004

Courtney Lewis ran for three touchdowns and the Texas A&M defense turned Darren Sproles into a liability, sending the Aggies past Kansas State 42-30 Saturday night and continuing their resurgence in coach Dennis Franchione's second season.

A&M (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) has won three straight for the first time under Franchione and on Sunday might be ranked for the first time since Franchione replaced R.C. Slocum after the 2002 season. Since a lopsided loss at Utah, the Aggies _ who went 4-8 last season _ have shut out Wyoming, routed previously ranked Clemson and knocked off the reigning Big 12 champions in the conference opener.

The Wildcats (2-2) opened league play 0-1 for the third straight year. Playing their first road game of the season, they struggled with crowd noise but were more undone by turnovers that started A&M drives at the K-State 12, 5 and 2.

The Aggies quickly scored touchdowns on all three. Their other scoring drives were fast, too--80 yards in four plays, 69 yards in five plays and a three-play, 67-yarder in the final minute, when it looked like they might just be running out the clock.

A&M ran just 43 plays, while the Wildcats had 90. Kansas State also the ball for more than twice as long as the Aggies--40 minutes, 28 seconds to 19:32.

That would usually mean big numbers for Sproles, the nation's leader in all-purpose yards at 250 per game, but he was held to 61 rushing and 48 receiving. And 35 of his rushing yards came on the opening drive.

Sproles committed K-State's first two turnovers, leading to A&M's first touchdown and another in the third quarter that gave the Aggies back the momentum they'd just lost and led to the TD that put them up 28-17.

After an interception helped A&M stretch the lead to 35-17, KSU quarterback Dylan Meier rebounded with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Jermaine Moreira. KSU then was driving for the go-ahead points with under two minutes left when Sproles failed to come through, again.

On fourth down from the 38, Meier avoided sack and flicked the ball to Sproles. He scooted between a few defenders only to run into one of his lineman and fall down, five yards shy of a first down.

Then Reggie McNeal sprinted 62 yards through the middle of the field for the capping touchdown, producing a final score that was a better indication of how the Aggies controlled the game.

McNeal was 7-of-12 for 169 yards, with a nice 29-yard touchdown pass to Terrence Murphy for the first score and a 43-yarder that hit Murphy in the chest to set up the third touchdown. McNeal also ran for 84 yards.

Lewis ran 18 times for 62 yards, with TDs of 14, 1 and 2 yards. He also committed A&M's first turnover of the year, a fumble on the first play of the second half.

The Wildcats took over at the A&M 38 with a chance to tie the game. Meier and Sproles drove to the 6, but wound up settling for a field goal that made it 21-17. The Aggies went three-and-out after that, but got the ball back at the K-State 5 when Sproles reached behind him to catch a punt he should've let roll into the end zone and fumbled.

On the game's first punt, Sproles made an ill-advised fair catch at the 7. He later put a kickoff on the ground twice and had another fumble that he recovered.

Meier was 29-of-42 for 246 yards.

Texas A&M Postgame Notes

MURPHY ENDS TOUCHDOWN DROUGHT --- Texas A&M's all-time leading receiver Terrence Murphy ended a long receiving touchdown drought with his first-quarter touchdown grab. It was Murphy's first touchdown catch since the final game of the 2002 season against Texas, which is a span of 13 games and 56 catches. The touchdown was the eighth of his career (tied for 9th most in school history).

TOUCHDOWN MACHINE --- With a career-high three rushing touchdowns, sophomore running back Courtney Lewis improved his career total to 17 in just 15 games. It is the most rushing touchdowns after 15 games by any player in school history. The previous best was 15 TDs in 15 games by Greg Hill in 1991-92. Lewis' three touchdowns against KSU marked a career high.

 Rushing TDs after 15 career games Courtney Lewis, 2003-04 17 Greg Hill, 1991-92 15 Darren Lewis, 1987-88 11 Leeland McElroy, 1993-94 11 George Woodard, 1975-76 10

AGGIES SUFFER FIRST TURNOVER OF SEASON --- The Aggies suffered their first turnover of the 2004 campaign on the 245th offensive play of the season. Sophomore running back Courtney Lewis fumbled on the first play of the second half against Kansas State.

PLAY IT AGAIN --- The Aggies had just 43 offensive plays (to 90 by KSU), their fewest since they had 42 last season at Oklahoma. Prior to that, A&M had not had fewer plays in a game since at least 1969, the last year when total plays were not kept in the media guides. KSU's 90 plays were the most by an A&M opponent since Utah had 97 plays early last season. A&M averaged 7.2 yards per play tonight to 4.1 by the Wildcats. A&M completed 7-of-11 passes, its fewest completions and attempts since the Aggies went 4-of-11 against Texas Tech in 1998.

WRECKING CREW NOTCHES PICKOFF NO. 8 --- The Aggies grabbed their seventh and eighth interceptions of the season, which already surpasses the 11-game 2003 total of six pickoffs. A&M has not thrown an interception in 115 attempts this season.

POINTS AFTER TURNOVERS --- The Aggies scored 21 points after three Kansas State turnovers, while giving up three points after one A&M turnover. For the season, A&M has outscored its opponents, 49-3, this season on points off turnovers. The opponents have had 11 turnovers to one by the Aggies.

THE REAL MCNEAL --- Reggie McNeal's late 62-yard touchdown run was the longest of his career. His previous long run was 59 yards earlier this season at Utah. McNeal finished with a team-high 84 rushing yards and passed for another 129 yards for a total of 213 yards of offense. McNeal has rushed for at least 84 yards in three of four games this season and has had at least 200 yards of total offense in every game.

MISCELLANEOUS --- Game captains were Byron Jones, Terrence Murphy, Archie McDaniel and Jami Hightower ... The 12th Man Kickoff Team representative was John Ray, a sophomore walkon from Giddings, Texas...A&M's 42 points were its most in 11 games against Kansas State...A&M has beaten KSU four straight times since the Wildcats last win in the series in 1997 (36-17) in Manhattan...KSU's last win at Kyle Field was in 1996 (23-20).

Kansas State Postgame Notes

Kansas State now trails the all-time series with Texas A&M, 7-4... The Wildcats have lost three in a row to the Aggies dating back to the 2000 season... K-State, which has lost two consecutive games at Kyle Field, falls to 2-3 all-time in College Station, Texas... Texas A&M has won three of the five meetings since the start of Big 12 play in 1996... The two teams met for just the 11th time in a series that dates to 1912.
Kansas State continued a season-long trend of allowing points off turnovers against Texas A&M... After allowing 20 points off five turnovers in the first three games, the Wildcats spotted the Aggies 21 points off three turnovers... Texas A&M had scoring drives of 3, 3, 1 after Kansas State turned the ball over deep in its own territory (a fumble, muffed punt and interception)... The Wildcats have now allowed 41 points off eight turnovers this season.
Sophomore quarterback Dylan Meier made his third career start Saturday vs. Texas A&M... He has started every game except Fresno State(9/11)... Meier had a 1-yard plunge on the opening drive of the first quarter, giving him his fourth rushing touchdown of the season and the seventh of his career... He threw a career-high three touchdown passes against the Aggies, including a 20-yard pass in the second quarter and a 3 and 18-yard passes in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Dylan Meier set career passing mark across the board against Texas A&M... Meier completed 29-of-45 passes for a career-high 246 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions... Meier's previous high for passing came against Western Kentucky (9/4) in the season opener when he completed 12-of-18 passes for 183 yards... He had one touchdown pass against Fresno State (9/11)... The 45 pass attempts were the most by a Kansas State quarterback since Ell Roberson had 51 against Ohio State in the 2004 Tositos Fiesta Bowl... The 29 completions were a mere four off the school mark of 33 set by Chad May against Kansas (10/6/94)... He added a career-high 22 rushes for 44 yards.
Senior running back Darren Sproles eclipsed 100+yards of all-purpose yards against Texas A&M for the 29th time in the last 32 games... He totaled 120 all-purpose yards, which included rushing, receiving, punt and kickoff returns... Sproles rushed 20 times for 61 yards, added 48 yards on a career-high six catches and 12 yards on one kickoff return.
With his 20-yard field goal in the third quarter, senior kicker Joe Rheem tied Ell Roberson (2000-03) for third all-time in total points in Kansas State history with 249... Rheem trails his older brother, Jamie (252; 1996-97, 1999-2000), for second place by three points... Martin Gramatica (1994-95, 1997-98) is the all-time leader with 349 points... With three against A&M, Rheem has converted his last 50 PATs, which ranks as the seventh-longest current streak in the nation.
Sophomore wide receiver Jermaine Moreira posted the first two touchdown receptions of his career against Texas A&M, both in the fourth quarter... He collected his first scoring catch with a 3-yard pass from Meier with x:xx in the final quarter and followed with an 18-yard reception with x:xx remaining in the game... He finished the game with
Sophomore wide receiver Yamon Figurs also recorded their first career touchdown passes against Texas A&M... Figurs collected his first scoring catch in the second quarter with a 20-yard catch-and-run.
Kansas State scored on its opening drive for the third time in four games this year (two touchdowns and one field goal)... Counting an interception return for a touchdown against Fresno State (9/11), the Wildcats have scored the first time they have touched the ball in all four games this season... The 12-play, 63-yard drive, which spanned 7:23, was the third-longest drive of the season and the longest since a 16-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 8:38 in the fourth quarter against Western Kentucky (9/4).
Junior defensive end Scott Edmonds picked up his second fumble recovery of the season on Texas A&M's first drive of the second half... It was his first since Edmonds caused and recovered a fumble against Louisiana-Lafayette (9/18)... Senior Jermaine Berry earned his second career force on the fumble and his first since Kansas (10/25/03)... It marked just the second fumble recovery of the season for Kansas State and first turnover by Texas A&M.
Senior offensive guard Michael Weiner earned his first career pass reception for two yards in the third quarter off a deflection from quarterback Dylan Meier, which was intended for senior tight end Brian Casey.
Kansas State was successful on its first fake punt of the season with junior Jesse Martinez scampering four yards on fourth-and-one in the third quarter.
Junior linebacker Ted Sims made his season debut with 5:20 left in the second quarter after missing the first three games of the season due to an injury... Senior linebacker Maurice Thurmond returned to the starting lineup at weakside linebacker for the first time since the Fresno State game... Junior defensive back Bret Jones earned his first career start at free safety.

Postgame Quotes

TEXAS A&M QUARTERBACK REGGIE McNEAL: "Well, any time you can start off your Big 12 season 1-0, that's always a big step. We've been saying since day one we were going to take care of Kyle Field. We didn't do a good job of that last year. We took it upon ourselves. (on the last TD run) Oh, well, if you looked at the play it was just to get a first down and I was supposed to slide off or whatever, but Courtney and Murph out wide and big Keith they all had some good blocks ahead of me. My o-line did a job for me too. I felt if I got by the safety I could outrun them and that was the case."

TEXAS A&M RUNNING BACK COURTNEY LEWIS: "Being the other running back on the other end of the field and seeing (Darren) Sproles on the field making plays motivates all of us to get on the field and make plays. Like Reggie said, keep Kyle Field our home and no one elses."

TEXAS A&M WIDE RECEIVER TERRENCE MURPHY: (on K-State's comeback) "Like Coach Fran says, no matter the points, if (we have) one more point we've got to put it away. I think offensively, if they keep coming back and scoring, we need to keep scoring too. That's what we were thinking about, making plays. As you can see, that's what we did on the last play of the game."

TEXAS A&M DEFENSIVE BACK JAPHUS BROWN: "For me it was good experience, you know, being a freshman and coming out and playing on Kyle Field. I mean, the crowd noises give you the intensity and you get what we call 'crunk' -- we get crunk and we just go wild. (on the interception) Basically in practice we try to concentrate on stopping Sproles and that was our intent from the beginning of the game and sometimes you just get in the zone where you read everything perfect and I was just in the right place at the right time."

TEXAS A&M DEFENSIVE BACK MELVIN BULLITT: "We probably were a little rattled being that the defending Big 12 Champions were coming into Kyle Field. We've got a lot of pressure on us to defend Kyle Field and win our Big 12 games. And you know, we probably were a little nervous, but we really didn't change any scheme. Really basically like Japhus said we had to stop Sproles and once we did that the game started rolling."

TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH DENNIS FRANCHIONE: "Well, it was a great hard-fought battle and we feel very good about being able to win it. Our defense and time of possession does not correlate always to wins and thank God. They had the ball for 90 plays to our 43 tonight. Offensively we scored quickly all the time and when you do that you always take points over possession time. But you do put your defense right back out on the field when you do and they showed that they are very good at battling and hanging in there. They did a great job on (Darren) Sproles, 20 carries for 61 yards. They did a good job of stringing out the option most of the night and not letting Sproles beat us on that. You know we got some turnovers again tonight but unfortunately we had our first one. It came at a very difficult time, right at the start of the half, and that contributed to that lack of possession time. I thought we had some pressure on the quartback. We didn't sack him a lot of times but we hit him a lot of times and kept pressure on him most of the evening. And you know one thing, as I look at the stats, if anyone would have told me on Thursday or Friday that we would make them throw 45 times I would have felt like we had a great chance of winning the game and we were able to do that. The offense made plays when we needed to and we got some key big plays in the kicking game and it was a real chess match all the way across."

KANSAS STATE HEAD COACH BILL SNYDER - (on turnovers) "That's a major part of it, quite obviously, and where (they occurred). Obviously, it was a disaster at the time. We got beat by what was a better football team tonight. I thought they played better than we did. Normally, it's a hard loss to have, but I was pleased with some things that have not been there for the first three weeks of the season. That didn't make us good enough to overcome the positions that we put ourselves in. Nevertheless, I saw the intangible things there tonight. The youngsters played with some spirit and I saw them play with some fight and they played hard. Those are things that have been under scrutiny. We've got to start coaching our guys to make plays, pass better and do all the things we didn't do - not turn it over and not get penalized. All the obvious things. (A&M) played well enough to win, but they had help, no doubt about that. They held us when they had to, but we were 40 yards away with three minutes to go. They played well enough to keep us out of the end zone. I wouldn't say there was anyone who didn't play well enough for us to win. I don't think collectively we played well enough to win. It takes more than one guy to get us beat."

(On Sproles' turnovers): "Part of it is he presses awfully hard. And you look at how it happened - two of them happened on punt returns. That's something he needs to spend more time at. We think we get a lot of kicks to him, but we need to get him more. Maybe we've got him doing a bit too much right now. You know how Darren is, he wants to make a play every time he gets a chance. There were some errors in judgment on his part as to where he was to catch the ball."

(On Meier's play in comeback): "That's the thing about Dylan that you like. He's a young quarterback who's going to make mistakes, but he doesn't let one of them compound into another and another. That takes a youngster who has some of those intrinsic values you talk about and has some character. And who is very capable and confident enough to put those things behind him and go on to the next one. He's growing. By an large, I would suggest we made a little headway, but then again we haven't put the ball in the air as much as we did tonight so I don't know what to judge it against."

(On crowd forcing early timeouts): "It wasn't so much the crowd as it was taking us too long to get to the line of scrimmage. We could have moved a lot faster. Maybe we were trying to be too observant of what was going on. Sometimes it's best to just get up and snap the ball and go."

(On comeback that fell short): "I think every time you get your hands on the football you anticipate that you're going to do something positive. I hate to be the one that thinks on the other side of it because then you'll never have a chance. I've always believe we have a chance to get the ball in the end zone and the players think the same way. At least I think after tonight they recognize that they are a little more capable than what they have unfortunately thought. There were a couple of snaps in there I didn't like and didn't want. Nevertheless, we maybe didn't take full advantage of all four downs. That's hindsight I guess."

KANSAS STATE CORNERBACK CEDRIC WILLIAMS: "We made a lot of progress tonight. We made plays and fought the whole game. We had to keep fighting but we just ran out of time. There was great intensity tonight. No one ever quit. We had turnovers, we had plays and we had our chances. We can't give up big plays if we want to get where we want to go. Hopefully, next time we'll make those plays when we have to. (on red zone defense after turnovers) No matter where we are, we've got to keep playing. That's the only thing you can do, is keep playing. We can't control where we are when we go on defense. We've got to make the plays when they come. I think a lot of young players grew tonight. All in all, we took steps but we have to finish the game. (on comeback) We knew if we got the ball back and got two more stops, we were going to have a chance to win. We never quit in this game, but they are a great team and they fought back and we fought."