October 21, 2000
AMES, Iowa-- Sophomore quarterback Mark Farris rushed for a touchdown and passed for two more, as the Texas A&M football team spoiled Iowa State's homecoming with a 30-7 victory Saturday before an overflow crowd of 48,931 fans at Jack Trice Stadium.
Farris had another solid performance, completing 16-of-27 passes for 248 yards and the two scores. He did not throw an interception and was sacked just once.
Sophomore running back Joe Weber posted the first 100-yard performance by an Aggie back this season, rushing for 106 yards on 20 carries. A&M ended the game with 221 yards on the ground.
A strong performance by A&M's Wrecking Crew defense held a Cyclone squad that had been averaging nearly 30 points and 450 yards of offense per contest to a late touchdown and 239 total yards. A&M ran up 469 yards of offense, its most since a 490-yard performance earlier this season against Wyoming.
"We had a great week of practice, and it showed on the field today," senior linebacker Jason Glenn said. "We're going to take this game and try to build on it next week. We knew Iowa State had a very explosive offense and that we had to take care of our business."
Junior defensive back Jay Brooks' third blocked punt of the season set up the Aggies' first score of the game early in the first quarter. Brooks got his hands on ISU punter Carl Gomez's kick, and A&M recovered on the Cyclone five. Two plays later, Farris called his own number on draw and dove across the goal line for the 7-0 lead.
"We came out ready to play today, and the blocked punt really set the tone," Farris said. "Victories on the road in the Big 12 are hard to come by, so we knew we had to get off to a good start. I thought we played well in all phases of the game, especially on the offensive line."
After senior placekicker Terence Kitchens' 27-yard field goal extended the A&M lead to 10, the Aggies struck paydirt through the air. Pinned inside their own 10-yard line courtesy a punt and a penalty, the Aggies worked the ball out to the 24 when Farris connected with sophomore wide receiver Dwain Goynes deep down the sideline. Goynes outraced the coverage for a 76-yard touchdown, giving A&M a 17-point lead.
Kitchens, who saw little practice this week due to a strained groin, would tack on a 22-yarder to increase the lead to 20 at the break.
The only score of the third quarter would come via Kitchens' leg again, who booted a season-long 50-yard field goal with six minutes on the clock to make the score 23-0.
Special teams would set up A&M's final touchdown as well. Junior wide receiver Mickey Jones returned a Gomez punt 36 yards to the ISU 34-yard line midway through the fourth. One play after a 19-yard Weber run, Farris found senior wideout Chris Taylor for a 15-yard touchdown pass and a 30-0 advantage.
The Cyclones would get on the board with just 2:36 remaining when backup quarterback Gerrin Scott converted a 4th-and-16 situation by finding wide receiver Lane Danielsen on a 43-yard scoring strike down the right sideline.
The Aggies, now 5-2 on the year and 3-1 in the Big 12, have given up just seven points in their last eight quarters of play. Iowa State (5-2, 2-2) will look to clinch their first winning season in 11 years next week when they play host to Missouri.
"I was proud of our defensive effort," A&M head coach R.C. Slocum said. "We have a lot of respect for Iowa State's offense. They have a big offensive line and the ability to run and pass the football. I thought we played with a lot of emotion and gave a really solid effort. We had a great effort by the entire team."
A&M returns to action on Saturday when they play host to the 8th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats. Kickoff for the game, televised regionally by ABC, is set for 2:30 p.m.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES
WRECKING CREW IS UP TO CHALLENGE --- Iowa State came into today's game with the nation's No. 12 offense and averaging 446.5 yards of total offense per game. But the Wrecking Crew was up to the challenge, limited the Cyclones to a season-low 239 yards. The previous low for the ISU offense was a 383-yard effort against Nebraska. Until the Cyclones scored a late touchdown, their deepest penetration was to the A&M 29.
Before the late touchdown, the Wrecking Crew had strung together seven quarters of shutout football.
WEBER BREAKS CENTURY MARK --- Sophomore running back Joe Weber rushed for 106 yards on a career-high 20 carries today, the first 100-yard rushing day by an Aggie this season. Weber saw the most extended action of his career due to starter Richard Whitaker's strained groin, which left him back in College Station. It was the second 100-yard rushing day of his career (the other was 121 vs. Missouri, 1999). The last A&M runner to break the century mark in rushing was Ja'Mar Toombs' 126 against Texas in 1999.
BLOCKING BROOKS --- Junior Jay Brooks' first-quarter punt block against the Cyclones was his third of the season. The punt block was recovered by Jason Glenn at the ISU 5 and the Aggies scored a touchdown two plays later. He also blocked punts against UTEP and Texas Tech. The big-play specialist now has 3 blocked punts, 1 fumble return for a touchdown (vs. Florida State, 1998), 1 return of a blocked punt for a touchdown (against Texas Tech, 1999), and 1 interception return for touchdown (vs. Southern Miss). He also recovered the game-clinching fumble against No. 5 Texas in 1999.
GOYNES, GOYNES, GONE --- Sophomore Dwain Goynes scored his first career touchdown on a 76-yard reception from quarterback Mark Farris in the second quarter. It was the Aggies' second-longest play from scrimmage this season (93-yard pass and catch from Farris to Robert Ferguson against Wyoming).
RECOVERED KITCHENS --- Senior placekicker Terence Kitchens, who saw little practice time this week due to a strained groin, connected on a season-high three field goals, including a season-long 50-yarder. Kitchens improved also connected on 27- and 22-yarders, and is a perfect 10-of-10 from 40 yards and in this season. For the season, Kitchens has hit 11-of-14 field goal attempts.
TIDBITS --- The 36-yard run by Iowa State's Ennis Haywood was the longest of the year against the Aggies in 2000 (previous long was 18 by Colorado QB Craig Ochs) ? Meeting with the Aggie squad prior to the game was Tank Marshall, who earned All-Southwest Conference honors at defensive end in 1975 and 1976 ? Wide receivers Robert Ferguson and Bethel Johnson have at least one catch in every game this season ? The Aggies scored double-digit points in the first quarter for the third time this season (vs. ISU (10), vs. Texas Tech (10), vs. UTEP (14) .
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
QUARTERBACK MARK FARRIS --- "We came out ready to play today, and the blocked punt really set the tone. Victories on the road in the Big 12 are hard to come by, so we knew we had to get off to a good start. I thought we played well in all phases of the game, especially on the offensive line. We have to continue to have this kind of focus."
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER JASON GLENN --- "We had a great week of practice, and it showed on the field today. We embarassed ourselves against Baylor last week; that was not Wrecking Crew football. We looked at ourselves against Baylor and we were sluggish. We took it upon ourselves to get better every day in practice. Now we're going to take this game and try to build on it next week. We knew Iowa State had a very explosive offense and that we had to take care of our business."
HEAD COACH R.C. SLOCUM --- "I was proud of our defensive effort. We have a lot of respect for Iowa State's offense. They have a big offensive line and the ability to run and pass the football. I thought we played with a lot of emotion and gave a really solid effort. Offensively we needed to be more balanced. We've been inconsistent running the football and a lot of that is due to injuries. We were without Richard Whitaker and Andre Brooks, so we talked about everybody picking their games up. We had a great effort by the entire team. I thought the running backs ran hard and the line got a good push."