19th-Ranked Texas A&M Falls to No. 7 Virginia Tech, 13-3
September 21, 2002
COLLEGE STATION, Texas-- Lee Suggs, frustrated all day by Texas A&M's (No. 21 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) "Wrecking Crew," scored from 1 yard out early in the fourth quarter for the only touchdown No. 7 Virginia Tech needed in a 13-3 victory Saturday.
In a game that lived up to its billing as a defensive struggle, the Hokies (4-0) saw their "Untouchables" backfield of Suggs and Kevin Jones combine for only 99 yards, well below their 202.3 average. A&M (2-1) had been allowing a national-best 33.5 rushing yards per game.
The biggest play actually came from a receiver. Tech's Ernest Wilford turned a short pass into a 52-yard gain when he slipped a tackle by A&M's Byron Jones and ran to the 1. Suggs plunged in from there, extending his streak of consecutive games with a TD to 16.
Suggs ran 13 times for 51 yards, and Jones carried 15 times for 48 yards. Bryan Randall was 10-of-11 for 119 yards -- nearly half on Wilford's burst -- as the Hokies gained just 248 yards.
The Aggies tried shaking up their offense by starting sophomore Dustin Long at quarterback instead of Mark Farris, who had started the last 26 games. Then they went to heralded freshman Reggie McNeal after halftime. Nothing worked, though, as A&M gained only 138 yards, scoring its only points on a 43-yard field goal by Todd Pegram after a short drive in the first quarter.
The Hokies became the first non-conference team to win at Kyle Field since Alabama in 1988, back when Jackie Sherrill coached the Aggies. Tech did so with only a few hundred orange-clad fans mixed among a predominantly maroon-wearing crowd of 83,746, the sixth-largest in A&M history.
The Aggies had been 29-0 at home against non-conference foes under coach R.C. Slocum, including 5-3 there against Top 10 teams.
Although A&M came in with the more highly regarded defense, Tech's stats were nearly as good, and they had come against better foes. On Saturday, the Hokies were the ones who came up with the bigger plays.
Vegas Robinson intercepted McNeal to set up a 27-yard field goal by Carter Warley that put Tech up 6-3 early in the third quarter. Late in the quarter, defensive ends Nathaniel Adibi and Cols Colas sacked McNeal on consecutive plays, pushing one of A&M's best drives back to midfield and forcing a punt that led to Suggs' touchdown.
The Aggies' next possession ended when Willie Pile caught a fumble and returned it 31 yards to the 7. The Hokies failed to score, though, as Warley had a 22-yard field goal try blocked.
Tech wasted many opportunities like that.
The Hokies came in having scored touchdowns 14 of the 15 times they drove inside the opponent's 20 this season, but they went only 1-of-5 against A&M. Warley made two field goals, missed a 21-yarder and had the one attempt blocked.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES
- Virginia Tech's 13-3 victory marks the first non-conference loss at Kyle Field in R.C. Slocum's career, ending a 29-game streak dating to Slocum's first game as coach in 1989 (a 28-16 win against No. 7-ranked LSU). It also stopped A&M's streak of seven straight wins in the 2:30 ABC time slot and broke A&M's string of nine straight wins in the month of September.
- The Aggie defense held the "The Untouchables" - running backs Lee Suggs and Kevin Jones - to a combined 99 rushing yards on 28 carries. Suggs led the Hokies with 51 yards on 13 carries, while Jones contributed 48 on 15 totes. The Wrecking Crew hasn't allowed an individual 100-yard rusher in 16 regular season games dating back to the 2000 Oklahoma State game (112 yards on 19 carries by Reggie White).
- A&M scored just three points, its fewest at Kyle Field since a 17-3 loss to No. 6-ranked LSU in the 1987 season opener. That team went on to a 10-2 record, won the SWC title and defeated Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl, finishing the season ranked No. 9 nationally. Before the 1987 LSU game, the last time A&M scored three or fewer points at home was in 1971, when it fell to Cincinnati, 17-0.
- The Aggies gained just 38 rushing yards (28 carries), its fewest since they gained just two yards (38 carries) in a 37-0 loss at Nebraska in 1999.
- VT came in to the game averaging 45.3 points and 371.3 total offensive yards per game, but scored just 13 points and gained only 248 total yards against the Aggies. The Hokies were averaging a whopping 283.0 rushing yards, but were limited to just 129 on 48 carries by the Wrecking Crew. The last time VT gained fewer yards on the ground was in last season's 38-7 loss at Pittsburgh (25 carries, 15 yards).
- Senior defensive end Ty Warren posted a career-high 13 tackles, including five for losses, and blocked a field goal attempt. Freshman safety Jaxson Appel had a career-best 10 tackles and posted his second sack of the season. Senior linebacker Brian Gamble recovered his third fumble of the season, while senior linebacker Jerrod Penright caused a fumble for the third straight game.
- Dustin Long's start at quarterback broke Mark Farris' consecutive starts string at 26 games. The last time some one besides Farris started at QB for the Aggies was Randy McCown against Penn State in the 1999 Alamo Bowl.
- The Aggies' first-quarter field goal were the first points allowed in the first quarter by Virginia Tech this season. The Hokies had outscored Arkansas State, Louisiana State and Marshall 52-0. It also marked the first time this season that the Hokies had been held scoreless in the initial stanza.
- After using the same offensive and defensive lineup for the first two games, the Aggies used three new different starters against the Hokies: fifth-year senior Billy Yates returned to his right guard spot after missing the first two game due to a broken arm (suffered in fall camp scrimmage on 8/17); fifth-year senior Greg Porter started at tight end; and redshirt sophomore Dustin Long started at quarterback.
- Punter Cody Scates' 64-yard punt in the second quarter was a season-best and was just short of a career long 65-yarder that he booted as a freshman in 2001. For the day, Scates averaged 48.3 yards on seven punts.
- The 22-yard run by VT's Lee Suggs to open the second half was the first 20-yard plus run allowed by the A&M defense in 2002. Tech's 52-yard pass was the longest play allowed by the Aggies this season.
- Today's attendance of 83,746 was the sixth best in Kyle Field history and the second best in a non-conference game (87,206 vs. Notre Dame in 2001).
- Today's 12th Man Kickoff team representative was Blake Kendrick, a sophomore linebacker from Willis High School. The Aggie game captains were punter Cody Scates, receiver Greg Porter, offensive guard Billy Yates and outside linebacker Jarrod Penright.