September 28, 2002
COLLEGE STATION, Texas-- Dustin Long threw Texas A&M's first passing touchdown in seven regular-season games, leading the 24th-ranked Aggies to a 31-3 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday night.
Long, one of three quarterbacks to play for the Aggies this season, hit Jamaar Taylor for a 25-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Long's TD pass to Taylor was the first Aggie regular-season touchdown pass since Oct. 20, 2001 against Kansas State. Mark Farris had a postseason touchdown pass in last season's Galleryfurniture.com Bowl.
It was the first game for the Aggies (3-1) with assistant head coach Kevin Sumlin calling the offensive plays. Coach R.C. Slocum stripped offensive coordinator Dino Babers of his play-calling duties after last week's 13-3 loss to No. 5 Virginia Tech.
The Aggies didn't put Louisiana Tech (2-3) away until they scored two late fourth quarter touchdowns on a 6-yard run by Derek Farmer and a 3-yard run by Dwain Goynes.
Farmer rushed for 119 yards on 19 carries, including a 35-yard run in the third quarter that was the Aggies' longest of the season. Long completed 13 of 26 passes for 205 yards. Freshman Reggie McNeal played briefly and completed 2 of 4 passes for 33 yards.
The Aggies got a 32-yard field goal from Todd Pegram in the first quarter. Pegram missed a 46-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 22-yard attempt in the third period.
Joe Weber ran through a gapping hole for a 6-yard touchdown with 4:20 to go in the second quarter. The Aggies almost took a 17-0 lead into halftime, but quarterback Luke McCown ran 53 yards to set up a 25-yard field goal by Josh Scobee with 26 seconds left in the half.
McCown's run was the longest this season against A&M's defense, ranked No. 6 nationally against the rush.
McCown entered the game ranked No. 9 nationally in total offense, but he had a rough day against the Aggies. He completed 19 of 37 passes for 136 yards and threw one interception while leading the Bulldogs with 53 yards on 11 carries.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES
OFFENSE SURGES --- A&M gained a season-high 444 yards of total offense tonight, its best performance since gaining 507 yards against Wyoming in the second game of 2001. The Aggies rushed for 206 yards, their most since they gained 221 against Iowa State in 2000. That ISU game also marked the last time A&M had at least 200 yards both passing (248 vs. ISU) and rushing in the same game. A&M added 238 passing yards tonight, just shy of the season-high of 244 in the opener against Louisiana-Lafayette.
WRECKING CREW EXCELS AGAIN - Louisiana Tech entered tonight's game averaging 436.8 total offensive yards and 30.5 points per game. But A&M's Wrecking Crew defense continued its outstanding play of 2002, limiting the Bulldogs to season lows of 251 yards and just three points. Tech's previous low this season was 433 yards against Clemson. For the season, the Aggies are allowing just 8.8 points per game.
FIGHTIN' FARMER --- Tonight's 119-yard effort by sophomore Derek Farmer was the third 100-yard rushing game of his career. It marked the first 100-yard game by an Aggie since Farmer gained 133 on 17 carries against Iowa State in 2001.
PENRIGHT --- Outside linebacker Jarrod Penright's forced fumble in the first quarter was his fourth of the season. Penright has forced a fumble in every game this season and has seven forced fumbles for his career. The school record for season forced fumbles is six (Jacob Green, 1979; Aaron Wallace, 1987; and Dat Nguyen, 1996), while the career mark is 10 by Marcus Buckley (1990-92). Penright finished the game with a team-high eight tackles, including two quarterback sacks for -19 yards.
TAYLOR --- Junior wide receiver Jamaar Taylor caught five passes for 118 yards, the second most yards of his career, and added one touchdown. It marked Taylor's second career 100-yard receiving game after he had 146 yards on nine catches last year against Colorado. The last time an A&M receiver had a 100-yard game was last year against Kansas State, when Terrence Murphy had 107 yards on five catches.
The Aggies' nine-play, 86-yard touchdown drive that drained 4:20 from the clock in the second quarter was a season-high for plays, yards and time. The last time A&M had a longer drive in terms of yardage was in the second quarter of the 2000 Kansas State game when the Aggies reached paydirt on a 97-yard drive.
The Aggies' first-quarter passing touchdown from Dustin Long to Jamaar Taylor was A&M's first of the season and the first regular season passing touchdown in the span of seven games ( 2001 Kansas State game on Oct. 20). The Aggies did have a passing touchdown in the bowl game, but bowl statistics do not count in season or career statistics.
The Aggies' first-quarter touchdown was their first offensive TD in the opening quarter since the 2001 Iowa State game, a span of six games (not including the bowl game). A&M's 10 offensive points in the first quarter are the most by the Aggies in any FIRST HALF since the Kansas State game (not including the bowl game). The Aggies' 17 first-half points are the most in any opening half since they scored 17 points in the first half against Notre Dame a year ago.
FOR THE RECORD --- Derek Farmer's 35-yard run in the third quarter was A&M's longest rush of the season
*** senior Joe Weber saw his first action at tailback since the 2000 season and responded with 47 yards on 13 carries. He had exclusively played fullback all this season and last season.
*** junior cornerback Sean Weston's 44-yard interception return in the fourth quarter was the longest by an Aggie since Michael Jameson returned a pickoff 76 yards in 2000
*** senior running back Dwain Goynes 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was his second of the season. Prior to this season, he had three receiving touchdowns.
*** junior placekicker John Pierson (Missouri City) made his college kicking debut tonight, making a fourth-quarter PAT
*** the Texas A&M Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Aggies Athletes Involved joined forces to sponsor the "Aggies Can" canned food drive this weekend. The Aggies collected 17,734 cans and $2,855 in donations, which will be donated to the Brazos Food Bank.
*** the attendance for the Louisiana Tech game was 72,802, A&M's 13th straight 70,000-plus crowd at Kyle Field. Prior to the streak, A&M only had 13 total 70,000-plus crowds in its history.
*** representing the A&M student body on the 12th Man Kickoff Team was Will Mays, a junior running back from Coleman, Texas
*** Game captains were junior cornerback Sean Weston, sophomore defensive lineman Marcus Jasmin, junior offensive tackle Alan Reuber and junior punter Cody Scates.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
LINEBACKER BRIAN GAMBLE: "We knew they had a good offense coming in. They were averaging more than 400 yards and 30 points a game. But we came out and played vintage Wrecking Crew football. We were running to the ball and had great effort. I'm disappointed we gave up that big play to McCown for 53 yards, but I'm overall I'm pleased with how we played tonight. Coming in we had proved we could defend the run, but people were saying 'what about the pass?' I think tonight we proved we could do both. Ty Warren continues to do a great job up front for us." "We knew they had a potent offense, but we also knew that if we played with our Wrecking Crew type style than we could hold them. Playing a passing offense was a big bonus for us with Texas Tech coming in next week."
QUARTERBACK DUSTIN LONG: "I think the offense played a lot better than we have the last couple of weeks. Things are coming together offensively, but we still have some little things to do. I thought we did a good job of passing the ball. Our receivers made some great catches and our line did a great job of holding them. When you do those things, it opens up the running game."
HEAD COACH R.C. SLOCUM: "We made some progress offensively. We talked this week and before the game about making progress in the direction we want to go as an offense. Defensively, we came close to the shutout. Louisiana Tech had that one scramble, but I was extremely proud of the effort the Wrecking Crew gave. I thought it was a good overall team effort and we will need to make improvements again this week to get ready for Texas Tech.
LOUISIANA TECH HEAD COACH JACK BICKNELL: "It seems like a broken record. We are playing hard against very good teams and missing opportunities. They have great players. The players on defense are the difference. This is the most frustrated our offense has been. I kind of knew this was how it would be. Our goal was to try to hang in there and move the ball. Their quarterback did a heck of a job. It's three games in and everybody is panicking about their offense. They have great players. They are going to be okay."
LOUISIANA TECH QUARTERBACK LUKE MCCOWN: "Randy (McCown, Luke's brother who quarterbacked A&M (1996-99)) was rooting us on. McCown blood is thicker than Aggie blood. I played Miami as a freshman in the Orange Bowl and they had the No. 2 defense in the nation. But their defense had nothing on the A&M defense. They are a bunch of mean, big guys who wanted to kill me. This is the first time I haven't been able to move the ball on a team. Their secondary coverage has got to be in the top five. Along with their pass rush, they just have a great defense."