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Aggies' emotional turnaround
Posted: Tuesday November 02, 1999 05:45 PM
By Tim Griffin, Special to CNN/SI
The tears spilling down Texas A&M quarterback Randy McCown's cheeks were a good indication that raw emotion can overcome a lot of pain. McCown was a questionable starter for the Aggies' game last week against Oklahoma State because of a first-degree separation of his non-throwing left shoulder. Those pains were nothing compared to McCown's lingering agony after a humiliating blowout loss to Oklahoma last week. Doubts about the character and worthiness of his team hounded McCown and his teammates all week. "I spoke to the seniors today and we came out and showed everybody who we are," McCown said. "You may not see it on the outside, but on the inside, we have what it takes." Nobody showed that more clearly than McCown. Despite the injury, the senior passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns to lead his team to an emotional 21-3 triumph over the Cowboys. "I could have broken my back and cared less because we got a win today," McCown said. "I attribute our win to a total, complete team effort. This was the most satisfying win of the season." The win represented a turnaround after the Aggies' 51-6 loss to Oklahoma -- the school's largest loss since 1901. A&M stayed alive in the South Division with the triumph and gave them hope they could rack up a three-peat in the division. But in order to do that, they must travel to Nebraska for Saturday's game before finishing with Missouri and Texas. "I said earlier in the year that the South would be a real competitive, balanced race," Slocum said. "I thought all of the teams on a given day would have a chance to win. There still a lot of ball to be played and a lot of things to happen. We still have a chance to be involved." With 18 starters returning from last season's Big 12 champions, the Aggies were an overwhelming preseason choice to win the South and perhaps challenge for a national championship. But that talk has been stifled after the Oklahoma loss and a defeat at traditional nemesis Texas Tech. Injuries have been a big problem. The Aggies have started five different offensive line combinations in the last five games after starting the same unit for every game last year. Starting fullback D'Andre "Tiki" Hardeman was hurt in the first quarter of the first game. Dante Hall, who gained a team-best 1,024 yards last year, has missed two games with a strained back and sprained ankle and is doubtful for Saturday's game at Nebraska. The A&M coach said he wasn't surprised his team wasn't ready to give up with three games left in the regular season. "If you've got a bunch of dogs, they'll probably lay down and wallow around and get beat again and feel sorry for themselves," Slocum said. "But these guys are used to winning. We're the defending Big 12 champions. "It gets right to your core to get beat like we did, so we worked all week to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Blessing in disguiseA closer-than-expected victory over a big underdog might have sent some coaches flailing into the night.Texas coach Mack Brown, however, preferred to think about the message his team should learn from a 44-41 victory over Iowa State heading into Saturday's game at Oklahoma State. "I think it's the best thing that could have ever happened to us," said Brown about the victory, which was settled by an 18-yard field goal by Kris Stockton on the last play of the game. "Obviously, whatever we did the previous two weeks is gone. Those are now memories. Our guys will understand that if we don't play any better this week than we did last week, we will lose. Hopefully, they will respond and play better." The Longhorns' triumph, coupled by Oklahoma's 38-24 loss at Colorado and Texas Tech's 34-7 loss at Missouri, enabled the Longhorns a lead of at least a game over every team in the South Division with three games left. Saturday's victory marked the third straight week the Longhorns have battled back from a double-digit, first-half deficit to claim a comeback victory. "To win championships, you've got to win some ugly ones on the road," Brown said. "Our guys knew they were going to win this game."
Worth notingOklahoma LB Rocky Calmus notched 22 tackles against Colorado, tying the school record set in 1986 by Brian Bosworth against Miami ... Texas Tech failed to pick up a first down until 1:15 was left in the first half against Missouri, going three-and-out on nine of its first 10 possessions and failed to convert any of 11 third-down plays ... Colorado extended its unbeaten streak to nine games against Oklahoma - longest of any team in history against the Sooners. Colorado is 8-0-1 against OU in this decade ... Oklahoma was limited to minus-11 yards rushing against the Buffs and failed to produce a rushing first down. It was the worst rushing production in OU history ... Kansas State is the only team in the country to score at least 35 points in every game this season ... With 11 receptions against Iowa State, Texas WR Kwame Cavil set a school record for catches in a season with 69. Cavil broke the previous record of 58, set last year by Wane McGarity ... Nebraska's Frank Solich is the only head coach in the Big 12 who serves as his own offensive coordinator ... Reserve Texas RB Chris Robertson's two rushing TDs against Iowa State gave him nine touchdowns this season on only 13 carries ... Despite the 48-7 margin of victory, Baylor's defense did a good job in limiting big plays against Kansas State. The Wildcats' longest pass play was 18 yards, the biggest run 17 yards ... Kansas State is 26-3 in Big 12 regular-season games and Baylor is 3-26, including 0-15 on the road ... Oklahoma QB Josh Heupel's sixth 300-yard passing game of the season set one Big 12 record and tied another record with 23 touchdown passes for the season, including two on Saturday ... Colorado TB Cortlen Johnson is doubtful for Saturday's game against Kansas State with a second-degree sprained knee ... Oklahoma State will face its fifth ranked opponent in eight games when it plays Texas this week. The past five teams on the Cowboys' schedule and the Longhorns are a combined 39-9. ...Beau Trahan's fumble return for a touchdown against Iowa State snapped a string of 50 straight Texas games without a fumble recovery for a touchdown -- sixth-longest among major college teams ... Iowa State blistered Texas' secondary for six passes of at least 28 yards and two more for 20-plus yards ... Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum reached 100 wins in the eighth game of his 11th season, the eighth-fastest span in college football history. Since 1960, only Oklahoma's Barry Switzer (third game of 11th season) and Nebraska's Tom Osborne (fourth game of 11th season) reached 100 wins faster than the A&M coach ... Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996, Oklahoma is 1-9 against North Division opponents. The Sooners' lone victory came last year against Iowa State... Kansas State K Jamie Rheem broke Martin Gramatica's school record for consecutive field goals with 13 in one season and tied his career record.Tim Griffin covers the Big 12 for the San Antonio Express-News. Check back every Tuesday for his latest CNN/SI Insider.
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