In '98, the lineup looks much the same. Branndon Stewart returns for an NCAA-granted senior year; Dante Hall is the junior tailback; Tiki Hardeman is the senior B-back; junior Chris Cole anchors a rapidly-improving receiving corps; and two seniors in Dan Campbell and Derrick Spiller form one of the nation's premier sets of tight ends.

"I've already seen them play a year ago, so it's reasonable to think that, with some work, we can be a little better in those places," A&M coach R.C Slocum said. "I think we'll have an improved team. How much it is improved remains to be seen. Just on paper, I feel better than I did a year ago."

Of course, experience can only take a team so far, as the talent has to be there, too. Whether the Aggies, who won the South Division of the Big 12 Conference and finished 9-4 overall in 1997, can compete for a Big 12 title this fall will likely hinge on the continued development of the quarterback position and the emergence of young players in the defensive line.

Stewart locked on to the starting position at quarterback last fall after inspiring performances in the second half of the Texas Tech game and the wild 28-25 comeback over Oklahoma State. He continued to be listed as the starter after spring football, although junior Randy McCown showed improvement in the spring as well.

"You can't be good unless you get good play at quarterback," said Slocum, who is entering his 10th season as head coach. "It's the ultimate. That guy touches the ball every single time on offense."

Stewart's supporting cast should allow the Aggies to achieve the offensive balance that Slocum has been looking for over the last few years.

While Hall, Sirr Parker and the rest of the A&M running back crew remain the heart of the offensive game plan, there are plenty of other weapons at offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe's disposal. And the two big guns could be Campbell and Spiller, both all-conference candidates at tight end. While Campbell is more of a physical, blocking tight end, Spiller complements him with NFL-like athleticism.

"At tight end, we're as good as we've ever been," Slocum said. "We've not had any better two tight ends than what we have right now. And we're moving toward being as good as we've ever been at receiver, and I think we'll be good at running back."

It all adds up to what could be an offensive team that overshadows its defensive counterpart. And at Texas A&M, that's saying something.

While the Aggies ranked 46th nationally in total offense (383.7 yards per game) last season, A&M was able to rank eighth in scoring offense with 37 points per game.

Once again, a potent running game that rolled up 222.9 yards a game carried the offense for much of the year, as the passing game finished 88th nationally with 160.7 yards through the air.

Kragthorpe said those numbers must improve if A&M is to beat the Florida States and Nebraskas of the college football world.

"We have to be able to threaten people," said Kragthorpe, who took over the offense after Steve Marshall left for North Carolina. "For a long time, people looked at Texas A&M and said, 'No. 1, they're not willing to throw the ball.' I don't think that's the case. We haven't thrown the ball because we haven't been very productive at it.

"The analogy I use is, if you or I had $1,000 to put in a bank and one bank is paying 10 percent and one bank is paying 4 percent, then we're going with the 10 percent. And for us at Texas A&M, that 10 percent has been our running game. We need to get where our passing game is paying 10 percent, too."

The most question marks for the Aggies reside in the offensive line, where only two starters return, with one of those -- senior Cameron Spikes -- moving from right tackle to left guard.

While the line is light on experience, it's heavy on... being heavy. The A&M offensive line will feature three starters -- Spikes, right guard Semisi Heimuli and right tackle Andy Vincent -- who all weigh over 300 pounds. And left tackle Rex Tucker has beefed up to 290 pounds.

"We ran our first inside drill against the Wrecking Crew (in the spring), and Dat Nguyen and I are talking afterward and he was saying, 'Man, you have a big line there.' Size-wise, it's the biggest line I've been on. If we just get on people, I think we'll be real good."

The anticipation for this A&M offense reached rare heights during spring drills, as the offense punished the Aggie defense moreso than in recent years.

"This is my third spring, and in the first two, it was like the defense ran things," Spikes added. "It was so frustrating because you had to wait until two-a-days to be able to do anything. But this year, we did it at will, and I was real excited about how our offense played. We were oiled up in the spring."

While the Wrecking Crew may not have been the polished machine of old the last few years, the parts are on order. Some are already in the shop.

Linebacker Dat Nguyen returns for what should be a special senior season, and a run at the Butkus Award given to the nation's top linebacker is a distinct possibility. Nguyen is closing in on the school record for tackles (455) held by Johnny Holland, as he needs just 94 tackles to take over the No. 1 spot on the A&M career list.

But the Aggies won't have to rely on Nguyen to carry the defense because too much talent and depth abound in the linebacking corps. The Aggies can speak of the blitz game gone past with players like senior Warrick Holdman and sophomore Roylin Bradley at outside linebacker.

"I feel good about the direction we're going on defense," Slocum said. "We're getting back to having some guys at the outside linebacker position who are like we were accustomed to having."

The Aggies don't have the big names in the defensive line, at least not yet. No Sam Adams clone has climbed through the ranks, but A&M coaches claim there are enough good, young players on the squad to play the position by committee.

Six or seven defensive linemen could see the field in '98, although sophomores Rocky Bernard, Ron Edwards and Ron Flemons should see the most playing time early based on their roles as backups last season.

"We don't have, going into the season, a dominating, returning guy,"ÊSlocum added. "We've got a bunch of guys who we'll be able to put on the field and play. And we'll have a guy right behind them.

"I really envision us playing Bernard, Edwards, Lonnie Madison, Flemons, and Evan Perroni is in that mix. The first three guys won't be dominating players, but they'll be good players."

The A&M defense traditionally must put up with high expectations. And even though last year's unit finished the season ranked sixth nationally in scoring defense (13.9 points per game) and 13th in total defense (295 yards per game), the manner in which the Wrecking Crew posted its numbers wasn't flashy or as overwhelming as in other years.

However, the A&M coaches turned the blitzing defense loose in the Cotton Bowl game against UCLA, evoking memories of past Wrecking Crews who had become the standard for pressure defense. In the offseason, A&M coaches have tinkered with several blitz packages, even going back to the terminology Slocum used when he was the Aggie defensive coordinator.

"We're working a lot on blitz combinations and that kind of stuff, and that's exciting," inside linebackers coach Alan Weddell said. "We're just going back to the philosophy when R.C. was the coordinator and when Bob Davie was the coordinator. The kids now are catching on."

Perhaps the philosophy of defense can return to the glory days of the mid-1980s and early 1990s, but the talent level in the secondary has not.

It's not that the starters in the secondary are ho-hum players, but the NFL-bound, lock-on cornerback or Patrick Bates-type safety just hasn't developed on the Aggie roster.

To the secondary's credit, it improved dramatically from the 6-6 season of 1996 to 1997, ranking eighth nationally last year in pass efficiency defense. The A&M defensive backs rarely gave up the big play and contributed heavily to A&M's much improved turnover ratio (third nationally) by recording 11 interceptions.

And with all four starters returning in 1998, led by senior strong safety Rich Coady and junior cornerback Jason Webster, the Aggies shouldn't lose any games because of glaring errors in the defensive backfield.

"From an experience standpoint, I think they will be better," Slocum said. "But we're still not as talented back there as we need to be. We're moving in that direction. Jay Brooks, he'll play for us this year, and if he keeps going, he can be a good player. (Michael) Jameson can be a good player. We've got some of those guys coming."

While finding a third our fourth cornerback was a priority in the spring, so was securing down the kicking position. With all-time scoring leader Kyle Bryant departing after four quality years, the position now falls to one of three players -- Russell Bynum of La Marque, Terence Kitchens of Lumberton and Jack of all trades, punter Shane Lechler.

Slocum did not decide on a kicker during the spring, with Kitchens sitting out the 15 drills to nurse a hip flexor injury he suffered in the offseason.

Lechler could handle the place-kicking duties if necessary, as he possesses the strongest leg of the three. And the junior could kick off, as well, but it's doubtful A&M coaches would want to take their star punter away from his repetitions at his natural position.

The place-kicking dilemma should shake itself out during two-a-days, and the Aggies will head into their season opener with Florida State as experienced and confident as any A&M team since perhaps the 1995 team that started the season with national championship hopes.

The Aggies likely won't be ranked in the top 10 to begin the year, however, and the conference landscape is dotted with teams like Nebraska and possibly Kansas State to overcome.

Still, enough pieces seem to be in place for A&M to make a run at the Big 12 championship.

"It always depends on how you come out and play on Saturdays," said Stewart. "But I think we have the potential to be really good. As long as everyone stays focused, takes care of the football and not make dumb decisions, giving the ball to the other team like we did the year before... If we can do that, I think we have the talent and experience to go out and do well.