Vol.4 No.17

Game Recap Texas A&M vs. Missouri By Rusty Burson

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The wrecking ball wasn’t supposed to arrive at Missouri’s Faurot Field until Monday, Nov. 15. But by the end of the third quarter on Saturday afternoon, it was quite evident to the 57,472 fans inside the stadium that the demolition squad was already at work.

Two days before the antiquated press box was leveled by heavy machinery, Texas A&M — equipped with a trio of jumbo wrecking balls in the offensive backfield — demolished Mizzou, 51-14, and took out a year’s worth of frustrations in the process.

The Aggies (7-3, 4-3 Big 12) hammered away at the Tigers with a steady diet of 265-pound running back Ja’Mar Toombs, 242-pound fullback D’Andre Hardeman and 222-pound tailback Joe Weber. That powerful trio accounted for 239 rushing yards and four touchdowns, as A&M exorcised its road demons and pummeled the Tigers into submission.

"I can’t tell you how good it felt to push those guys around," A&M offensive lineman Chris Valletta said. "We were smiling in the huddle, knowing that we were going to score and win the football game. There’s no feeling like that in the world. (Missouri defenders) weren’t even looking us in the eyes in the second half. They were looking down at the ground. Any time that happens, you know you have them beat. That’s what happened (Saturday)."

Said linebacker Jason Glenn: "After the times we’ve been pounded and blown out, it felt great to pound away on somebody else. The frustration we had from the big losses, we took it all out on Missouri. We need to put some of that pounding on Texas, too."

The Aggies will certainly enter their Nov. 26 home game against the Big 12 South division champion Longhorns with an improved psyche. After all, there’s little doubt that the blowout of Missouri was the feel-good game of the year for A&M, which scored almost as many points (24) in the third quarter as it had in the three previous road games combined (25).

The Aggies set the tone of the game early and atoned for months of misery by ending virtually every alarming trend that has plagued them this year. For example:

* A&M scored a touchdown on its first possession of the game, as Toombs capped a 17-play, 70-yard march with a 2-yard TD run. It was the first offensive touchdown of the year for the Aggies in the first quarter.

* The Aggies, who have struggled all year in the red zone, scored five touchdowns and one field goal in six trips inside the Mizzou 20-yard-line.

* A&M, which did not have a 100-yard rushing performance from any individual this season, got one on Saturday, as Weber picked up 121 yards on just eight carries (15.1 average).

* And the Aggies, who had last won on an opponent’s home field on Oct. 31, 1998 and had been outscored 88-6 in their two most recent games away from Kyle Field, ended a four-game conference road losing streak by whipping the Tigers and beating the monkeys off their backs.

"I’m not sure if it was a monkey or a bear or what kind of animal it was on our backs, but it was heavy," said Toombs, who had 71 rushing yards and 43 more on one reception. "The turnaround from (Nebraska) to this week is huge. It felt so good to get things turned around and get a big win on the road."

The biggest difference between the 37-point win over the Tigers and the 37-point loss to the Huskers a week earlier — aside from the quality of the opponent — was A&M’s ability to run the football.

The Aggies managed just two rushing yards against Nebraska, but generated a season-best 254 yards on the thick blue grass of Faurot Field. It was the first plus 200-yard rushing day for the Aggies since the Sept. 18 game against Tulsa. And it was the first time the Aggies had rushed for more than 100 yards on the road since the season opener against Louisiana Tech.

Toombs, who started at tailback because of an injury to Eric Bernard and the dismissal of Dante Hall, had been averaging just over nine carries per game. But against Missouri, the bullish Toombs carried nine times on the opening drive alone.

"It was good to get into a rhythm and get all those carries," Toombs said. "I think our offensive line, along with Tiki and Joe and myself wore them down, especially in the second half. But believe me, it was an overall team effort.

"The bad thing for (Missouri) is that they couldn’t get anything going against our defense. Our defense was great. They had a hard time getting any yards against our defense. Unfortunately, I know how that feels. We’ve had some games like that, and it can just destroy your confidence. Then, when we hit some big passes in the third quarter, it really opened things up for our running game."

Indeed, the dam broke wide open in the third quarter of what had been a defensive struggle in the opening 30 minutes of play. On A&M’s first possession of the second half, quarterback Randy McCown delivered a perfect 39-yard touchdown pass to Bethel Johnson to put A&M up 14-0. And on Missouri’s next offensive play, Glenn stripped the ball loose from Zain Gilmore and A&M defensive lineman Lonnie Madison made the recovery at the Tigers’ 29. Four plays later, Toombs carried a pair of MU defenders into the end zone on a 10-yard scoring run.

At that point, the rout was on, and the home fans began heading for the parking lots.

"In the first half, it seemed like we were always in bad field position (all three second quarter possessions for the Aggies began inside the A&M 15)," said McCown, who was 12-of-21 for 201 yards, his sixth 200-yard passing day of the season. "We believed we could take advantage of them by throwing the ball, but the field position really hampered us in that regard. In the second half, we got good field position and were able to throw the ball. That loosened up the running lanes, and everything clicked."

With the lanes loosened, Weber drove a dagger in the Tigers’ hearts. He entered the game in the fourth quarter and went 33 yards on his first carry. Two series later, he went 77 yards to set up A&M’s final offensive touchdown.
"It feels great to come out here and establish our running game, because we were struggling a little bit," the true freshman said. "We really wanted to prove we could run the football. This was a nice win for us."

Possibly the nicest and most rewarding of the year.

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