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Volume 6, No. 1
They had recovered from the disappointment of the season-opening loss to Notre Dame, established their passing attack by annihilating Wyoming, ripped through a good Texas-El Paso team and finally dispatched of their long-time stumbling block, Texas Tech. By all accounts, the Texas A&M Aggies appeared to be on a roll entering October. But then they rolled a snap back to the punter against winless Colorado. As a result, the impressive roll A&M had put together at Kyle Field came to an end. And the Aggies’ role in the national setting changed overnight. Texas A&M had some impressive moments in 2000 – most notably beating four bowl-bound teams and developing an extremely effective passing game. But for all the things the 2000 Aggies accomplished, 2000 will probably be remembered by most for what could have been. If, for example, A&M could have avoided the 26-19 loss to the previously winless Buffaloes on Oct. 7, it could have been so much sweeter.
"That game killed me at the time, and it still does," said A&M senior linebacker Jason Glenn, a first-team All-Big 12 selection and a second-team All-American. "I have nightmares about that Colorado loss. If we win that game, the sky is the limit. "We really would have been on a roll. I believe it could have been like 1998 all over again. At the very least, we would have probably been in the Top 10 when Oklahoma came to town (on Nov. 11). That game really put a damper on our season. We could have been so much better, but instead, I don’t think we really ever lived up to our potential." The Aggies bounced back after the loss to Colorado to post an uninspired victory over Baylor and then recorded their two most impressive wins of the season – at Iowa State and back at home against No. 8 Kansas State. But the magic was short-lived. After narrowly escaping a disastrous defeat at Oklahoma State, the Aggies pushed No. 1 Oklahoma to the limit on one of the most memorable days in the recent history of Kyle Field. The Sooners rallied for 22 points in the fourth quarter to escape with a 35-31 win. Then the banged-up Aggies closed the regular season with a lopsided loss to Texas (43-17) in Austin. As a result, the Aggies ended the regular season with back-to-back losses for the first time since 1973 and finished the regular season with their fewest victories since 1996. A 7-4 record isn’t bad. But…
"It should have been better," Glenn said. "We could have beaten Notre Dame, we definitely should have beaten Colorado and we had Oklahoma beat. You never know what would have happened if we had just beaten Colorado. That’s the one that just hurts to think about. "You win that game, and you still are unbeaten at home going into the Oklahoma game. You win that game, and your confidence is soaring. You win that game, and you have a chance to win the Big 12 and go to a big-time bowl game. To me, it’s very frustrating to finish the season with a 7-4 record. We had some good moments, but overall, I’d say it was a disappointing season." Losing to Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Texas was indeed disappointing. But losing to the Buffaloes was disheartening. Not because Colorado was a bad team. On the contrary, the Buffs were much better than their 3-8 final record indicates. CU lost close games against Colorado State, USC and Washington to begin the season and pushed Nebraska to the brink to conclude the year. From A&M’s perspective, what is so disheartening about the loss to the Buffs is how it happened. CU played close to flawless football against the Aggies. But the Buffs still needed plenty of help to break A&M’s 22-game home winning streak. The Aggies obliged. And then some. On a cold, dreary day at Kyle Field, A&M sailed one snap over the punter’s head for a safety and rolled another snap back to punter Cody Scates that resulted in a blocked kick and led to a CU touchdown. The Aggies also missed two field goals and an extra point. Special teams play has often been an area where the Aggies thrive. But on Oct. 7, the Aggies’ special teams took a nosedive. "You look at the issues, where we had two missed field goals and a missed extra point," special teams coach Shawn Slocum said after the loss. "That’s seven points right there. Then we had the snap over the punter’s head. That’s two more points. Then we had the blocked punt that led to a touchdown. There’s another seven. It doesn’t happen much around here, but (on that particular Saturday) I think the special teams hurt us." It wasn’t all a result of special teams failures, though. The Aggies also had some blown opportunities in the red zone. On consecutive series in the second half, A&M had golden opportunities inside the CU 10. Both drives, however, netted only field goals. "It’s a hard thing right now to come to grips with losing at home," fullback Ja’Mar Toombs said of the Aggies’ first loss at Kyle Field since Oct. 26, 1996. "It’s totally shocking to me. I have to believe it, but it’s hard for me to believe. It feels like a bad dream." Texas A&M played like it was still living in that bad dream the following week, going through the motions against Baylor. Fortunately for the Aggies, Baylor's offense produced more yawns than yards. And A&M did just enough right to grind out a methodical 24-0 win over their Brazos River rivals, beating the Bears for the 10th consecutive time. Still, the Aggies were far from satisfied about their own lackluster performance. "This is Baylor, and we should have killed them," Texas A&M defensive back Jay Brooks said at the time. "We’re definitely not satisfied. Baylor’s a Division I team, and we’re happy to get a shutout, but we have to play much better down the road." They did. The Oct. 21 game at Iowa State may have been the Aggies’ most complete game of the season. And on a day that began with an emotionally charged atmosphere among the 48,931 fans that packed into Jack Trice Stadium for ISU’s homecoming, the Aggies dominated ever aspect en route to a thoroughly convincing 30-7 win. Iowa State was held to a season-low 239 yards of total offense and quarterback Sage Rosenfels completed just 14 of 32 passes for a measly 84 yards. The dominating win over the Cyclones carried into the following week as the Aggies dominated the first half against the No. 8-ranked Kansas State Wildcats. But after falling behind 19-0 at the intermission, the Wildcats controlled the third quarter and cut the lead to nine going into the fourth. A&M needed a hero to step forward. He did, although it was a most unlikely candidate for the job. Wes Bautovich, who was playing quarterback at Texas A&M-Kingsville in 1998, the last time the Aggies beat Kansas State in the Big 12 title game, made the key interception early in the fourth quarter to help A&M regain its momentum en route to a 26-10 victory over the Wildcats. "Oh yeah," A&M quarterback Mark Farris said at the time, "I think it’s human nature to think, ‘Oh man, here we go.’ But the defense just took over. And what can you say about (Bautovich)? That guy’s never played in the defensive backfield in his (college career). To step in to Division I football and do what he’s done is just amazing. That’s probably the play of the game." As the raucous Kyle Field crowd of 80,659 reached a deafening roar following Bautovich’s interception, the Aggies punched the ball into the end zone four plays later on a 3-yard run by Toombs. For all intents and purposes, that was the ballgame. "That’s the best feeling I’ve ever had," Bautovich said at the time. "That was the high point of the season," Glenn recalled. "To manhandle Kansas State like we did was really fun. We were damn good on that day." They were not a week later, as the Aggies barely held on to a 21-16 win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater. The old cliché refers to a bullet. But that doesn’t seem to do justice to what Texas A&M dodged at Lewis Field. "We dodged a missile," Glenn said at the time. "It was way too close for comfort. But the officials say he didn’t make the catch in bounds, and that’s all I care about. We got the win, and I’m ready to get out of Oklahoma." The "he" Glenn referred to was Oklahoma State tight end Marcellus Rivers, who was matched up against Texas A&M cornerback Sammy Davis on the game’s pivotal play. With the Cowboys facing a fourth-and-10 from the A&M 15, OSU quarterback Aso Pogi lofted a pass toward Rivers in the back corner of the end zone. The 6-foot-4 Rivers out-jumped the 6-foot Davis, bobbled the ball and then made the catch – but the official right on top of the play ruled Rivers was out of bounds. That play – and the call – kept A&M in the hunt for a South Division title and set up a magical day at Kyle Field on Nov. 11. Had Rivers made the catch in bounds, the Aggies would have been eliminated from the conference race and ESPN’s "GameDay" show would not have made its first appearance in College Station.
But Rivers was out, and the Kyle Field crowd was out of control when the No. 1-ranked Sooners came to town. And for the much of the afternoon, it appeared the Aggies were headed for a monumental win. The Aggies, who entered the game as 10-point underdogs, held a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter following Toombs’ superhuman effort on a 27-yard touchdown run with 13:36 left in the contest. During the run, Toombs was hit first at the 20-yard line and then dragged three OU defenders into the end zone. At that point, the largest crowd ever to witness a game in the state of Texas (87,188) produced a deafening roar, and the Aggies appeared destined to win their first-ever game against a No. 1-ranked team in the Associated Press poll. "We could definitely sense it," A&M offensive lineman Chris Valletta said at the time. "We had the momentum, the lead and the crowd behind us. We had everything going our way. And that’s probably why this hurts so badly. "We had the No. 1 team in the nation up against the ropes. We just couldn’t deliver the knockout punch. I’ve never felt so much disappointment after a game. It just hurts."
The Aggies’ hurt was not entirely emotional. A&M was without its top coverage cornerback, Sammy Davis, throughout the contest because of a sprained ankle. And during Oklahoma’s 77-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown drive, the Aggies were without emotional leader Jason Glenn, who limped off the field earlier in the quarter with a knee injury. "We got a little banged up, but that is no excuse, as far as I’m concerned," A&M inside linebacker Brian Gamble said. "We had our chances, and we didn’t get the job done. We didn’t make the plays when we needed to. That was the difference in the ballgame. It hurts to lose a game like this, but we can’t sit around feeling sorry for ourselves. We have to bounce back and get ready to play again." That, however, was easier said then done. The loss to Oklahoma cost A&M its most dangerous offensive weapon, wide receiver Robert Ferguson, and its top defender, Glenn. Glenn had surgery on his knee days after the loss to OU, and Ferguson was so hobbled that he didn’t practice the next two weeks and missed the regular-season finale against Texas. By the time the Texas game finally concluded, projected defensive starters such as Rocky Bernard, Glenn, Michael Jameson, Sammy Davis and Terrence Kiel all missed time because of injuries. In comparison, Big 12-champion Oklahoma did not have a starter on either side of the ball miss any games because of injuries. As well as Texas played on Nov. 24 in Austin, the Aggies may not have had a chance even with everyone healthy. But without many of A&M’s best players on the field, the Aggies didn’t seem to have a prayer. At least not in the third quarter when Texas sophomore quarterback Chris Simms blistered the Aggies by completing all eight of his passes for a single-quarter, school-record 234 yards and three touchdowns. The end result was a 26-point loss to the Longhorns that sent the Aggies to the Independence Bowl. A few weeks prior to the Texas game, the Aggies were thinking about the Big 12 title game and national prominence. Those things, however, will have to wait at least another year. "We were close to putting it all together a couple of times," Glenn said. "But close doesn’t count. What’s disappointing is that I don’t think we ever put four solid quarters together on both sides of the ball. We played well at times, but just not enough of the times. "I hate to leave A&M like this, but I know things are going to be better. We developed some young guys this year who are really going to be stars in the future." Indeed, 2000 saw junior Jay Brooks become a special teams star. The Killeen native blocked four punts and played a huge role in many of the successes on special teams this season. There were other individual breakthroughs, as well. For example: • Junior Robert Ferguson, who transferred to Texas A&M from Tyler Junior College, probably exceeded the lofty expectations that greeted him upon his arrival. Ferguson established a school record with 885 yards receiving in one season, averaging over 15 yards per catch. He led the team with 58 receptions and six touchdowns. Ferguson was a consensus All-Big 12 wide receiver, even though he missed the final game of the regular season with an ankle injury. • Senior Terence Kitchens finished his A&M career as the most accurate place-kicker in school history – both single season and career. Kitchens, who bounced back from a frustrating 1999 season, connected on 15-of-18 field goals in 2000 for a .833 success rate, breaking the season accuracy record of .818 set by Kyle Bryant in 1997. For his career, Kitchens connected on 30-of-41 field goals (.732) to break the former accuracy record of .706 set by Bryant from 1994-97. His 30 career field goals rank No. 6 in school history. Kitchens connected on 14-of-14 field goals from 40 yards or closer in 2000. • Young defensive backs like Terrance Kiel, Sammy Davis, Sean Weston, Adam Black and Jonte Buhl played beyond their years and provided tremendous hope for the future. • Sophomore defensive lineman Ty Warren made major strides, displaying signs of becoming a dominant player up front in the future. • Fullback Ja’Mar Toombs was unselfish and sensational, bulling over defenders with and without the football in his hands, while tailbacks Richard Whitaker and Joe Weber had solid seasons in their first year as featured backs. Of course, the most encouraging development of all was the emergence of 25-year-old sophomore quarterback Mark Farris. He earned the starting job before the season opener and went on to post a record-breaking season with a completion percentage just under 60 percent and setting the season record with 2,551 yards passing. His 208 completions was the second most in school history. Farris’ return for the next two seasons gives the Aggies reason to believe that the immediate future can be much brighter. "It was kind of a whirlwind year," Farris said. "We had a pretty decent year, and we could have played better. But we’re still pretty young, too. I was thinking the other day that next year, I’ll probably enjoy it a lot more because I’ll have a whole year of planning on being the guy to start the first game. "During your first year of starting, you really don’t enjoy it because you have so much on your mind and everything you do you’re doing it for the first time. I’ve still enjoyed it a lot, but it will be a much better experience next year because I’ll know what to expect." Farris and the Aggies expect bigger things than the Independence Bowl. And they expect to avoid unacceptable losses like the one that soured the 2000 season on Oct. 7. "I hope the young guys learned a lesson from that loss to Colorado," Glenn said. "We probably overlooked them a little, and it killed us. When I’m watching these guys in the future, I don’t want to see that happen again. I hope the younger guys can live up to their potential instead of having to wonder about what could have been."
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