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It’s an indelible moment frozen in Karen Bautovich Logos’ mind – one she will proudly replay and describe for as long as she lives. It may not top the August day in 1979 when she first cradled her newborn son in her arms, but from a parental pride perspective, it ranks extremely high. Among the 70,656 fans inside Kyle Field on Sept. 1, Bautovich stood for the pregame introductions of Texas A&M’s kickoff return team. The first name called was Wes Bautovich. "He came running out and was the sole individual on the middle of the field for a few seconds," Karen Bautovich Logos said. "Everybody’s hollering and cheering, and I stood there and cried like a baby. "I was so proud. I said to this friend who was with me that he will remember this for the rest of his life, and so will I. Unless you were watching closely, that moment could have passed right on by. But it meant more to me than I can really even describe."
Unless you’ve been watching closely, the name Wes Bautovich might pass right by, too. But his poise and presence in the Texas A&M secondary this year has been so valuable to the Aggies that it’s almost difficult to describe. The role of the former Texas A&M-Kingsville quarterback has evolved from intriguing walk-on to valued, Wrecking Crew warrior in just a little more than a year. Bautovich was good in a pinch last season. He’s been even better on a regular basis in 2001. In fact, the senior safety from Kennedale could probably be considered as the posterboy of Texas A&M’s season thus far. Barely mentioned in the preseason, the Aggies have ascended to become one of the key players in the Big 12 bowl race. Just like Bautovich. In a secondary that features "Big Play Jay" Brooks, lockdown cornerback Sammy Davis and ferocious-hitting safety Terrence Kiel, Bautovich is easy to overlook. He is not even technically listed as a starter. But rather silently, Bautovich has emerged as one of the more dependable and versatile players in the A&M secondary. "Wes is one of those guys who is on all the special teams and does a great job in the secondary whenever we need him," A&M outside linebacker Christian Rodriguez said. "He is such a team-oriented player. I really like having him on my team. "I’m not sure you can be a very successful team in this league without guys like Wes. He can start for us, he can play special (coverage) packages, he can play on all the special teams and he can make big plays." Indeed, Bautovich has displayed quite a knack for making big plays ever since he first began seeing action last year. In the Aggies’ victory last year over Top 10-ranked Kansas State, for example, it was Bautovich’s fourth-quarter interception that sealed A&M’s 26-10 win. This year, he’s making things happen on an even more regular basis. His fourth-quarter punt block against Oklahoma State was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown that sealed the Aggies’ 21-7 win. His fourth-quarter interception against Colorado gave the Aggies an opportunity to pull that game out in the closing minutes. And his gritty, hard-nosed performance this year against Kansas State symbolized the Aggies’ tenacious 31-24 win in Manhattan. Brooks and Dawon Gentry missed the K-State game with injuries, requiring Bautovich to play virtually every defensive down against the extremely physical Wildcats. He was banged up, bloodied and bruised. But like the Aggies in that game, he refused to be beaten. Bautovich led the Aggies with an astounding 18 tackles – the most by an A&M defender in any game since Brandon Jennings’18-tackle performance in a 51-6 loss at Oklahoma. "Without (the injuries) we would normally shuffle (Bautovich) in there, playing on nickel or dime (coverages)," A&M head coach R.C. Slocum said. "But (in the K-State game), he was out there for the whole time. He’s taking on the arch block on the option, and we blitzed him up the middle when they gave the ball to that 300-pound fullback. So, he’s tackling him all day, too. "One time, he came over and said, ‘Coach, if you can just give me one play (for a breather), I’ll be ready to go back in.’ But he has really done a good job for us all year and has done everything we have asked him to do." Rest assured, the Aggies have asked him to do plenty – from tackling 300-pound fullbacks to chasing fleet-footed receivers, and from covering kickoffs to holding for kicks. Although this is certainly not what he envisioned when he was coming out of Kennedale High School as the district’s Offensive MVP, Bautovich says he is loving every minute of it. "Oh yeah, I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world," said the 6-fot-2, 210-pound Bautovich. "I enjoy being here, I love the fans, the atmosphere, the players, the school. It’s been kind of a dream come true, even though this is not really how I originally had the dream all figured out. "But I just want to win, and I’ll do anything the coaches ask me to do to help this team win. I’m getting to play quite a bit for a great football program. I feel very lucky." Bautovich’s route to Texas A&M could certainly be described as "lucky." In fact, it was so unusually fluky that he probably forever return the Publisher’s House Sweepstakes form with the full expectations of winning. "If you don’t take a chance," he says, "you’ll never know. That’s kind of what I did with Texas A&M, and that’s why I’m here today." Bautovich, 22, played for Texas A&M-Kingsville in 1998, and played pretty well for the Javelinas. As a redshirt freshman quarterback, he completed 53-of-118 passes for 754 yards and eight touchdowns. He also rushed for 366 yards and scored six touchdowns on the ground. By most accounts, he seemed to have a bright future ahead of him in Kingsville. But Bautovich didn’t like the direction of the program. He heard rumors of potential NCAA violations and possible sanctions, and he began seriously thinking about taking a step up in the level of competition. Not all the way from Division II to Division I-A. But at least to Division I-AA. So, he and his stepfather began mapping out some road trips. None of the initial plans included a stop in College Station, however. "I was looking to transfer, and I just went by different schools and dropped tapes off," Bautovich said. "We were going to Sam Houston State and smaller schools like that because, as a quarterback, it’s kind of hard to transfer into a bigger school. "I actually went to McNeese State first and made a weekend trip to Southwest Texas, too. And I was actually on my way back home to Dallas/Fort Worth from Sam Houston when I was like, ‘We have a couple extra tapes, why don’t we drop them off and see what happens at A&M because it’s just off I-45.’ So, we did, and I got lucky." Texas A&M’s coaches were at least intrigued by Bautovich, and his mind was made up. His mother, on the other hand, wasn’t quite so sure her son was making the right decision. At the time, she didn’t know much about Texas A&M. But she did know that the transfer would put an additional financial drain on the family. "Totally looking at it from a financial standpoint, he had a full scholarship and he was wanting to leave," Karen Bautovich Logos said. "I just wanted to make absolutely sure that this was really what he wanted to do. And I told him that he might not ever play football again, that you don’t ever know. But I also said that if he was willing to take that chance, go for it. "He was very adamant about leaving where he was because he thought there was something going on with the program that he didn’t like it. Wesley has always been the kind of kid that wasn’t impulsive about anything. But once he made his mind up, he was going to follow through." Bautovich, who had once hoped to go to Texas coming out of high school, was now firmly convinced that Texas A&M was the place for him. He enrolled at A&M in 1999 and walked-on, serving as a scout team player. Then, in one of the early spring practices in 2000, A&M coaches approached him about moving to the defensive side of the ball. At the time, Mark Farris, Vance Smith and Colby Freeman were contending for the starting quarterback’s position. The Aggies didn’t need another quarterback in that mix. But they could use a safety. Bautovich, who started on both sides of the ball as a senior in high school, jumped at the chance. "I, of course, wanted to play quarterback, but then the coaches told me that I’d probably get a chance to play a lot on defense since we were real thin at safety," Bautovich said. "All I wanted to do is play. Then that move opened up an opportunity for special teams, so I was really excited." It didn’t take long for Bautovich to make an immediate impact at safety, as A&M’s thin secondary became even more hobbled at the start of the 2000 season.
Bautovich played a considerable amount in the season-opener at Notre Dame and then made two starts against Wyoming and UTEP in place of injured free safety Michael Jameson. Overall, he played in every game and made three starts in 2000, recording 45 tackles – eighth best on the team – and breaking up seven passes. "Here’s a guy who came here wanting to play quarterback, but immediately steps in and starts three games for us at safety," Rodriguez said of Bautovich. "I think that shows what an unselfish player he is and what a valuable addition to our team he has been." During the 2000 season, Bautovich was also awarded a scholarship, which certainly eased the family’s financial strain. Of course, by that time, his mother was already as convinced as Bautovich that he had made the right decision. "He told me after he was at A&M for about two months, ‘Mom, if I never play football again, I’m glad I’m here,’" Logos said. "A&M fit Wesley like a glove. The structure, tradition, ethics, the whole works … he found his home. "As for me, I have definitely fallen in love with Texas A&M, too. As a mother, I couldn’t be happier that he is there. I couldn’t give him a better gift than what Texas A&M has given him." Bautovich says that even if he never plays another down at Texas A&M he will always look back at his decision to come to College Station and his time in Aggieland with great satisfaction. Of course, that isn’t likely to happen. He has become a key component of the Wrecking Crew and likely will be counted upon throughout the rest of the year. And Bautovich has plans for bigger things in the immediate future. "I’d love to play for a Big 12 championship or to play in a big-time bowl game," he said. "I’ve got a picture of that in my mind." So does his mom, who is stockpiling mental images of her son at Texas A&M for years of future enjoyment.
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