STORM SHELTER Aggies make just enough plays to survive Cyclone outbreak, 24-21 By Rusty Burson

COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M true freshman Derek Farmer looked a bit confused, although not nearly as dazed as the Iowa State defender who had tried to tackle him about 30 minutes earlier.

Farmer, who rushed for 133 yards and the key touchdown in the Aggies’ 24-21 win over the Cyclones, had already been answering a variety of questions from reporters in the postgame press conference. But this one definitely caught him off guard.

"What were you doing on Sept. 19, 1998?" a reporter asked Farmer.

"Hmmmm," Farmer said politely, as he raised his eyebrows and tried to figure out where this particular question was leading. "Back in September of 1998, I was a backup running back at (Tyler) Robert E. Lee High School. Why do you ask?"

Reporter: "That’s the last time – before today – that a Texas A&M tailback ran for a touchdown of more than 30 yards."

Farmer: "No way. I had no idea. That’s pretty amazing."

The Aggies blocked two field goals, and Iowa State missed two other field goal attempts.

Indeed, for a school that once seemed to produce long touchdown runs – via game-breakers such as Darren Lewis, Greg Hill, Rodney Thomas, Leeland McElroy, etc. – with remarkable regularity, it’s rather stunning that the breakaway rushing TD has been so long in coming.

But Farmer certainly picked a nice time to get back to old times. The true freshman’s 65-yard touchdown run with just 5:08 left in the fourth quarter helped the Aggies secure yet another hard-fought, down-to-the-wire win.

Nothing has been easy for A&M (7-1 overall, 4-1 Big 12) this year. But each week, the Aggies have continuously found a way to do just enough to pull out another victory.

Kind of like that 1998 season. Back when Farmer was a backup tailback in high school, the Aggies strung enough ugly wins together to win a Big 12 championship.

And rather remarkably, the 2001 Aggies are still on track to do it again. The Aggies are 7-1 for the first time since ’98, and they remain in control of their own destiny in the race of the Big 12 South title.

With the difficulty of the remaining schedule, it probably wouldn’t be wise to project A&M as the team to beat in the South. But based on the way this season has gone, it also probably wouldn’t be wise to count the Aggies out.

"We’re excited about where we are," said A&M quarterback Mark Farris, who completed 11 of 21 passes for 132 yards and one touchdown. "We don’t care if anybody talks about us or praises us or ranks us. We believe we have a good bunch of guys, and we believe in ourselves.

"We’re going out every week – whether it’s ugly or pretty or somewhere in between – and figuring out a way to get it done and get the victory. We’re down to the very end of the season with three games left. If we can figure out a way to win the next three, we’re going to be Big 12 South champions. It doesn’t matter how you get it done, as long as you get it done."

The Aggies got it done on Saturday with a bizarre combination of superior special teams and a better running game.

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, that hasn’t exactly been the Aggies’ recipe for success this year. After all, the Aggies’ running game has been under constant scrutiny in recent weeks and the special teams, particularly field-goal kicking, has been suspect all year long.

But on a beautiful October afternoon before 85,661 inside Kyle Field, the Aggies relied on what many perceived as weaknesses to win.

The Cyclones (5-2, 3-2) came into the game with the Big 12’s leading rusher in Ennis Haywood. But the Aggies, led by Farmer, out-rushed ISU by nearly 100 yards.

Tailback Derek Farmer is one of the trio of calm and cool freshmen from East Texas making an impact.

And remember way back in early September, when punter/place-kicker Cody Scates missed three field goals and an extra point against Wyoming? Many A&M fans feared that the Aggies’ lack of a consistent place-kicker would cost them down the road.

It hasn’t yet. In fact, Scates could be considered one of the heroes of this victory. He was 1-for-1 on field goal attempts, while Iowa State’s Tony Yelk was 0-for-4.

That’s a 15-point difference in a three-point A&M win.

"Cody looks pretty good right now, doesn't he?" said A&M linebacker Christian Rodriguez. "Earlier in the year, everybody was asking me about our field-goal kicking. But I had a lot of confidence in Cody. He’s really our punter who is doing his best on field goals.

"He really seems to be coming along quite a bit. (On Saturday), he made his only attempt, and they missed four. Every week, it just seems like somebody else steps in with the big play to help us win. This time, it was special teams and Farmer."

Farmer, who may be the toughest runner in an A&M uniform since Rodney Thomas, turned in the play of the day just as it seemed the game could slip away from the Aggies.

The Cyclones trimmed the A&M lead to 17-14 on a 20-yard pass from Seneca Wallace to Craig Campbell with 6:57 left in the game. And ISU seemed to be in outstanding shape when the Cyclones dropped for Farmer a 3-yard loss on the first play of the Aggies’ ensuing drive.

But on second-and-13 from the A&M 24, Farris completed an 11-yard pass to Terrence Murphy, setting up a third-and-2. It appeared to be a passing situation.

Instead, the Aggies turned to Farmer, who plowed through ISU’s Adam Runk and kept running for a 65-yard score. It was the longest run by any A&M player since Joe Weber went 77 yards against Missouri in 1999, and it was the longest TD run by an Aggie since Sirr Parker’s 80-yard jaunt against the Cyclones in 1997.

"It feels real good just to have the ability to prove I can play at this level and to take this team to the next level," Farmer said. "I have to give the credit to the offensive linemen, the wide receivers blocking down field and just everybody on offense. I just broke a tackle and saw open field."

It didn’t take long for Farmer to turn the open field into a game-winning touchdown. The Cyclones came back to narrow the gap to 24-21 with 1:23 left in the contest, but ISU’s last hope of a comeback win died when the onside kick attempt went out of bounds.

"I have to give so much credit to Derek Farmer and our offensive line," Rodriguez said. "If (Iowa State) stops us, it could have been a totally different ballgame. But once we scored that touchdown, it was such a sigh of relief. I just wanted to go over there and give Derek a big hug.

"Last week the defense came up with the big play, and this week Farmer came up with it. We like taking turns."

And churning out wins.