AT HOME ON THE RANGE Aggies fight off the elements of a Thursday night road game to pull out a 28-20 victory By Rusty Burson

LARAMIE, Wyo. – Nestled at the foot of the Laramie Mountains and just to the east of the Snowy Range, Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium sits atop the high plains with the distinction as the nation’s most elevated football field.

But unfortunately for Texas A&M, even a trip that took the Aggies more than 7,200 feet above sea level couldn’t prevent A&M from once again playing down to the level of its competition.

Oh sure, it was a win for the Aggies. But the 28-20 victory last Thursday night over the Cowboys was anything but a peak performance.

Bethel Johnson, who suffered a bruised spleen in the game, caught six passes for 50 yards.

"I just didn’t think we were sharp in our execution all evening," A&M head coach R.C. Slocum said after improving to 2-0. "I’m not trying to take anything away from (Wyoming). I thought they gave a valiant effort. But we made too many mistakes. We weren’t consistent on offense. We moved the ball, but we were just not nearly as consistent as we needed to be."

Ditto for the defense, said Slocum, whose red-toned face after the game may have had more to do with his internal temperature than the cold north wind that dropped temperatures into the low 40s by the game’s end.

"I wasn’t pleased at all (with the defense)," Slocum said. "I thought we were again inconsistent, and we’ve got to play a whole lot better than that. That was not a good performance, although at times we did make some big plays. But I was not pleased with the way we played overall."

The kicking game wasn’t any better, as A&M missed an extra point and three field goal attempts, keeping the Cowboys upset bid alive until the final minutes and keeping the small but boisterous crowd (18,131) at a feverish pitch.

Taken as an isolated incident, perhaps Slocum and the rest of the Aggies would not have been so disturbed by the inconsistencies against Wyoming. But coming on the heels of an uninspiring victory over Division I-AA McNeese State just five days earlier, the Aggies’ lack of a killer instinct was irritating, to say the least.

This was, after all, not even a Mountain West Conference power. Wyoming was 1-10 last year, lost at Kyle Field by 48 and struggled to beat Division I-AA Furman in its 2001 season opener.

Mediocre performances against the Cowboys of McNeese and Wyoming were enough to keep the Aggies unbeaten. But it likely won’t be enough to beat the Cowboys of Oklahoma State – A&M’s next opponent.

Michael de la Torre had a big game with three receptions for 37 yards.

And the schedule will get even tougher than that after OSU’s Sept. 22 visit to Kyle Field. It was that realization that seemed to be weighing on Slocum’s mind as he assessed the Aggies’ performance in the first two games of the season.

"To me, it’s a frustrating thing because we make plays on both sides of the ball, but we’re up and down," Slocum vented. "On one play, we look very good and on the next play we look like we’ve never lined up before. I don’t know how to explain it. I’m frustrated myself and perplexed at the lack of consistency in how we are playing."

It was particularly perplexing to Slocum and many others how the Aggies could roll up 507 yards of total offense against Wyoming and yet fail to put the game away until the final minutes of play. It was A&M’s best offensive production since a 522-yard outburst against Kansas in 1999.

It also included a career-best 341-yard passing performance from junior quarterback Mark Farris and a 105-yard rushing performance by redshirt freshman running back Keith Joseph. The Aggies also won the turnover battle (2-1), dominated time of possession and averaged 6.0 yards per snap.

Based on those numbers, it had all the makings of a blowout. But for virtually everything the Aggies did right there also seemed to be frustrating mistakes. A&M was penalized 11 times, including three consecutive false starts. And for the second straight game, the Aggies trailed early, allowed an opponent to score on the first possession of the second half and had to win the game late in the fourth quarter.

Against the Notre Dames, Kansas States and Oklahomas on the schedule, that scenario would make for a thrilling win. Against the Wyomings and McNeese States of the world, it’s just frustrating.

"Overall, I think it was a C performance," said cornerback Sammy Davis, who had a key interception – his third of the year – in the first half to set up a touchdown. "We didn’t play up to our potential once again. We messed around too much. Wyoming is way better (than McNeese State), so we are making progress. But there is a lot of room for improvement on our part."

Davis is quickly emerging as the playmaker the Aggies desperately need on defense. And on the other side of the ball, Farris was simply fabulous.

His numbers – 30-of-42 for 341 yards and a touchdown – were impressive enough. But it was his poise and presence in the pocket that enabled the Aggies to avoid the upset.

Time and time again, Farris, who was still hobbled by a severe hip pointer, stood in the pocket and waited until the last moment to deliver perfect passes. He took plenty of shots from Wyoming defenders, but he was amazing under pressure.

On third-down situations, was a sizzling 12-of-13 for 167 yards, enabling the Aggies to convert 11-of-17 third-down situations.

"He’s got two big bruises on his hip, but he was diving for first downs, standing firm in the pocket and doing the things it takes to win," A&M senior safety Jay Brooks said of Farris. "You have to give him credit because he is a warrior. He took some tough hits, but he stood in there and threw the ball right on the money."

Perhaps his biggest pass of the night came midway through the fourth quarter with the Aggies clinging to a 21-20 win. After hitting tight end Michael de la Torre for 17 yards on a third-down play, Farris dropped back into the pocket, scrambled to his right and delivered a perfect, over-the-shoulder pass to the speedy Dwain Goynes.

Goynes, one of five A&M players to make at least four catches, hauled it in and blazed past the Wyoming defense for a 38-yard touchdown.

"It happened to be a busted play," Goynes said. "I saw him scrambling, and I found the open hole in the defense. I was running a middle slant, but I broke that off, made the catch and went for the end zone.

"It was a big play, because we had to win that game. We did OK, but we had a lot of mental breakdowns. We stopped ourselves with penalties and other mistakes. We just need to concentrate on the little stuff, and that will take care of the bigger things."

Better hurry, because bigger things are now looming immediately on the schedule.