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Saturday, November 21, 1998
Aggies finally winning the big games
By MICHAEL A. LUTZ
Associated press
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Texas A&M tight end Dan
Campbell cried when the Aggies beat Nebraska.
Many others cried with him because, at long last, the Aggies
no longer had to answer the question: "Why can't you win
the big one?"
There has been a lot of emotion for No. 6 Texas A&M this
season. It's beaten three ranked teams, has a 10-game winning
streak and finally joined the nation's elite.
What a turnaround from a year ago, when the Aggies lost to
the Cornhuskers 54-15 in the Big 12 title game.
"There's no way to describe how it feels, so I just let
it stream out," Campbell said.
The Aggies have been ranked often throughout the decade but
have a 3-9 record against top 10 opponents under coach R.C. Slocum.
They're just 15-16 against top 25 teams.
Texas A&M opened the season with a loss to Florida State
but hasn't looked back since.
"We watched the film and we realized, 'Hey, we hung in
there with a pretty good football team. If we can go from here,
we can be pretty good,' " Slocum said.
They have been, and more tears of joy could be in their future.
The Aggies play the Texas Longhorns for the 105th time on Nov.
27 and will try to stop Ricky Williams. The nation's leading rusher
needs just 63 yards to break Tony Dorsett's career rushing record
of 6,082.
"Our main goal is to win the football game and since I
am a big part of the offense, it is conceivable that I can get
63 yards," Williams said. "I have only been held under
that total once this year and if that is going to happen again,
Texas A&M is the team to do it."
The Aggies' Wrecking Crew defense won't simply give the record
to Williams, but many are pulling for him to break it -- as long
as A&M wins the game.
"I want our defense to do well and it would be a great
statement for them if they did stop him," quarterback Randy
McCown said. "On the other hand, it's ridiculous to think
he won't get it so I'm happy for him. That's an outstanding achievement."
After the Texas game the Aggies will play in the Big 12 title
game against No. 2 Kansas State, followed by a bowl game. Texas
A&M will make life difficult for all of those opponents.
"I thought they were a good football team last year and
they have much of the same personnel," Nebraska coach Frank
Solich said. "They've picked up their offense to where it's
really coming around. Of course, they've really been playing defense
well for a long time."
Maybe so, but safety Rich Coady believes the Aggies have reached
new heights as a team this year.
"We hadn't played the top team in the country like we
are currently doing," Coady said. "Now, we are comfortable
playing at that level. Our attitude is why not? It's fun to try
to go and upset them and see what we can do."
The season hasn't been without some problems, however. Fullback
Tiki Hardeman was declared ineligible and it took a dramatic fourth-quarter
drive to beat Kansas, followed by a pointed speech from Slocum.
But the Aggies followed their victory over Nebraska with wins
over tough conference foes Texas Tech and Missouri.
"Each week has had its own little drama," McCown
said. "We got closer as a team and we got better. We just
hope to keep that going and finish the year on a good note."
They very well could do it. Because they have only one recognizable
star, linebacker Dat Nguyen, the Aggies realized early that they'd
have to play as a unit to win.
"We don't have superstars," Coady said. "After
we lost Tiki we knew that we had to pull together even more."
Almost losing to Kansas also was a turning point. The Aggies
had to drive 75 yards and score the winning touchdown with 3:24
left for a 24-21 victory, inspiring the challenging speech from
Slocum.
"That's the first time I've seen him show a lot of emotion,"
Coady said. "From then on, our practices have been very intense.
They've been gamelike situations. It's almost a relief when game
time comes."
Amid all the winning, the Aggies have done a good job of avoiding
controversy. They survived a change in quarterbacks from Branndon
Stewart to McCown, and Sirr Parker and Dante Hall don't complain
about sharing time at tailback.
"If any of those four had caused a problem, it could have
been disaster," Slocum said. "But all four showed class.
That's allowed us to have a successful season."
Despite their high rank this season, some of the Aggies feel
as if they've been overlooked.
"I like it that way," said Nguyen, a finalist for
the Lombardi and Butkus awards. "We are on the outside looking
in, but it's fun. Maybe we'll be moving up."
If they win their last three games, that undoubtedly will happen.
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