Singing Aggies’ praises

By Gary Bedore     Oct 8, 2006

Dennis Franchione and his Texas A&M football players stood in the southeast corner of Memorial Stadium, singing the “Aggie War Hymn” with 3,000 or so Maroon -and-White-clad fans after Saturday’s thrilling 21-18 comeback victory over Kansas.

Judging from the wild celebration – one middle-aged fan in the 20th row sang loudly into his cell phone – all’s right in Aggieville again, one week after a crushing 31-27 home loss to Texas Tech.

“It’s been a tough week to bounce back,” fourth-year A&M coach Franchione said, referring to his team’s falling to the Red Raiders on a 37-yard pass with 26 seconds left.

“To go on the road, be able to win a game in the fashion they did, there’s not enough time for us to talk about what kind of young men they showed they are today.”

The 5-1 Aggies, who trailed by 11 points after three quarters, sank KU on a two-yard TD run by Jorvorskie Lane with :34 to play.

That burst capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive – a march that started with 3:31 remaining.

“Just to hear the crowd loud and finally score : they shut up. It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Lane said after giving the Aggies’ their first lead. “This was the game we got our swagger back.”

His run was set up by a 35-yard screen pass from quarterback Stephen McGee to receiver L’Tydrick Riley on a third-and-five call from the 40.

“It was wide open. I just had to run to daylight,” Riley said. “I was living for that situation.”

He was the second option on the play; a well-covered tailback was the first option.

“We’ve probably run it six or eight times all year. It was a perfect call by coach Fran,” said McGee, who completed 25 of 45 passes for 240 yards and rushed for 30 yards on 12 carries. “I’ll take a one-point win in the worst game of my life any day.”

He had some words of wisdom for his offensive players before the final drive: “It’s about us, guys. Let’s stick together, have fun, play football, do our job, not press, be ourselves,”‘ McGee said of his pep talk in the huddle. “We started moving the ball well. Guys did a great job running routes and blocking.”

McGee was the last Aggie to exit the locker room and receive his postgame meal – a full box of Cici’s Pizza – limping badly on his left leg a good 45 minutes after the game.

“It’s part of the game, part of football. You’ve got to keep going,” McGee said with a shrug, indicating he was not injured.

The final drive culminated in the north end zone, the end zone in which all the points were scored, including the Aggies’ 14 in the final quarter.

“Probably a big factor is we chose to kick into the wind to start the third quarter,” Franchione said.

“We had the wind at our back the fourth quarter. Everything happened going north. I’ve been in the plains of Kansas before in games like this. I’ve seen the wind be a factor. It’s why I chose to kick off into it. I figured we’d have to survive one quarter and win it (late),” the native Kansan added.

Franchione, who coached at Pittsburg State and Southwestern College, improved to 21-20 in four years at A&M heading into next week’s home clash against Missouri.

“Our defense : what a game,” Franchione said after his Aggies outgained KU 386 yards to 288. “We hung in there, played outstanding. We found a way to win today.”

Winning in the last minute is always special, even more so after what happened a week ago.

“That’s the most fun I’ve had since I’ve been here,” junior defensive lineman Chris Harrington said. “The defense has stepped up.”

The defense, in fact, stymied KU all day. The Jayhawks’ only TD drive was kept alive by a fake punt.

“This is a (Kansas) team that got around 600 yards last week against Nebraska,” Franchione said. “Our kids continued to make plays, had their backs to the wall, had to play on the short end of the field to defend a lot of times. They really did a good job.”

PREV POST

6Sports video: Jayhawks' hopes dashed for homecoming

NEXT POST

21992Singing Aggies’ praises