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"The Twelfth Man"

Texas Aggie Football

Requiem to the 1998 Season

1999 Aggie Football Schedule

Great Football Games Sugar Bowl, 1939:   A&M 14, Tulane 13 -- In regular season, 10-0 Aggies outscore season opponents 198-18, upset Tulane for the National Championship 1955:   A&M 20, Rice 12 -- trailing Rice 12-0 with 4:12 in the fourth quarter, the Aggies score three times in the next 2:46 1958:   A&M 34, Baylor 33 -- trailing Baylor 33-7 with 1:00 to play in the third quarter, the Aggies score four times in the next 13:22 Sun Bowl, 1976:   A&M 37, Florida 14 -- Barefooted kicker Tony Franklin kicks bowl-record 62-yard field goal 1979:   A&M 27, Penn State 14 -- After an 0-2 start, Aggies break Penn State's 12-game home winning streak; Curtis Dickey gains 184 yards on 31 carries 1979:   A&M 13, texas 7 -- THE MOST AMAZING GAME I HAVE EVER WITNESSED! -- 5-5 Aggies use Defense to upset No. 6-ranked t.u. (9-1) & knock them out of the Sugar Bowl vs. Alabama Cotton Bowl, 1987:  A&M 36, Auburn 16 -- Heisman winner Bo Jackson held to one big play Cotton Bowl, 1988:  A&M 35, Notre Dame 10 -- Heisman winner Tim Brown shut down Holiday Bowl, 1990:  A&M 65, BYU 14 -- against Heisman winner Ty Detmer Alamo Bowl, 1996:  A&M 22, Michigan 20 1998:   A&M 28, Nebraska 21 -- 18th-ranked Aggies upset No. 2-ranked defending national champ Nebraska, breaking their 19-game winning streak and 40-game conference winning streak "I'm always surprised when anyone beats Nebraska,   . . . But you can't look at these tapes and say that's an upset. A&M just waxed them. What I see is Nebraska struggling to do a lot of things they normally do pretty well. The Aggies deserve to celebrate. I hope they stay out all night for a week." -- Baylor Coach Dave Roberts 1998:   A&M 36, Kansas State 33 -- 10th-ranked Aggies (10-2) come back from a 15-point deficit to tie, then win in the second overtime over No. 1/2-ranked Kansas State (11-0) in the Big 12 title game.

Requiem to the 1998 Season

Okay, so the Aggies were not #1 in the country at the end of the season. But then, they were not expected to be in the top 10 or the Big 12 champs, either.

Contrary to expectations, the Aggies went to the Sugar Bowl. Among their other accomplishments:

• The Aggies played 4 teams ranked in the top five, and beat 2 of them.

• They played 8 teams that went to bowls, and beat 5 of them.

• They were outscored by arch-rival t.u. 26-24. But t.u. had Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams. More than that, the home field advantage at Memorial Stadium in Austin is surely worth more than 2 measly points, wouldn't you say? A&M very nearly came back to win, had their final field goal been successful.

• They were outscored by Ohio State -- but OSU was a contender for No. 1. OSU, however, was unable to "blow out" the Aggies as they intended, in order to establish more credibility in the polls. Instead, the Aggies shut down the Buckeyes for 3 quarters, and were gaining on them when time ran out.

• The only other loss this year was to Florida State.

• Arguably, the Aggies knocked 3 teams out of No. 1:   Nebraska, Kansas State, and Ohio State.

• Aggie All-American Dat Nguyen won the Lombardi Award and other honors as the nation's top defenseman.

  
  

Quotes

• "Playing the most difficult schedule in school history, A&M refused to roll over" -- Jerome Solomon, Houston Chronicle, 1/3/99, 6B.

• "The Aggies' offense may have been one of the worst in the country, but it was good enough to win 11 games." -- Solomon

• "A&M's three losses came to Florida State, which plays for the national championship Monday in the Fiesta Bowl; Texas which had the nation's best player in Ricky Williams; and Ohio State, which was ranked No. 1 longer than any other team this season." -- Solomon

• "We showed a lot of character all year. This was a team that never gave up." -- Rich Coady, safety.

• "Four times this season, the Aggies were double-digit underdogs. Not only did they not lose any of those games by more than 10 points, they won two of them and had the opportunity to win the others." -- Solomon

• "Any time you end a season with a loss, it's disappointing. But to do what we did without a dominant player on either side of the ball shows what a special group this is." -- R. C. Slocum, Coach

1999 Aggie Football Schedule
Date	Opponent	Home	Big 12	Time
Sept. 4	Louisiana Tech			7:00 pm
Sept. 18	Tulsa	*		7:30 pm
Sept. 25	S. Mississippi	*		7:30 pm
Oct. 2	Texas Tech		*	6:00 pm
Oct. 9	Baylor	*	*	1:00 pm
Oct. 16	Kansas	*	*	1:00 pm
Oct. 23	Oklahoma		*	2:00 pm
Oct. 30	Oklahoma St.	*	*	1:00 pm
Nov. 6	Nebraska		*	TBA
Nov. 13	Missouri		*	1:00 pm
Nov. 26	t.u.	*	*	10:00 am
Dec. 4	Big 12 Championship		*	TBA

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Copyright 1996, 1999 Paul A. Hughes
Last updated July 1999. For more information, comments, or suggestions, write westloop@yahoo.com.