MANHATTAN, Kan. – All that that could be said about Texas A&M’s 31-24 victory over Kansas State on Saturday could be said by looking at senior safety Wes Bautovich as he limped towards the post-game press conference.
Battered, bruised and bloody, Bautovich gave off a sigh of relief as he sat down on the stoop to field questions, relieved he could finally take a play off.
“It was a busy day,” Bautovich said. “That’s about the hardest game I ever played right here. We really showed what we were about. We stuck in it and when push came to shove, we stopped them.”
Bautovich, pressed into the starting lineup because senior safety Jay Brooks was inactive due to a pulled groin muscle, played like a warrior.
He led the team with 12 tackles despite getting down on his hands and knees in between some plays to rest.
Bautovich and the rest of the Wrecking Crew bent, but did not break as they held off a late charge from the Wildcats.
The biggest play of them all was a fourth down stop with 50 seconds left in the game by junior safety Terrence Kiel that saved the victory for the Aggies.
Trailing 31-24, the Wildcats were set up in good field position after a 52-yard punt return by Aaron Lockett put the Wildcats at the A&M 23-yard line with 2 minutes, 59 seconds left in the game.
After converting one fourth down on the drive, the Wildcats were faced with a fourth-and-three at the A&M 5-yard line with 53 seconds left.
KSU quarterback Marc Dunn took the ball and set out on an option play towards the left – a play that the Wildcats had run effectively all game long. He pitched to running back Josh Scobey who was met by Kiel. When the dust settled, Kiel had stopped Scobey one yard short, and sewed up the victory for the Aggies.
“Actually, I didn’t know I had stopped him,” Kiel said. “I thought he got the first down. So I looked over to the sidelines and I saw him shy of it and I broke in.”
The Wildcats beat the Aggies at the stats battle as they outgained the Aggies 358-189 and had five times as many rushing yards with 258 to A&M’s 51. They also held onto the ball for 9:40 longer than A&M.
However, the efforts of players on the Wrecking Crew like Bautovich and Kiel, the Aggies got the Wildcats where it counted ?’ on the scoreboard.
Doug Fuentes is a senior journalism major.