If you want the perfect cross-section of Texas A&M’s 21-7 win over Oklahoma State, look at one play.
Late in the fourth quarter, with Oklahoma State trying to mount a drive, sophomore running back Tatum Bell took a hand-off at the A&M 20-yard line. Bell made it to the 19 before running into a brick wall.
On this play, the brick wall’s name was Ty Warren, A&M’s six-foot four-inch, 295-pound nose guard.
The strength of the hit was so hard that Warren’s helmet popped off on impact. You would not have known it, though, as Warren drove Bell into the ground with about as much force as, well, 490 pounds of human body colliding at high speed.
That was exactly what football head coach R.C. Slocum had in mind when he called out his defense on Sept. 13 after the Aggies gave up 20 points and 273 yards of offense to the University of Wyoming, a team A&M slaughtered 51-3 in 2000.
Saturday, fans saw the Wrecking Crew of old: aggressively going after the ball, unrelenting pressure, vicious hits and downright domination.
“Coach Slocum was pretty rough on us this week,” said A&M defensive lineman Rocky Bernard. “All the way up to the pre-game meal, he was telling us he wanted to see us go out from the first series and dominate.”
And dominate they did.
The Aggies held the Cowboy’s to three-and-outs on their first three possessions. It took the Cowboy’s until their first drive of the second quarter to cross midfield, and even then, OSU’s back-up quarterback Josh Fields was pressured into making a bad toss on an option play. Junior linebacker Jesse Hunnicutt was there to pounce on the fumble, giving A&M the ball.
“[The OSU quarterbacks] couldn’t throw the ball, they couldn’t get more than ten yards running so you’ve got to give it to the D-line and the linebackers,” said A&M defensive back Jay Brooks. “They had a great game today.”
That is an understatement when you look at some of the stats.
Saturday, the Aggies recorded six sacks, costing the Cowboys 36 yards of field position. That is twice the number of sacks A&M recorded in its first two games combined.
Also, eight players were credited with tackles made behind OSU’s line of scrimmage, for a total of 44 yards.
Perhaps the most telling statistic is under the third-down conversion category. A&M did not allow a third-down conversion for the first 33:16 of the game. And after that one, it would be over 20 minutes later, during the Cowboys’ final drive.
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OSU, a team that averages 105 yards per game, was held to 64 yards by the Aggies. Likewise, the Cowboy aerial attack earned just 135 yards. Compare that to the 215.5 they averaged in their first two contests, and you see just how stout the A&M defense was.
“I’ve been here a long time and that was one of the best performances we’ve had,” said senior linebacker Christian Rodriguez, who has played in 35 games as an Aggie. “I think this was the beginning of what is going to happen the rest of the season.”