Give and forget
A&M turnovers make it easy for Vols, 38-7
1/2/2005
Rick Clausen looked like a first-teamer, which he's not. Texas A&M looked like a bunch of bowl rookies, which the Aggies were.
Tennessee's third-string quarterback picked apart the A&M defense in a 38-7 victory Saturday in the SBC Cotton Bowl Classic. The No. 22 Aggies (7-5), in their first bowl since December 2001, committed a season-high five turnovers.
The No. 15 Vols (10-3) raced to a 28-0 lead midway through the second quarter behind Clausen's passing, then rode their bruising running game.
"Without question, he validated himself as a quarterback for the Tennessee football team here at the end of the year," coach Phillip Fulmer said. "He did as well as anybody could have asked or expected of any quarterback."
Clausen, a junior beat out by two freshmen before the season, was forced into action Nov. 6 by their injuries. On Saturday, Clausen was 18 of 27 for 222 yards and a career-high three touchdown passes to earn outstanding offensive player honors.
"We weren't thinking pass as much. We probably concentrated on the run a little bit," A&M safety Japhus Brown said. "It probably surprised us a little bit they came out and started throwing the ball."
The crowd of 75,704, largely clad in Aggie maroon, was the fourth-largest in Cotton Bowl history and the biggest since the 1978 Notre Dame-Texas game.
"We just couldn't get any momentum going to get the crowd into the game to help us," coach Dennis Franchione said.
Franchione said he had no concerns about how his inexperienced team handled the bowl buildup.
Tennessee coaches instituted a tougher curfew policy this week to show they were serous about winning after the Vols dropped their last two bowls.
"There's not any magic dust out there that you sprinkle on somebody and say, 'Let's be excited,' " Fulmer said.
He recalled that Thursday's practice was one of Tennessee's worst of the year. "I'm sweating bullets. I say, 'We may get run out of the stadium.' "
A&M had committed only eight turnovers in its first 11 games. The Aggies had three in the first 17 minutes Saturday. Two of them gave Tennessee a short field that the Vols turned into quick touchdowns.
Untimely penalties and missed tackles also doomed A&M. An offside penalty kept alive Tennessee's first drive. Two plays later, cornerback Brock Newton, playing in place of ill senior Jonté Buhl, missed a tackle on C.J. Fayton after a catch. Fayton raced 57 yards for a 7-0 lead.
A&M responded by driving to the Tennessee 23. But running back Courtney Lewis couldn't hold onto an errant pitch from quarterback Reggie McNeal, and the Vols recovered.
On the first snap of the Aggies' next drive, McNeal fumbled at his 28-yard line as his helmet came flying off. Four plays later, Tennessee led, 14-0.
Then, just when A&M appeared to be gaining some momentum early in the second quarter, Erik Mayes muffed a punt. The Vols recovered at the Aggies' 8-yard line and needed one play to go up 21-0.
A&M lost its fifth straight Cotton Bowl. The Aggies still improved three games from last season's 4-8 embarrassment.
"We're not going to sit around and tarnish completely what this team achieved this year," Franchione said. "I don't think anybody planned on us being in the Cotton Bowl the first week of September."
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