Texas A&M Unkind to Iowa State on Homecoming

AMES, Iowa - With dominating defense, Texas A&M put Iowa State's bowl hopes on hold.

Texas A&M stifled the Cyclones' potent offense and got big games from quarterback Mark Farris and kicker Terence Kitchens in a 30-7 victory Saturday.

A&M (5-2 overall, 3-1 Big 12) held Iowa State to 239 yards and kept the Cyclones off the scoreboard until just 2:36 remained. Iowa State (5-2, 2-2), which had been averaging 446.5 yards, had only one play longer than 12 yards through the first three quarters.

"That was really a solid performance," A&M coach R.C. Slocum said. "Our young secondary did a good job and we did a good job stopping the run, which was a concern. That took away one of their dimensions and that helped us."

Farris, meanwhile, led a productive offense. The 25-year-old sophomore completed 16-of-27 passes for 248 yards, including touchdown throws of 76 yards to Dwain Goynes and 15 yards to Chris Taylor.

He also ran for a touchdown and Kitchens, limited all week because of a strained groin, kicked three field goals, including a 50-yarder. Joe Weber, filling in for injured starter Richard Whitaker, carried 20 times for 106 yards - the first 100-yard game by an A&M back this year.

"There's a natural tendency when everybody's against you to want it more," Farris said. "That's probably as good as we've played, but we have to do that every game."

Iowa State averted being shut out for the first time in nine years when Gerrin Scott, playing for the first time this season, hit Lane Danielsen on a 43-yard touchdown pass. The Cyclones had scored at least 24 points in each of their first six games.

"They didn't do anything we hadn't seen before," Iowa State wide receiver Chris Anthony said. "Whatever they were doing, as an offense we didn't handle it as well as we should have."

Iowa State had been seeking a sixth victory to become eligible for its first bowl appearance since 1978, and the game drew a near sellout crowd of 48,931 on a sunny, 75-degree day.

But A&M quickly chilled the proceedings by converting a blocked punt on Iowa State's first series into a touchdown, and the Aggies effectively put the game out of reach with Farris' touchdown pass Goyens, which made it 17-0 with 13:48 left in the first half.

"When we scored, that crowd got pretty quiet," Farris said. "It was night and day between that first and second series."

The touchdown catch was the first of his career for Goyens, a sophomore. He was all alone when he stopped to catch the ball at midfield and easily outran the pursuit.

Kitchens made it 23-0 in the third quarter with his 50-yard field goal, his longest this season, and he had earlier kicks of 27 and 22 yards. Farris topped off the afternoon with his touchdown pass to Taylor, a play set up by Mickey Jones' 36-yard punt return.

Texas A&M set the tone defensively by forcing Iowa State to go three-and-out on its first series. With Carl Gomez punting at his own 30, Jay Brooks burst through the middle of the line to bat down the kick and the ball rolled all the way to the 5.

Farris scored on quarterback draw two plays later and it was 7-0 with just 2:13 gone in the game. Iowa State never recovered and by the start of the second half, some of the crowd had left.

"I've never seen a crowd leave at halftime," A&M linebacker Jason Glenn said. "Once we saw the crowd leave, we knew we had them against the ropes."

The one-sided score stunned Iowa State coach Dan McCarney. Only two weeks earlier, Iowa State had played top-ranked Nebraska even for three quarters before losing 49-27.

"If you can match up against Nebraska for three quarters, you ought to be able to match up against anybody in college football," McCarney said. "They were a better team today - faster, more physical. They just outclassed us."

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Players Mentioned

Chris Anthony

Lane Danielsen

Carl Gomez

Gerrin Scott

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics