Disastrous beginning dooms Ags
by
Mike Finger, San Antonio Express-News
December 29, 1999

It wasn't exactly the beginning that makes for an upset.

The first time Randy McCown dropped back to pass on Tuesday night, he was drilled by fire-breathing Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington just as he threw an interception. His next try resulted in a bruising sack by Justin Kurpeikis.

And by the time Texas A&M had run its third passing play, McCown had been picked off twice, sacked once, and had dug his Aggies into an emotional hole they never overcame in a 24-0 drubbing at the hand of Penn State in the Sylvania Alamo Bowl.

"That wasn't the way we initially planned on starting the game," admitted a dejected McCown, who threw a career-high four interceptions to tie the Alamo Bowl record set by Kansas State's Michael Bishop last year.

Texas A&M actually was fortunate the Nittany Lions were only able to get a single touchdown out of McCown's disastrous start, as Derek Fox's 34-yard return of McCown's second pass was the only time Penn State reached the scoreboard in the first quarter.

Nevertheless, the Nittany Lions had succeeded in setting a tone and sending a quick message: It was going to be a long night for the Aggies.

"It's tough to compete when you start with two turnovers like that," defensive back Jason Webster said. "But it was a challenge we had to face."

To his credit, McCown came back and completed 11 of his next 13 passes after the two early interceptions, but Arrington and Penn State's stifling pressure always ensured that the senior from Jacksonville wouldn't make the big play when the Aggies needed it.

McCown appeared ready to thrust A&M back into the game on a 17-play drive in the first half that lasted 8:40, but it stalled on an incompletion to Bethel Johnson and ended with Shane Lechler missing a 44-yard field goal.

The back-breaker, however, came on the first possession of the third quarter. With A&M threatening to pull within seven points, the 12-play, 66-yard drive came to a halt when a blitzing Arrington hit McCown's arm, allowing Penn State's Ron Graham to intercept a floating duck and essentially end the Aggies' hopes.

"That was big series," A&M coach R.C. Slocum said. "To go down the field like that and come up short . . . We lost a lot of momentum."

Arrington was a key factor in most of the Aggies' turnovers, as the Butkus Award-winning linebacker and possible No. 1 draft choice hit McCown on three of his for picks. Despite the fact that A&M couldn't solve Arrington and that the Aggies were held to just 202 yards of total offense, McCown couldn't help but think they were just a couple of averted mistakes away from giving the Nittany Lions a run for their money.

"We were moving the ball, but it was the turnovers that killed us," said McCown, who completed 13 of 24 passes for 105 yards in his last college game. "I didn't think they really shut us down."

McCown said the shutout, which was the first for the Aggies in a bowl game since a 20-0 loss to Southern California in the 1975 Liberty Bowl, was especially disheartening because it was the last game for quarterbacks coach Ray Dorr.

Dorr, a 58-year old who has been with the Aggies since 1997, announced Monday that his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) would force him to retire from coaching after the Alamo Bowl.

"It's been and up-and-down year, and it's been tough to handle," McCown said. "But this doesn't compare to what a guy on our coaching staff is going through. The sun is going to come up tomorrow."