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Updated 4:56 AM on Saturday, October 13, 2007

Ags leery of road rage

A&M begins tough stretch at Texas Tech

By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Staff Writer

Getting out of town this weekend isn't such a bad idea for the Texas A&M football team, except that Lubbock has been a terrible destination for Aggies trying to leave their troubles behind.

For two weeks, the players had to deal with the revelation that A&M head coach Dennis Franchione secretly e-mailed a newsletter to select boosters. A&M (5-1, 2-0 Big 12) still managed to win two conference games to grab sole possession of first place in the Big 12 South for the first time in Franchione's five-year tenure.

Now Franchione's future is in limbo after A&M announced the results of its internal investigation into his secret newsletter Thursday.

A&M director of athletics Bill Byrne admonished Franchione for his actions and ordered Franchione to shut down his Web site, CoachFran.com. A&M also admitted to three NCAA violations and fired Franchione's personal assistant Mike McKenzie, who wrote the secret newsletters and "Friday with Fran," which appeared on CoachFran.com.

Franchione, who doesn't meet with the press after Wednesday during a game week, apologized to his players, the school and Aggies through a statement. He added that he was turning his focus to Texas Tech, which is the first of four road games in five weeks for the Aggies.

The players, who last met the press at Tuesday's weekly press conference, won't be able to comment about their coach until after Saturday's game.

Last Tuesday, the players showed up during Franchione's press conference to show their support for the coach. Their actions could speak volumes Saturday in Lubbock, where the Aggies have lost six straight, the last two by a combined 70 points.

"Sometimes, you just gotta forget all the things going on," A&M quarterback Stephen McGee said. "You just have to go out there and have fun."

Tech (5-1, 1-1) has had plenty of fun at A&M's expense. The Red Raiders have won nine of the last 12 meetings and claimed a 31-27 victory last year, winning on a 37-yard pass from quarterback Graham Harrell to Robert Johnson with 26 seconds left at Kyle Field.

The Aggies thought they had won the game a few plays earlier on linebacker Mark Dodge's interception, but it was ruled an incompletion after a review.

"I really didn't understand [the rivalry] until after playing in it last year," said Dodge, a junior college transfer in his second season at A&M. "It's definitely a heated rivalry. The schools are kinda rough to each other."

Tech fans have helped create a home-field advantage with a wild atmosphere. Aggie players have had batteries and tortillas thrown at them in the past, and Tech fans tore down goal posts after victories over A&M in 1999 and 2001, the last time carrying them into the A&M section.

Current A&M chancellor Mike McKinney, whose son Seth McKinney played in the game, needed eight stitches after being punched by a fan, who later was discovered to be an Aggie.

This year, Tech officials had to ban the sale of a T-shirt featuring a drawing of a football player dangling A&M mascot Reveille by the collie's leash. The red shirts had black text reading "VICK 'EM" on the front in reference to the Aggies' slogan "Gig 'em" and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who was indicted on dog-fighting charges.

Franchione and the players know what's ahead.

"Their crowd is always as much into the game as anywhere we go," Franchione said. "I really think their stadium has created a nice atmosphere for the home team. Their team feeds off of it very well."

The Red Raiders have the type of team that keeps fans revved up.

Tech's offense is averaging an NCAA-best 513 yards passing per game and 52.5 points per game, which is second in the country.

Harrell is on pace to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns. He's completing 73.5 percent of his passes with redshirt freshman sensation Michael Crabtree leading the receivers with 70 catches for 1,074 yards and 17 TDs.

"[Harrell] just seems to have such a presence about him about where guys are and coverage and timing," Franchione said.

Tech has thrown four interceptions, been sacked seven times and punted only 11 times, similar numbers to last season when A&M almost had a perfect game plan to beat Tech. A&M held Tech to 56 plays and rushed for 250 yards, which allowed the Aggies to hold the ball for 37 minutes, 18 seconds to Tech's 22:42. A&M had a trio of 14-play drives, and added a touchdown on Kerry Franks' 99-yard kickoff return.

Tech's offense was only 1 of 7 on third downs. Still, Tech won.

"Well, we kept our patience," Franchione said. "We got behind in the first half, but we were able to maintain our patience."

Even though A&M hasn't won in Lubbock since 1993, junior tailback Jorvorskie Lane guaranteed a victory.

"Our team chemistry is so strong right now," Lane said Tuesday. "I think ain't nothin' can break us. From what we went through with that situation with Coach Fran, and [then] we were down 17 points last week [to Oklahoma State]. I mean it's a real big motivation factor right now. But other than that, we just go play."