HOLIDAY BOWL NOTEBOOK : Aggies Won’t Be Run Ragged

Texas A&M;’s secret ingredient for Brigham Young in Saturday’s Holiday Bowl was revealed Wednesday: Extra conditioning.

Junior cornerback Kevin Smith, Texas A&M;’s career interception leader and currently tied for first on the Southwest Conference’s all-time list with 18, said at a Sea World news conference that the Aggies have been working harder than usual in practice for the past two weeks.

He said the Aggies decided they needed to after facing Houston’s run-and-shoot offense Oct. 13. The Aggies lost to Houston, 36-31, and although BYU doesn’t use the run-and-shoot, Smith said the run-and-shoot is similar enough to help in preparation.

“It does as far as knowing how to prepare us for conditioning,” Smith said. “After Houston, we were really tired. Personally, I needed more conditioning, and the coaches knew (the team) did, too. . . . We’ve been running wind sprints, things like that.”

Add Smith: In becoming Texas A&M;’s career interception leader, he passed a fellow by the name of Lester Hayes, who held the old record of 14 and went on to play for the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders.

“It’s funny, a guy told me when I first got here that I will hardly get any interceptions in (man-to-man) coverage,” Smith said. “I’ve been fortunate. I’ve had guys force the quarterbacks into throwing bad passes. Lately, I have to credit playing the safety position against run-and-shoot teams. When I’m at the corner spot, teams throw away from me.”

By Ty: Not unexpectedly, BYU quarterback Ty Detmer drew the largest crowds at the news conference Wednesday afternoon. A few excerpted comments:

On last year’s 50-39 Holiday Bowl loss to Penn State: “You never expect it’s going to be like that. Those things just kind of happen. . . . Seems like things turn out weird here every year.”

On playing a school from his native Texas: “It’s exciting for me to get to play a Texas school. I’d like to have a good performance so I can go home and not hear about it all holidays long.”

On seriously considering attending a Texas school instead of BYU: “I never did. I knew I had to get out of Texas to be successful throwing the ball.”

Family Ties: Senior Brian Mitchell, a first-team all-Western Athletic Conference defensive back, is one of 10 BYU players from Texas. He graduated from high school in 1987, the same year that Texas A&M; star running back Darren Lewis graduated from Carter High in Dallas. Mitchell said that, although he never played against Lewis in high school, he kept track of Lewis’ progress.

“He was the No. 1 back coming out, and you try to keep up with the guys graduating with you,” Mitchell said. “And I keep up with A&M--they; were my favorite team growing up.”

But Mitchell said he wasn’t recruited by the Aggies.

“Seems like I got something to prove,” he said. “Half my friends in high school went to A&M.;”

Two current Aggies were teammates of Mitchell’s in Waco: linebacker Anthony Williams and cornerback Eric Moore.

Freshman defensive lineman Kefa Chatham also went to the same high school, but he was a few years behind Mitchell.