Jones Puts Fresh Spin on Texas A&M;’s Victory

Not a bad way to begin a career.

Freshman Byron Jones intercepted three passes in his first start, and Joe Weber scored two touchdowns, helping Texas A&M; end a four-game bowl losing streak with a 28-9 victory over Texas Christian in the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl on Friday.

Jones, one of five freshmen in the lineup, helped the Aggies beat their former Southwest Conference rival for the 24th consecutive time. He had to fight off flu to do his job.

“I really think it was just a bit of nervousness,” Jones said. “I woke up this morning and my stomach was queasy. But the doctors took care of me, and I played pretty well.”

Texas A&M; Coach R.C. Slocum was concerned before the game.

“Some of our players had a bug this morning,” Slocum said. “Byron didn’t look very good so the doctors gave him some medicine. I want to find out what kind of medication it was or what the bug was because he played a spectacular game.”

The Aggies won a bowl game for the first time since a 22-20 victory over Michigan in the 1995 Alamo Bowl.

“It was fun to finally win a bowl,” Slocum said.

“But I haven’t beat myself up personally about it. Sometimes we were just playing one of the best teams in the nation and we just weren’t good enough to win. Today, the better team won the game.”

The Aggies ended the season 8-4 after losing their final three regular-season games.

The Horned Frogs (6-6) haven’t beaten the Aggies since 1972, and trail the series, 56-29-7.

Weber, voted offensive player of the game, broke a 7-7 second-quarter tie with a two-yard touchdown run and added a 14-yard run that put the Aggies in control with 1:14 left in the third quarter.

TCU’s Casey Painters had four passes intercepted, including the first three interceptions of Jones’ career.

Safety Wes Bautovich got A&M;’s fourth interception. On the next play, Mark Farris hit Mickey Jones for an 82-yard touchdown pass and a 28-7 lead with 14:40 left in the game.

Weber, from San Bernardino Pacific High, broke straight up the middle on his second touchdown, knocking aside two tacklers and running into the end zone. He finished with 59 yards in nine carries.

Jones was the game’s MVP and also was the defensive player of the game. He had three tackles and ran back his interceptions a total of 77 yards.

Jones, wide receiver Terrence Thomas and tight end Thomas Carriger--all freshmen--helped the Aggies to a 14-7 halftime lead.

Starting in place of the injured Sean Weston, Jones had broken up only two passes in 11 games before he returned his first interception 62 yards in the first quarter to the TCU 35.

The Aggies couldn’t score on that chance, but Jones had a 15-yard interception return to TCU’s one-yard line in the second quarter, setting up Farris’ quarterback keeper for the score.

Charlie Owens scooped up a fumble by A&M; running back Derek Farmer and returned it 89 yards for a TCU touchdown with four minutes left in the half, tying the score, 7-7. It was the second-longest fumble return in school history.

“We felt like we had the momentum after the touchdown,” Owens said. “Then they got a couple of turnovers, and the momentum changed.”

After Owens’ touchdown, Thomas returned the kickoff 43 yards, and Carriger, a converted defensive lineman, ran 19 yards with his second reception of the season to set up Weber’s two-yard touchdown run with 1:06 left in the half.