A&M moving back toward Big 12 prominence

AMES, Iowa (AP) _ The Texas A&M Aggies could get used this: They're winning football games again and having fun doing it. <br/><br/>After a miserable 4-8 season in 2003, the Aggies are 4-1 and looking

Sunday, October 10th 2004, 3:27 pm

By: News On 6

AMES, Iowa (AP) _ The Texas A&M Aggies could get used this: They're winning football games again and having fun doing it.

After a miserable 4-8 season in 2003, the Aggies are 4-1 and looking like a team that could cause some havoc in the Big 12 South.

Heck, they even won a road game and on Sunday, A&M joined The AP poll for the first time since the week of Sept. 29, 2002, moving in at No. 23.

A 34-3 victory at Iowa State on Saturday night ended an eight-game road losing streak for the Aggies and lifted them to 2-0 in the Big 12.

``We're very hungry right now,'' A&M wide receiver Jason Carter said. ``Last year we were like the laughingstock of college football. We know how it feels on both sides. It feels a lot better on the winning side.''

The Aggies have won four straight since a season-opening loss 41-21 loss at Utah. They've done it with Reggie McNeal, one of the league's best dual-threat quarterbacks, running an efficient offense and a defense that has posted one shutout and almost had another at Iowa State.

It's still too early to declare that the days of the Wrecking Crew have returned, but this doesn't look like a team that would lose to Oklahoma 77-0 again. The Aggies should get a better measure of where they stand in next Saturday's game at No. 16 Oklahoma State.

``Today in college football, (if) you keep anybody out of the end zone, you've accomplished something,'' second-year coach Dennis Franchione said.

A&M's improvement is typical of Franchione's career. In each of his six previous college coaching stops, his second season was always better than his first _ by an average of 2.5 victories.

A key for this year's team, he said, was that after the loss at Utah, everyone felt they were better than what they showed that night. The Aggies have outscored their opponents 134-39 since.

``Everybody wanted to go play,'' Franchione said. ``We kept the belief system, kept working hard. We came back and beat Wyoming (31-0) and that kind of validated what we felt.''

The only thing Saturday night's game validated for Iowa State was the fear the Cyclones (2-3, 0-2) were headed for the same slippery slope that resulted in a 2-10 record last season. The offense can't score and the defense can't get off the field.

It its two Big 12 games, Iowa State has been outscored 70-10.

``Losing is losing,'' Iowa State coach Dan McCarney said. ``But this isn't the second or third week in November. We still have lots and lots of football to play.

``We can't let this game affect what we do in the next two.''

Iowa State, which plays at Colorado next Saturday, moved the ball at times against the Aggies. The Cyclones drove inside the A&M 40-yard line four times but had only Brian Jansen's 27-yard field goal to show for those opportunities.

``We're feeling that we're really close,'' ISU wide receiver Jon Davis said. ``It might not look like it, but we feel like we can play with these teams. We've just got to get everybody playing well at the same time. Once we put it together, we'll be all right.''

McNeal tormented Iowa State all night. He threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns, scored on a 2-yard run and constantly scrambled out of trouble.

One play in particular stands out. On second-and-21 from his own 4, McNeal escaped three ISU players who had a chance at sacking him for a safety and completed a 23-yard pass to Carter.

``That's a great athletic move and a great sense on his part to feel the backside pressure coming and avoid it and throw a strike to Jason like he did,'' Franchione said. ``There aren't many people who can make that play.''

Franchione is happy he has one who can.