Lane plows into record books

By: Brad Cox

Posted: 10/13/08

When senior running back Jorvorskie Lane entered the field with 1:32 remaining in the second quarter of Texas A&M's football game against Kansas State Wildcats Saturday, fans were making the "J-Train" motion with their arms.

Before the game Lane had not scored a touchdown since scoring on a 2-yard run against Missouri in 2007. His touchdown drought had stretched seven games. Lane's career rushing touchdown total was stagnant at 44, the all-time record, which Lane shared with former Aggie football player Darren Lewis.

In the fourth and final year of his career, Lane plowed through the Wildcat defensive line from the 1-yard line on a 4th and goal play to score his 45th career rushing touchdown, 46th total.

Though the Aggies lost the game 44-30, Lane's touchdown defeated a record that had stood since 1990.

"I'm still a little down about the loss," Lane said after the game. "I did it, it's done, [let's]continue to work. It was a hard process. Like I said, I'd rather have the win today than the record."

The loss was A&M's fourth of the season, dropping its record to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play. Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996, the Aggies have not started conference play with a 0-2 record.

Junior quarterback Josh Freeman was the catalyst for the Wildcats. Freeman's 6-foot-6-inch, 250-pound frame was unstoppable as he rushed for 95 yards and 4 touchdowns while throwing for 234 yards.

"People just kind of bounced off of him," A&M Head Coach Mike Sherman said about Freeman. "He's a lot bigger than I thought he was. When you see him in person he's very thick."

Freeman scored the first touchdown of the game on a 12-yard run to cap an 81-yard drive that began the game. The Wildcats stretched their lead when they blocked a punt that landed near the sidelines and spun on end without leaving the field of play. Junior defensive back Courtney Herndon returned the blocked punt for a touchdown.

By halftime the Wildcats led the Aggies 27-10 and were leading in rushing yards, passing yards, first downs, possession time and had not committed a penalty while A&M had four first half penalties.

"Nothing really matters unless you get the [win]," said sophomore Aggie quarterback Jerrod Johnson, who threw for 419 yards and 2 touchdowns. "Every game there's probably about 5 or 6 plays that decide the outcome of the game."

A&M outscored Kansas State 20-17 in the second half, but the 17-point deficit at half time was too much for the Aggies to return from. Johnson threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, one to junior running back Mike Goodson and another to freshman receiver Ryan Tannehill.

"It really doesn't mean that much when you don't get the win," Tannehill said about his 12 receptions for 210 yards. "If you don't bring home the [win] you can't look at stats, you can't look at numbers, you can't look at anything but the [loss]."

The A&M defense, once nicknamed the "Wrecking Crew" because of its success, gave up a 100-yard rusher for the fifth time this season. The game also marked the third time in 2008 the defense has given up more than 400 total offensive yards.

"You just got to go back to work, see if we can't find a way to slow down a Texas Tech football team that's probably as good as anybody in the country at throwing the football," defensive coordinator Joe Kines said about his team's showing. "That will be a big challenge for us. When they ring that bell and pull that rope and that bull comes out of the chute, you just got two choices, hang on or get bucked off. We're going to strap a little tighter and hang on."