Aggies’ defense smothers ‘Cats’ Sproles

Kansas State running back fumbles twice in loss

? Shutting out Wyoming was a good start. Beating Clemson made things interesting. Now Texas A&M has made it three in a row, beating Kansas State, 42-30, Saturday night in a way that will make everyone take notice.

A&M defenders turned Darren Sproles into a liability, getting him to fumble twice and make uncharacteristic poor decisions. They hung in, too, despite being on the field for 90 plays and more than 40 minutes.

They were out there so long because the offense scored so quickly — all six touchdown drives took less than two minutes. That was understandable for the ones that started at the Kansas State 12-, 5- and 2-yard lines; impressive for the ones that went 80, 69 and 67 yards. Courtney Lewis ran for three touchdowns, while Reggie McNeal threw for one and ran for another.

The well rounded performance was the best indication yet that the Aggies have hit their stride in their second year under coach Dennis Franchione. After a rocky end to the R.C. Slocum era and a 4-8 start under Franchione last season, A&M once again could be a force in the Big 12 Conference.

“I do feel like we’ve taken major steps,” said Franchione, hired from Alabama because of his track record of quick turnarounds, usually starting in the second season. “There’s a lot of value in how hard we had to play to win this game.”

A&M (3-1, 1-0) has its first three-game winning streak under coach Fran and its first winning record for him in non-conference play. With Iowa State up next, the Aggies could be headed toward their first ranking since he took over.

“I don’t think we’re surprising ourselves,” said cornerback Japhus Brown, who had a key interception. “We were expecting to be (good) given this is our second year under Fran. I think everybody is finally buying into his ways and understanding that we’re here to win.”

The Wildcats (2-2) opened Big 12 play 0-1 for the third straight year. Playing its first road game this season, KSU struggled with crowd noise but was more undone by three turnovers and a failed fourth-down play in the closing minutes, trailing 35-30.

Texas A&M's Renuel Greene returns a fumble by Kansas State's Darren Sproles as Kansas State quarterback Dylan Meier (9) moves in for the tackle. The Aggies popped the Wildcats, 42-30, Saturday in College Station, Texas.

“We got beat by what was a better football team tonight,” K-State coach Bill Snyder said. “I don’t think collectively we played well enough to win.”

Sproles lost a fumble at the start of the second drive and the Aggies turned it into their first touchdown. In the third quarter, he fumbled a punt he never should’ve tried catching and A&M — which had been losing momentum — scored soon after to go ahead 28-17.