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          Clemson falls to second straight unranked foe

          Sep 18, 2004

            COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ticker) -- Courtney Lewis and Reggie
            McNeal got Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione a win against a
            ranked opponent.

            Lewis ran 28 times for 165 yards and two touchdowns and
            quarterback McNeal added 129 yards on 17 carries as the Aggies
            cruised to a 27-6 victory over No. 25 Clemson.

            It is the first win over a ranked opponent in the Franchione era
            at College Station. The Aggies were 0-7 against top-25 teams
            since Franchione took over the program at the beginning of last
            season.

            "I'm real proud of our team," Franchione said. "And I'm really
            proud of our coaching staff. It was a team effort all the way
            across the board.

            "You beat a top 25 team at home and get yourself to 2-1 going
            into open day and getting ready for Big 12 play."

            Texas A&M (2-1) took advantage of two first-half interceptions
            by Charlie Whitehurst - both coming off the hands of Clemson
            receivers - to take command.

            Offensively, we just shot ourselves in the foot," Clemson coach
            Tommy Bowden said. "You can't turn the ball over and win any
            games, against Texas A&M or anyone else. We turned the ball
            over on offense, didn't put ourselves in position on defense,
            and didn't force any turnovers."

            "We just didn't make plays," Whitehurst said. "I think that's
            the bottom line. First and foremost, if I can play to the best
            of my ability this stuff doesn't happen. We just had guys not
            show up and I'm probably number one on that list.

            After defensive back Japhus Brown picked off Whitehurst, Lewis
            capped a 69-yard drive -- highlighted by his 44-yard scamper --
            with one-yard plunge into the end zone early in the second
            quarter to open the scoring.

            The sophomore tailback made it 14-0 as he ran 29 yards untouched
            into the end zone with 7:01 left in the second. The Tigers
            answered right back as Whitehurst hit tight end Ben Hall with a
            15-yard TD pass but Stephen Furr missed the extra-point attempt.

            The team's leading rusher from last season, Lewis was limited to
            10 carries in the opener to Utah, and was out of the Wyoming
            game because of injury.

            "Last week when I was at home watching the game I had a little
            urge to come back out and make a statement that I'm still here;
            still have my running ability no matter what happens," Lewis
            said.

            McNeal passed for 56 yards and ran for 32 in a nine-play,
            99-yard drive that Jason Carter capped by scoring from three
            yards out to give Clemson a 24-6 advantage with 9:55 left in the
            third quarter.

            "We started pounding on them and we could tell they were getting
            worn down so we just continued to execute our offense and just
            played together," said McNeal, who had 307 total yards in the
            game.

            Texas A&M rushed for 324 yards in the game, the most by the
            Aggies since 1997.

            Clemson (1-2) struggled to recover from its last-second, 28-24
            loss to Georgia Tech last week in which it blew a 10-point lead
            in the final two minutes.

            It is just the second time in Bowden's tenure that the Tigers
            lost following a defeat of seven or fewer points, falling to 9-2
            in those games.