Redshirt freshman QB gives Horns no pass in his first career start

08:07 PM CST on Friday, November 25, 2005

COLLEGE STATION – The future of Texas A&M football has been the subject of intense speculation lately, what with the present such a disagreeable notion around Thanksgiving tables.

And then, of all things on a hazy Friday afternoon at Kyle Field, the present and future collided with a whoop and a wallop.

Not that it jarred Texas' own brilliant vision. The Longhorns didn't look it Friday, but this is the best Texas team in just about anyone's memory and, finally roused, it performed like it in a 40-29 victory.

But the Aggies made them earn every inch of it. And considering everything that's happened in a 5-6 season, who'd have thought that measure of response possible?

Not Vince Young, apparently. His Horns favored by nearly four touchdowns, he was so blasé about the possibilities of an upset on the road that earlier this week he called Kyle Field's faithful a "bunch of drunks."

And the fans' interlocking weave during the fight song? "Ridiculous," Young said.

Didn't have much to say about Stephen McGee, A&M's redshirt freshman quarterback. No wonder, either. McGee didn't find out he'd be starting his first college game until Tuesday with Reggie McNeal out.

But McGee already had the backing of some teammates, and Jason Carter taught him how to get the rest.

"The way to get everyone's respect," Carter told him, "is to go out and play hard and play tough."

Check and check.

Said Carter: "He's the toughest guy I've ever played with."

Pretty heady praise for a freshman, especially coming from a senior who's good friends with the former QB. But you had to see McGee, billed as a passing QB coming out of high school, making head-on collisions Friday and refusing to duck out of bounds when the opportunity presented itself.

A passing QB? McGee looked like Lance McIlhenny running the option, only with a couple more gears.

"He's a fast guy," Texas' Rodrigue Wright said, "and we weren't tackling very well."

No, they weren't. You'd have thought Texas had never seen an option play, for that matter.

In fact, had McGee not struggled with his accuracy, the Longhorns might be packing for the Fiesta Bowl over the holidays instead of Pasadena.

But Texas knows how to turn it on. Every time A&M made a run, the Horns responded. Wright forced a McGee fumble at the Texas 14 with 9:42 left and the Aggies down by eight. And what that turnover didn't douse of A&M's fire, a fumbled punt quenched a minute later.

Still, the Aggies hung in. Not that they took any pleasure in moral victories. Nothing Friday was going to fix a disappointing season.

No one was going to save his job, either. Prediction: At least one A&M coach will lose his job over this season, but it won't be Dennis Franchione.

Carl Torbush, the Aggies' defensive coordinator, will pay. He didn't get much of a vote of confidence from his boss. Franchione called the Aggies' defensive effort Friday "solid" but declined further comment, saying he won't make any "rash" decisions.

Translation: Nice knowing you, Carl.

If this was indeed Torbush's last game, he went out with class. He made no excuses for what's happened and warned anyone who gets in Texas' way from here on out.

"Anybody they play, they've got problems," he said. "When everything else breaks down, they've still got a chance to make a play."

The Aggies tried everything to make plays: a flea flicker, a halfback option, pooch kicks, the works.

Some succeeded; most didn't. But they can at least take solace in the effort. No one else this season held the Horns to fewer yards, and they might have wrecked Young's Heisman hopes.

For most of the game, Young wasn't even the best QB on the field. McGee's gutty, gritty performance earned him that title, at least for one day.

And from here on out? Hard to say, especially when the Aggies underachieved so much this season.

But it seems safe to assume they've found a QB and a running back in Jorvorskie Lane and the makings of good line on both sides of the ball.

Other than that, all they were doing Friday was playing for pride, a difficult job when you're not always sure exactly what it is you're supposed to be proud of. But at least the Aggies have a clue now.

E-mail ksherrington@dallasnews.com