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Published Sep 22, 2024
Aggies win in underwhelming fashion, 26-20
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Mark Passwaters  •  AggieYell
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Chad Cross, a DFW native, began his career in the roofing industry in 1996. Out of a desire to provide quality and excellence in customer service, Chad launched his own company, CLC Roofing, Inc. in 1999. Chad is a second-generation Aggie, a member of the Class of ‘94 and was a member of the Corps of Cadets Squadron 12. Chad is married to wife Lynee ‘95 and they have 3 Aggie sons: Cade ‘22, Carson ‘25 and Chase ‘27. Chad enjoys playing golf, reading, watching sports and spending time with family at their home in Southlake, Texas. As multi-sport season ticket holders, Chad and Lynee are blessed to spend a lot of time in Aggieland attending Aggie sports events.

Chad has more than 25 years of experience in the roofing industry, including sales, project management, manufacturer representation, as well as catastrophe adjusting. Chad and his team at CLC Roofing, Inc. strive to make sure clients just like you receive the level of excellence in service and workmanship that you deserve! For your roofing needs, contact Chad Cross at (972) 304-4431 or info@clcroofing.com and mention Aggieyell.com.

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS -- Texas A&M won Saturday night. They're now 3-1 on the season. That's the good news.

The bad news is their lackadaisical effort against Bowling Green had them perilously close to being a national embarrassment.

"'I'm proud of our guys for making enough plays to win the game," coach Mike Elko said. "Other than that, just so many things to fix and clean up."

The No. 25 Aggies escaped with a 26-20 win over MAC visitor Bowling Green (1-2) in a game that could have been been an Aggie blowout or an outright loss. A&M found an unimpressive middle ground.

The Aggies' first drive was anything but unimpressive, as redshirt freshman quarterback Marcel Reed came out on fire, completing five of six passes and converting two third downs. Reed capped the drive with a perfect pass to tight end Theo Ohrstrom from 27 yards away, giving Baby Thor his second touchdown in as many weeks.

A&M was able to keep Bowling Green off the scoreboard in the first quarter, but not out of Aggie territory. A holding penalty short-circuited the Falcons' first drive, which made it as far as the A&M 43-yard-line, then a sack by Shemar Stewart forced another punt from midfield.

But the Aggies weren't doing anything with the ball either, with Reed only hitting one of his next six passes for 1 yard. Eventually, Bowling Green was able to get into field goal range for Jackson Kleather, who hit from 33 yards out to make the game 7-3 with 13:35 to go in the half.

A botched onside kick effort set the Aggies up in prime real estate for their next drive, and they took advantage. After a pass interference on Bowling Green's Edward Rhambo helped keep the Aggie drive alive, kicker Randy Bond converted a 28-yard field goal attempt to make the score 10-3.

The Falcons drove into Aggie territory once again on their next drive, but were eventually forced to punt again. A&M took over at their own 11 and started an 18-play drive with 6:16 left in the half. Reed kept the drive going with a 12-yard run on 3rd and 5 at the 18, but it looked like the drive was in trouble after a hold on guard Chase Bisontis on and a 3-yard sack of Reed on second down. On 3rd and 23, the Aggie set up a screen for running Le'Veon Moss (16 carries, 90 yards), who took it 20 yards to set up a 4th and 3.

The Aggies went for it and Reed (16-29, 173 yards, 2 TD; 91 yards rushing) found receiver Noah Thomas (5 catches, 38 yards) for an 8-yard completion to move the ball to the Bowling Green 36.

The Aggies would eventually move the ball down to the Falcons' 12, but couldn't punch it in. Bond hit his second field goal with 2 seconds left in the half, making the score 13-3 at intermission.

Even though A&M had the advantage, Reed's inconsistent play was a source of worry.

"I thought there were just times in the middle of the game where we just didn't operate the way we needed to. Some of that was on Marcel; some of that was on other people," Elko said. "We just got to find ways to get him a little bit more comfortable operating on some of the stuff we're doing tonight."

Everyone became a lot more uncomfortable immediately after the second half began, when kickoff specialist Jared Zirkel kicked the opening kickoff out of bounds, giving Bowling Green the ball at their own 35. One play later, Falcons quarterback Connor Bazelak (20-36, 250 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) found All-American candidate tight end Harold Fannin wide open deep in the Aggie secondary for a 65-yard touchdown that made it 13-10 just 12 seconds into the second half.

"We just flatout busted the coverage. I don't know how else to word it," Elko said. "We did a horrible job managing the tight end all night. Obviously, he was their best player. We knew it coming in, and we let him go for 8 (catches) for 145 (yards). You know, that's not acceptable."

Instead of fading, the Aggies rebounded immediately. Reed scrambled for 18 yards to get the Aggies out to midfield, then found receiver Jahdae Walker for a 29-yard catch and run that moved A&M into the red zone. This time, the Aggies did convert, with Walker pulling in a 6-yard score to put A&M back up 10 at 20-10.

Unwilling to go away, Bowling Green mounted a drive of their own that ended with a 40-yard reverse for a touchdown by wide receiver Rahkeem Smith. The Aggies nearly stopped the play in the backfield, but once Smith avoided the heavy pressure and turned the corner, it was smooth sailing -- and a second mental blunder had led to another Bowling Green touchdown.

"I think some guys got loose," defensive end Nic Scourton said. "I think we got to stay focused and come out with more intensity in the second half, because that's when it's important."

After a quick three and out for the Aggie offense, it looked like disaster had struck when Bowling Green's Trey Johnson blocked Tyler White's punt attempt, allowing the Falcons to take over at the Aggie 9-yard-line. But the defense pushed Bowling Green backwards and Kleather shanked a 28-yard field goal attempt, allowing the Aggies to escape with their 20-17 lead intact.

A&M then went on another long drive, this one of 12 plays, which stalled out at the Bowling Green 16 and led to a field goal by Bond that barely stayed inside the right upright. A&M's next drive also moved into Falcons territory, and again, A&M settled for a 42-yard field goal, Bond's fourth of the game.

"In the fourth quarter we had a couple of chances last week to put the game a little further in line. It didn't go right," Elko said.

With 7:13 to go in the game and only down 9, Bowling Green still had a chance to pull of the shocking upset. But while the Aggies couldn't get Bazelak and the Falcons off the field, they made Bowling Green slowly plod down the field. With just 1:38 to go in the game, Bazelak made a mistake, throwing the ball right to A&M safety Marcus Ratcliffe in the end zone.

But before the Aggies could celebrate, the defense was back on the field after Moss fumbled at the end of a 15-yard run to give Bowling Green the ball at A&M's 35. This time, the Falcons would settle for a field goal and, when tight end Donovan Green recovered the onside kick with 37 seconds left, the Aggies had a win that was much tougher than it should have been.

"So you put three touchdowns in there, you put two touchdowns in there, and it kind of changes the makeup of the game. But we couldn't finish drives," Elko said. "So many levels of frustration."

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