link Life-changing game for three participants By JOHN P. LOPEZ Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle COLLEGE STATION -- They'll come together every few years for reunions, banquets and alumni weekends. They'll gather at some hotel ballroom, sitting around tables, scratching their bald heads and introducing grandchildren. And inevitably they will look back on one day. This day. This was a most unforgettable, extraordinary, unusual day -- a day 86,478 Kyle Field fans witnessed probably the best college football game they ever saw or will see. This was a day Texas A&M-Texas Tech wasn't deemed worthy of television. Only after the Red Raiders danced off the field with Aggies hearts in their hands was it easy to understand why. TV pictures last only as long as the tape on which they are recorded. This was oil on canvas come to life, a masterpiece that never will fade. The sky was powder blue and the clouds puffy white, the perfect outline for a heart-stopping 48-47 Raiders overtime victory that jumped off the palette and into thousands of hearts with every stroke of brilliance these teams provided. For better or worse, depending on whether lasting impressions of this game are framed along the Brazos Valley or the West Texas plains, this was a day that will affect so many for so long. But how this day changed things for three characters standing in the middle of it all, three subjects open for interpretation, will linger more than any others. The quarterback, the kicker and the coach. Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury's life changed with Saturday's miraculous performance. Forever. "Remember when ... " they'll say years from now, as they shake their heads and marvel at the perfection Kingsbury had at his fingertips. They'll talk about how ultimately there might not have been a better Heisman-worthy effort than the 49-of-59 five-touchdown show Kingsbury put on, ending with one final stroke in overtime. Texas A&M kicker John Pierson's life changed with Saturday's miraculous performance. Forever. "Whatever happened to John Pierson?" they'll say years from now, reflecting on that October day the A&M kicker was left devastated and broken, standing all alone amid the throng. Twice. They'll talk about how, starting for the first time in his career, Pierson could have been the hero, if only he had made the simplest of kicks -- the point after touchdown. But he missed. He missed twice, including a probable game-winner after a stunning late touchdown in regulation, Aggies quarterback Dustin Long's sixth TD pass. "It's nobody's fault but mine," Pierson said. "The first one ... it went over the top of the upright, I couldn't tell you how much I missed it by. Not much. The second one, I just pulled it a little bit." They'll talk about Aggies coach R.C. Slocum. And they'll wonder. "You think that was the beginning of the end for him?" they'll say. For all the games and championships Slocum has won, for all the fans and alumni that have steadfastly stood in his corner, some days are impossible to forget and impossible to overcome. This was one. This was a day the Wrecking Crew was wrecked, the best Aggies offensive performance in years (517 total yards) was wasted and the direction of Slocum's career went spinning wildly off course, right along with the football off Pierson's toe. This was a day that will be framed, analyzed and interpreted thousands of times, a thousand ways. No one will forget: The electrifying 78-yard touchdown pass Long threw to begin the madness. The 82-yard bomb he dropped into Jamaar Taylor's hands for a 35-17 lead with just a quarter and a half remaining in regulation. The 24-point fourth-quarter rampage by the Raiders. The 88-yard fourth-quarter punt return by Tech star Wes Welker that gave the Raiders their first lead. The 75-yard drive in the final minutes to the brink of victory led by Long. The missed extra point by Pierson. The perfectly executed three-yard toss by Long -- a Big 12-record seventh TD pass -- for an overtime touchdown. The second extra point missed by Pierson. The shovel pass by Kingsbury for a 10-yard, overtime-tying touchdown. The Tech kicker, Robert Treece, setting off a mad Raiders celebration with the game-winning PAT. None of those who witnessed these plays on this day, or those who walked off the field drenched in sweat, will forget it. But the quarterback, the kicker and the coach -- the hero, the broken heart and the one whose career path might have spun off in a new direction -- will always be at the center of any conversation about the day that changed everything for them. This day. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Buying that ticket to the game yesterday was the best $40 I've ever spent.
I think there aren't many Techies on this board and we Aggies aren't in the mood to talk about this latest debacle.
