Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Jacksonville, FL–
When Jimbo Fisher came to Texas A&M his goal was to get the team back to the glory days of hard nosed football and trophies, tonight he did just that and perhaps gave his star player Trayveon Williams a possible send off party in a 52-13 rout of the N.C State Wolfpack in the Tax Slayer Gator Bowl.
“The most important thing is we got that bowl win, that bowl win that we’ve been missing out on the last four or five seasons,” Williams said. “We got that. We’re definitely molding and showing this program is going in a new direction.”
Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond completed 14 of 26 passes for 140 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Mond also ran five times for 85 yards and a score. Kendrick Rogers made a leaping, 6-yard catch in the back of the end zone to help Mond.
Ryan Finley, a senior for N.C State playing his final game, completed 19 of 32 passes for 139 yards. He threw a touchdown passes and two interceptions. Tyrel Dodson returned one of the picks 78 yards for a score early in the third quarter, a play that turned a close game into a two-touchdown advantage.
For most of the N.C State fans in attendance, they didn’t have much to look forward to in the second half as the team was completely dominated and looked at time out of sync with the interceptions that they threw late in the game.
“It’s on all of us,” coach Dave Doeren said. “It’s not the players’ fault. It’s not the coaches’ fault. It’s all of our faults, and we own it that way. Bottom line is they played better than we did, They coached better than we did, and I’ll own that.”
The game drew 38,206, the bowl’s smallest crowd since 1952.
