Stephen McGee took off down the sideline and was popped pretty good by Oklahoma's D.J. Wolfe.
McGee bounced up immediately, got in the defensive back's face and an Aggie quarterback was born.
On Saturday, that quarterback will have gone full circle, suiting up for his final game at Kyle Field.
Despite starting 29 consecutive games at one time, it's not even known if McGee will see the field against those same Sooners.
It doesn't seem appropriate that McGee will go out so quietly after being in the middle of everything concerning Texas A&M football, both on and off the field, for almost three years.
McGee was the face of the Aggies from the time he took over for an injured Reggie McNeal in Norman and led the Aggies on three scoring drives in a little over a quarter. The next game, the freshman McGee, wearing No. 15, displayed his competitiveness to the home fans by matching Heisman candidate Vince Young play for play in a 40-29 game that was much closer than anyone believed possible against the then-soon-to-be national champion Longhorns.
It didn't matter if it was against the No. 1 team in the nation or a spring practice, McGee's best quality was that he always gave you his all.
In his first true spring as the No. 1 quarterback, McGee lowered his shoulder pads as much as any linebacker. Often times, he was taking on a linebacker, including back-to-back hits once with Justin Warren, the Aggies best linebacker at that time.
After the first hit, Warren told him to bring it on again and McGee did. It was the kind of thing that made former A&M head coach Dennis Franchione smile and cringe at the same time.
Franchione was often asked about reining in the 6-foot-3, 207-pound McGee.
The usual response went something like, "I'm trying."
McGee never expected anyone else to do something he wouldn't do. If it helped the Aggies win, that justified what he did even more.
When I think of McGee the player, I will remember the time he was led off Memorial Field in Nebraksa by two trainers, because after 35 carries and 35 hits, most against players bigger than him, it was too much for him to complete the walk to the visitors' locker room. The scene was Kellen Winslow-esque.
As he passed by, I remember thinking how physically drained he looked. I remember thinking if he had to carry the ball another time to get the win, he would have done it. I remember realizing what he had truly gone through that day when 280-pound tailback Jorvorskie Lane sat down at the press conference later shaking his head in admiration for the punishment McGee had endured.
When I think of McGee the teammate, I go back to the "bull crap" press conference, when McGee defended his coach during the time everything started falling in around Franchione, the A&M coach of five years. He later got all the players to attend a pre-game press conference to show their backing for Franchione.
McGee took a lot of hits on the field. He may have taken more for the way he continued to defend Franchione over the final months. Many of the latter blows stung more because they were directed at him from Aggie fans.
I'll be the first to say it was a play that had too many acts.
But you can't help but respect someone who stands up for what he so passionately believes in.
At the beginning of the season, with the Franchione saga behind everyone and new coach Mike Sherman having put his stamp on Aggie football, McGee appeared as happy as he's been at A&M.
It was his senior year. He had battled for the starting quarterback job with Jerrod Johnson and Ryan Tannehill and won. The quarterback that broke Class 3A high school state passing records at Burnet was going to get to throw the football in an NFL-type offense.
He even mentioned how much he was looking forward to not getting hit so many times since his pass-to carry ratio would be closer to 10-to-1 instead of 2-to-1.
Ironically, McGee has been forced to sit out games for the first time because of a hit he endured while passing the football.
McGee rushed the ball 370 times coming into the season and never missed an extended period of time.
Before he'd thrown 35 passes this season, he was on the shelf. Even then, in true McGee fashion, the coaches had to pull him out.
Because of that injury, it's now Jerrod Johnson's team, and the future looks bright with him under center.
In an odd twist, McGee was all about what was good for the team, and his injury has assisted the future of A&M football with Johnson, only a sophomore, receiving an opportunity to gain experience and prove that he is a quarterback the Aggies can make strides with.
McGee is among the top five in the A&M record book in almost every career statistical category for quarterbacks.
He's second in total offense with 6,959 yards and second in rushing yards behind the legendary Bucky Richardson.
Lately though, he can only be seen on the sideline, baseball cap on backward, cheering on and talking up Johnson, or sitting with another future Aggie QB, Tommy Dorman.
It's difficult to think of a favorable situation in which McGee could get into Saturday's game against No. 6 Oklahoma. One more milestone, one more touchdown pass would make for a memorable ending at Kyle Field.
I'm sure he'd take a victory, though, as it's not about numbers for McGee, it's about wins, 17 of which the Aggies had with him as the starting quarterback.
Two of those were against Texas, a stat no Aggie fan should forget.
Richard Croome's e-mail is richard.croome@theeagle.com.