Texas A&M
(#16) Colorado
(#17) Texas A&M 16, (#16) Colorado 10
Oct 04, 1997 | Football
October 04, 1997
As they greeted the Texas A&M players and coaches outside the Folsom Field locker room, beaming family members, friends and fans clutched onto their cameras and snapped one photo after another. Wide angle shots. Close-ups. Background photos.
The theme of the postgame setting: Spare no film. Forget about the costs.
And why not? This was indeed a picture-perfect moment when an entire season may have come clearly into focus. The Aggies, underdeveloped and exposed the last two years by Colorado, proved on Saturday that they belong in the center of any picture involving Big 12 title contenders.
Texas A&M 16, Colorado 10. Enlarge it. Frame it. Put it in a scrapbook.
The Aggies will celebrate this one, especially considering all the bizarre circumstances. The Aggies fumbled seven times. They lost three turnovers. They had their backs against their goal line in the closing minutes. They hadn't beaten a ranked team on the road since 1991, and they had never beaten Colorado.
And yet they still won. How? This team has guts. Pure and simple.
It may be the biggest regular season win in the R.C. Slocum era. You could argue otherwise, of course. But no previous big conference win in the Slocum tenure ever came after a 6-6 season. And perhaps no other win will silence so many critics.
The jokes about A&M's weak non-conference schedule will stop. The Aggies, 4-0 for the first time since 1994, are still a long way away from having the last laugh, but they're smiling big time.
Certainly, the Aggies appear to be for real. And the amazing thing about this victory is that it came in a game where the Aggies didn't play well.
Offensively, the Aggies established an outstanding running game, something they had not been able to do against the Buffaloes in the previous two meetings. A&M pounded out 260 rushing yards against Colorado, but too many fumbles and an inconsistent passing game prevented the Aggies from taking complete control.
Defensively, the Aggies were dominant for much of the game, but Colorado seemed to be taking control late in the contest. The Buffaloes drove 80 yards early in the fourth quarter to cut A&M's lead to 16-10 with 13:26 left in the game. Then, after A&M failed to put the contest out of reach with a late field goal, Colorado again drove deep into A&M territory.
When CU quarterback John Hessler hit receiver Darrin Chiaverini on a spectacular 37-yard catch, the Buffaloes appeared to be on the verge of dealing A&M another tough loss. Colorado had the ball on the Aggies' 28 with three minutes left. The boisterous CU fans were smelling blood. Momentum was wearing black and gold.
In years past, the Aggies likely would have crumble. Not this year.
Coady made the interception of his life, and the Aggies were on their way to a monumental win.
Coady's play was the most dramatic of the game because it came in the final minutes. But it was probably no more spectacular - in importance, at least - than the one linebacker Dat Nguyen made early in the game.
Following an interception deep in A&M territory. the Buffaloes took 3-0 lead. Then, after back to back A&M fumbles (the second one lost), the Buffs threatened to take control of the contest. Colorado marched to the A&M 1, where the Buffaloes decided to go for it on fourth-and-goal.
Senior running back Herchell Troutman got the call, but Dat Nguyen stuffed him for a three-yard loss, breaking through the line of scrimmage and overpowering the blocking back.
The A&M special teams were very special. Kicker Kyle Bryant missed one field goal attempt late in the game, but he connected on field goals of 30, 31 and 47 yards to help the Aggies build a 16-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Lechler averaged 52.3 yards on four punts. His 70-yard punt in the third quarter pinned Colorado late in their own territory which led to a Colorado fumble and A&M's only touchdown by Sirr Parker. And with 17 seconds left in the game, he boomed a 62-yard punt that would keep Colorado from having a Hail Mary attempt.
For the most part, they looked like the Aggies before the 1995 loss to Colorado. The loss that seemed to send A&M on a tailspin. They weren't always sharp on Saturday, buy they did come through in clutch. And they did get one monumental Buffalo off their backs.
