Texas A&M
Texas
(#15) Texas A&M 27, Texas 16
Nov 28, 1997 | Football
November 28, 1997
Bonfire burned the night before the game. Kyle Field was packed, despite rain storms that El Nino would be proud to claim. And the opposing players showed up with orange emblems on their helmets and chips on their shoulder pads.
Other than those familiar reminders, however, last Friday's 104th Texas A&M-Texas game had a rather uncharacteristic, somewhat anticlimactic feeling to it.
The bands avoided confrontation. The Texas fans didn't try to storm the field. And following Texas A&M's workmanlike 27-16 win, the Aggies celebrated in a rather subdued manner, while the Longhorns slipped out of town quickly and seemed strangely serene. The postgame locker rooms didn't even provide any significant verbal jabs, for goodness sakes.
It was weird. Kind of like the setting of an A&M-Rice game. Except, of course, an A&M win over Rice would probably be more prestigious - at least in the eyes of the national college football followers - this year. After all, Rice did finish with a better record than Texas.
All things considered, the last orange-clad team that came into Kyle Field - Oklahoma State on Nov. 1 - stirred more emotions among A&M players, coaches, and fans.
On Friday, an A&M victory was a predictable as the thunderstorms that pounded the area and as expected as John Mackovic's dismissal as head coach. The Horns, led by Ricky Williams' gutsy 183-yard rushing performance, played one of their most complete and inspired games of the year. Texas took an early lead and even closed to within 21-16 early in the fourth quarter.
It didn't really matter, though. Victory for the Aggies (9-2 overall, 6-2 in the Big 12) was basically a forgone conclusion. The only major surprise to many of the 75,349 fans inside Kyle Field was that the final score was much closer than many people had expected.
The rain probably had a lot to do with that, as the sloppy conditions negated some of the obvious advantages - particularly in the passing game - the Aggies had coming into the contest. Nevertheless. A&M accomplished virtually everything it had set out to do: The Aggies won the Big 12 South title outright; they won nine games in the regular season for the first time since 1994; they made R.C. Slocum the winningest coach in school history; and they put an end to Texas' two-game winning streak in the series, winning for the 11th time in the last 14 games against Texas.
This is the Aggies' year - at least in terms of comparing A&M and Texas. A year ago, A&M ended a dreadful 6-6 season with a dismal 51-15 loss to the Longhorns. The 1996 Aggies failed to earn a bowl invitation, failed to produce a winning season for the first time since 1983 and failed to live up to preseason expectations.
Meanwhile, Mackovic and the Longhorns won the South and went on to gain national acclaim for upsetting Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game.
One year later, the roles are reversed. As Big 12 South champions, the Aggies are on their way to San Antonio to play North Division champ Nebraska on Saturday in the league's title game. The Longhorns, who claimed to have preseason hopes of contending for the national championship, will be home for the holidays after completing their worst season (4-7) since 1988.
The Aggies proved their point to the Longhorns on Friday, putting a nice finish on a strong regular season. After spotting Texas a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter, A&M took control of the game with two impressive drives before the half and one early in the third quarter.
Sirr Parker capped a 9-play, 77-yard drive with a 7-yard run to give the Aggies the lead for good with 10:45 left in the second quarter. Then, on A&M's next possession, D'Andre Hardeman scored on a 12-yard run to finish a 10-play, 80-yard drive.
On the Aggies' first possession of the third quarter, Hall put A&M in scoring position with a 52-yard run, and Parker finished off the drive with another 7-yard touchdown run to give A&M a 21-6 lead.
As good as Williams was for the Horns - Dat Nguyen called him the best player he had ever played against - the combination of Hall, Hardeman, and Parker was better. A&M's trio of running backs outgained Williams, 264-183, with Hall and Hardeman both topping the 100-yard mark.
As for junior quarterback Branndon Stewart, he and the Aggies did not have a single turnover, despite the terrible conditions. To their credit the Longhorns, who entered the game with the second-worst turnover ratio in Division I-A football, had just one turnover, but it was costly.
With A&M leading 24-16 late in the fourth quarter, Rich Coady forced UT receiver Kwame Cavil to fumble, and A&M's Jason Webster recovered at the Texas 43. Five plays later. Kyle Bryant kicked his second field goal of the quarter to put the game out of reach and to put the Longhorns out of their season-long misery.
Now it's on to bigger and better opponents for the Aggies. Nebraska awaits. That's a team that should stir the emotion inside all Aggies - the way Texas usually does.
