October 26, 2002
Freshman David Horne scored three of his four touchdowns in the second half as Nebraska finally won on the road, defeating Texas A&M 38-31 Saturday night.
The Cornhuskers (6-3, 2-2 Big 12) rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit to snap a five-game road losing streak, their longest since 1958.
They were on the verge of making it six in a row when Byron Jones returned a fumble by Jammal Lord 66 yards for a touchdown and a 31-14 Texas A&M lead midway through the third quarter.
Then the Aggies (5-3, 2-2) gave up 24 straight points--on Horne's touchdown runs of 21, 11 and 6 yards, and a 42-yard field goal by Josh Brown. Horne's go-ahead 6-yarder came with 11:01 to play.
The Aggies hadn't allowed a 100-yard individual rushing performance since the 2000 season, and the 'Huskers had two 100-yard performances. Lord ran 159 yards on 30 carries, and Horne finished with 128 yards on 24 carries.
The comeback kept alive hopes for a 34th straight nine-win season and a 34th straight bowl bid for Nebraska.
Texas A&M blew a big lead at home for their second straight time. The Aggies led Texas Tech 35-17 in the fourth quarter Oct. 5 but lost 48-47 in overtime.
Horne's 11-yard TD came early in the fourth quarter, and the Cornhuskers' drive was kept alive when fullback Judd Davies ran for a first down on fourth-and-one at the Nebraska 28. Davies made the first down by only inches.
Horne's 6-yard TD came after A&M's Cody Scates sent a punt just 14 yards.
Interceptions by Pat Rickets and Philip Bland killed A&M's last two drives.
A pass-interference penalty on Nebraska's Fabian Washington on fourth down helped the Aggies take a 21-14 lead with 16 seconds left in the first half, on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Long to Greg Porter.
Washington interfered with tight end Haven Massey in the end zone, giving the Aggies a first down at the Nebraska 1-yard line.
The Huskers did what they do best in the first drive of the game, running right at the Aggies' defense for a 12-yard TD run by Dahrran Diedrick. The 80-yard drive included a 41-yard run by Lord.
The Aggies then took advantage of two Cornhusker miscues in the final 2:25 of the first quarter for a 14-7 lead. Anthony Squillante blocked a punt by Nebraska's Kyle Larson, and Terrence Thomas picked it up and ran 12 yards for a touchdown.
Moments later, Aggies linebacker Jarrod Penright recovered a fumble by Diedrick at the Nebraska 6-yard line. After a 3-yard loss by running back Derek Farmer, Long hit Joe Weber with a 9-yard touchdown pass.
The Cornhuskers tied it at 14-14 midway in the second quarter, aided by a fourth-and-one leap by Lord and a 28-yard pass from Lord to Wilson Thomas that set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Horne.