January 21, 2006
Texas A&M's Reggie McNeal's 23-yard touchdown strike to Oregon State's Mike Hass capped a come-from-behind victory for the West squad in the 2006 East-West Shrine Game presented by AT&T.
McNeal, who sat out A&M's last regular season game with an ankle injury, was 9-11 passing for 211 yards and ran for another 32 yards on four carries. His 66-yard pass to Jason Carter set up a four yard touchdown run from New Mexico's DonTrell Moore that brought the West within three points to 31-28 with 6:55 left in the fourth quarter.
On the West's next drive McNeal hit BYU's Todd Watkins with a 46 yard completion before the game winning strike to Hass on the next play with only two minutes in the game. The nation's leading receiver in receiving yards, Hass hauled in four catches for 107 yards.
The East's final possession covered 72 yards, but ended when Arkansas running back De'Arrius Howard run from the West one yard line was stopped for a three yard loss as time expired.
McNeal won the Offensive MVP, while Syracuse's James Wyche won Defensive MVP honors. Wyche, a defensive lineman, finished the game with two sacks and three tackles.
De'Arrius Howard led the East's offense with 72 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries.
On the day, East and West quarterbacks combined to complete seven passes of 35+ yards during the game (37, 40, 43, 46, 48, 66 and 66 yards).