AUSTIN — Amid a second-half Longhorn stampede, Texas A&M’s 7-point lead, unbeaten record and perhaps a berth in the SEC title game imploded.
The CFP No. 3 Aggies’ eventual 27-17 defeat here in Royal-Memorial Stadium was indeed a Black Friday night in nearly every respect, except the most important one: It did not wreck A&M’s historically great season.
Not even close.
Unless, of course, the Aggies allow the emotional fallout of this loss to affect their hard-earned and much-deserved postseason bid.
Sports Roundup
Texas A&M (11-1, 7-1) still would get a berth in the Dec. 6 SEC title game if Alabama loses Saturday’s Iron Bowl game to Auburn. Regardless, the Aggies are considered as a lock to earn a College Football Playoff berth.
“We’re still going to the playoffs; probably gonna get a good seed,” Aggies linebacker Taurean York said. “We’ve got a lot to play for.
“But this one hurts. You want to win that trophy. You want to have the in-state rivalry bragging rights. But, you know, this wasn’t our time.”
York and other Aggies kept referring to last November in College Station, when the A&M-Texas rivalry’s 13-year hiatus ended with Texas’ 17-7 victory over the Aggies.
Related
That certainly explained the frustration on York’s face and in his voice late Friday night.
“We ended the season like this last year, honestly,” he said. “And we didn’t get that trophy and we’re going to drive back to College Station for the next two hours. It hurts a lot, but we’ve got to get ready for the playoffs.”
As the final seconds ticked down, the euphoric Longhorns and their fans not only celebrated the victory, but rubbed it into their rivals’ collective faces.
On the giant video board in the south end zone, a video clip played of A&M coach Mike Elko saying, “We’re the state’s flagship program.”
A camera zoomed in on a fan holding up a sign that read: “It’s been 5,482 days since A&M beat Texas.”
As they exited the stadium, many fans chanted, “Pooorrr Aggies!”
The way the second half turned, it was hard to believe the Aggies dominated the first half statistically.
A&M took a 10-3 lead with 56 seconds left in the first half on KC Concepcion’s 8-yard touchdown run.
But in the next 16 minutes of game time, Texas outscored A&M 17-0 while outgaining the Aggies 218 yards to 43.
The Aggies pulled within 20-17 on EJ Smith’s 13-yard touchdown run with 9:15 left, but Arch Manning essentially put the game away with a 35-yard touchdown scramble up the middle — and the Longhorns intercepted two Marcel Reed passes to snuff out any potential rally.
“There’s a lot to be proud of,” said Reed, who briefly left the game in the first half after, he said, stubbing his toe into the turf. He said the injury was more of a scare and didn’t affect him the rest of the night.
“We had an 11-1 regular season, first time this century,” Reed added. “There’s still a lot to work for. We have an opportunity to have playoff games, potentially at home in front of our fans, and we’re going to have to win out now.
“I think this team’s really capable of it. We believe we can make it to the national championship, so we’re going to put our heads down and grind.”
Reed said he told Manning after the game: “Y’all have a really good team. You deserve to be in the playoffs.”
That remains to be seen. It’s up to the CFP playoff committee, as well as game results the next two weekends of other contenders.
But the Longhorns certainly stated their case Friday night. The Aggies held the Longhorns to 61 rushing yards in the first half, but Texas rumbled for 157 second-half yards on the ground.
“We just did a really, really poor job of executing,” Elko said. “It’s on me. It’s my fault.
“We couldn’t get our feet set. They were getting the edges on us. . . . We busted some coverages that led to 14 points. So we’ve got to look at what we’re asking our kids to do; make sure they can do that.”
The Aggies had faced and overcome difficult road environments all season, particularly in wins at No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 19 Missouri and No. 20 LSU.
In the Sept. 13 victory in South Bend, Ind., A&M trailed 24-14 and rallied to win 41-40 on a fourth-and-goal Reed touchdown pass with 13 seconds remaining.
And though it didn’t happen on the road, A&M’s greatest adversity entering Friday occurred 13 days earlier, when it trailed South Carolina 30-3 at halftime and pulled out a 31-30 victory.
The Aggies couldn’t rally from Texas’ 17-0 explosion to start Friday’s second half, but A&M has plenty of time to rally emotionally from this loss.
“We just didn’t handle the atmosphere well enough,” Elko said. “That’s what makes this league challenging. When you play night games in this atmosphere, it puts a lot of stress on you.
“You have to handle it better.”
How Arch Manning shook off early struggles, led Longhorns’ second-half rally vs. A&MIs Texas a College Football Playoff team after upset of A&M? Longhorns make their case
Find more Texas A&M coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.