Quintrevion Wisner ran for a career-high 186 yards and Quinn Ewers threw a landing go to steer No. 3 Texas to a 17-7 victory over Twentieth-ranked rival Texas A&M on Saturday evening, sending the Longhorns to the Southeastern Conference championship sport.
Texas (11-1, 7-1 SEC, No. 3 CFP) faces No. 3 Georgia subsequent Saturday. 6 in Atlanta for the SEC title, with the winner receiving a first-round bye within the 12-team College Football Playoff.
The extremely anticipated return of this rivalry, which dates again to 1890, had all of the hype of a heavyweight title bout. It appeared destined to erupt after Texas took a 17-0 halftime lead.
But Ewers turned the ball over within the purple zone on consecutive possessions to maintain the Aggies within the sport, the primary giveaway being an interception that Will Lee III returned 93 yards for a landing.
Texas A&M (8-4, 5-3, No. 20 CFP) had a shot to chop the result in three with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining, however Ethan Burke dropped Amari Daniels for a 3-yard loss on fourth and second -goal of 1. The Longhorns stopped the Aggies on three fourth downs that evening.
Backup quarterback Arch Manning ran for an early rating to assist Texas earn its eleventh straight win on an opponent’s house discipline and its fifth straight win total since a 30-15 house loss to Georgia. The Longhorns may have a rematch subsequent week.
The crowd of 109,028 included Texas superfan Matthew McConaughey, A&M Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, former Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Matthew McConaughey watched his Longhorns tackle the Aggies for the primary time since 2011. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
DJ Hicks deflected the go that Lee intercepted and returned 93 yards for the landing to chop the result in 17-7 with about six minutes left within the third quarter.
The Aggies protection got here out sturdy as soon as once more on the subsequent possession when Cashius Howell stripped the ball from Ewers and it was recovered by Taurean York on the A&M 11 late within the third.
Texas A&M didn’t capitalize on that mistake and punted. The Aggies blocked a Longhorns punt on their subsequent drive to return the ball to the purple zone. But the Longhorns’ protection secured the win after Texas failed to attain after halftime.
The Longhorns made it 7-0 when a video assessment confirmed that Manning scored on a 15-yard run on fourth-and-2 with about three minutes left within the first quarter. It capped a 93-yard drive that started after Michael Taaffe intercepted Reed to offer Texas not less than one takeaway in 20 straight performs.
Ewers linked with Jaydon Blue on a 7-yard landing go to push the result in 14-0 with about eight minutes left within the second. It was initially dominated an incomplete go, however a assessment confirmed it had one foot inside limits for scoring.
Matthew Golden had a 44-yard reception on that drive.
The scene round Kyle Field earlier than the sport was nearly as entertaining as the sport itself. Former A&M coach RC Slocum used a miniature chainsaw to noticed off the horns of a longhorn that tailgaters have been cooking in entrance of the stadium. University police mentioned a person using a horse and one other using a longhorn whereas holding a canine and carrying a 10-gallon hat have been requested to depart campus hours earlier than the sport.
Police additionally mentioned two males “carrying reflective vests and exhausting hats entered the stadium with false development credentials” and have been arrested for trespassing.
The takeaway
Texas should repair their errors to be extra constant on offense as they head into the convention title sport and presumably the playoffs.
Next
Texas faces the Bulldogs. The Aggies are ready to see which bowl sport they are going to play in to finish one other disappointing season.
Associated Press reporting.
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