Aggies/Horns set to renew fierce rivalry

By CHIP BROWN / Associated Press

AUSTIN - Even though Ricky Williams ran for 163 yards and two touchdowns against in a 16-6 victory over Texas A&M a year ago, he's one Texas Longhorn who doesn't get emotional about playing the Aggies.

When Williams talks about Texas-Texas A&M - one of college football's fiercest rivalries - he shrugs his shoulders and his voice trails off.

"It doesn't mean that much to me," said Williams, who has run for 1,120 yards this season, including a 6.4 yards-per-carry average. "It's just a big game. The fact that it's going to decide the championship most every year is the most important part of the game to me."

But that's not to say that Williams doesn't want his teammates getting fired up. He loves hearing offensive guard Dan Neil talk passionately in the locker room about his disgust for A&M.

"Some guys like Dan are really open about how much they hate the Aggies," Williams said. "I enjoy hearing that because he's a lineman and I know he's gonna try to kill 'em."

Texas (6-4, 5-2 Big 12) is a five-point favorite to beat A&M (6-5, 4-3) in Austin on Friday &emdash; kickoff is set for 10 a.m. CST. Each team is riding a three-game winning streak after miserable starts.

If Texas wins, the Longhorns will represent the Big 12 South in the league championship game against either Colorado or Nebraska in St. Louis on Dec. 7. A&M would be eliminated from bowl contention.

If the Aggies win, Texas Tech will go to St. Louis and A&M will earn a bowl berth, most likely in the Alamo Bowl.

The Aggies have won eight of the last 10 meetings with the Longhorns and have a 10-2 record against Texas since 1984.

Last year's victory was Texas' first against A&M in five years and snapped the Aggies' 31-game winning streak at Kyle Field.

"When you lose to a team a lot of years in a row, you start to wonder if you can win," said Texas linebacker Tyson King. "Now, guys don't have a doubt about knowing we can win. Last year was a huge confidence boost."

The Aggies say they haven't forgotten how Texas fans attempted to swarm onto Kyle Field last year. Members of A&M's Corps of Cadets ended up playing police, grabbing and tackling fans to keep them off the field. A riot almost broke out.

"I'll always remember how they disrespected us on our own field," said A&M linebacker Keith Mitchell. "It was total disrespect. People don't come in here and do that to us. I couldn't believe them. It was like they'd never won a game in their lives. But it's payback time now."

Last year's game came down to who could run the ball more effectively, and this year's game could be decided the same way.

After trying to develop more of a passing attack early in the season behind strong-armed quarterback Branndon Stewart, the Aggies are back to running the ball.

They are averaging 239 yards on the ground behind running backs Sirr Parker, Tiki Hardeman, Eric Bernard and Dante Hall.

Texas is giving up 206 rushing yards per game.

"We've given up a lot of rushing yards," King said. "They'd be stupid not to try to run on us. We're used to people trying."

A&M coach R.C. Slocum says he's worried about a Texas offense that averages 213 yards rushing and 229 yards passing per game.

"I don't think you could stop their offense," Slocum said. "I don't envision us being able to do that. We'll have to slow them down and hope to score some points to win this game."

Slocum had high praise for Williams, who recalls with a laugh the reaction of Texas fans toward him after last year's A&M game.

"I had a lot of new friends," Williams said. "People weren't really sure how good I was because I was kind of on-and-off last year, but everybody had faith after that game."