UT shows Aggies just what "Gig 'Em" means

By CHIP BROWN / Associated Press

AUSTIN - After opening the season 3-4 and making a habit of losing fourth-quarter leads, the Texas Longhorns finally are playing the kind of football expected of them.

The Longhorns (7-4, 6-2) finished the regular season with their fourth straight victory, a 51-15 triumph over rival Texas A&M Friday that gave them the Big 12 South title and a berth in the league championship game.

"It was a long, hard year and to not have given up and be rewarded like this is a great feeling," offensive guard Dan Neil said.

James Brown threw for four touchdown, two to Mike Adams, as the Longhorns made it two straight over the Aggies (6-6, 4-4), who were eliminated from bowl contention and endured their first non-winning season since going 5-5-1 in 1983.

It was the most lopsided victory by either team in the 103-game series since Texas beat A&M 53-16 in 1982.

"It's been a frustrating year for everyone connected with A&M football," Aggies coach R.C. Slocum said. "But I think you have to make it into a positive. We have some rebuilding to do. We've got to work at recruiting and refocus all aspects of the program."

Texas, which rolled up 594 yards, took control early in the third quarter after stopping a fake punt by A&M at the Aggies' 39 and scoring eight plays later on a 2-yard TD pass from Brown to Derrick Scott for a 24-9 lead.

"That was a big play because that would have given them some momentum and maybe an opportunity to strike," Texas coach John Mackovic said. "From there, we began rolling."

Adams then caught TD passes of 14 and 36 yards, putting Texas up 37-9 with 2:42 left in the third quarter. Adams, who finished with six receptions for 153 yards, set a school record for career TD catches with 16, passing Lovell Pinkney who had 15 from 1992-94.

Brown was 18 of 30 for 336 yards. His longest TD pass was a 53-yarder to Wane McGarity in the second quarter.

"I don't know if James took it a little personally that he wasn't named to one of the all-conference teams," Mackovic said. "We thought he was clearly one of the top quarterbacks in the conference, and he showed that today."

"This is the type of performance we needed in a big game," Brown said, referring to losses in which fourth-quarter leads slipped away against Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Colorado.

Priest Holmes had TD runs of 4 and 2 yards, while Phil Dawson kicked a 44-yard field goal for the Longhorns.

Ricky Williams, who carried 22 times for 145 yards, scored on a 55-yard run in the fourth quarter for Texas.

"In the third quarter, we couldn't be stopped," Williams said. "It seemed like we scored on every possession."

A&M's top highlight came on a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown by Sirr Parker midway through the fourth quarter.

Branndon Stewart was 10 of 25 for 93 yards without an interception and Dante Hall carried 14 times for 108 yards for the Aggies.

A&M's defense played well early, but the Aggies' offense never got going against an inspired Texas defense that allowed just 227 yards.

"We wanted to prove who the real 'Wrecking Crew' defense was," said Texas linebacker Tyson King, poking fun at the nickname of A&M's defense.

The Aggies scored on a 2-yard run by D'Andre Hardeman and a 33-yard field goal by Kyle Bryant in the second quarter to pull within 10-9 before Brown's TD pass to McGarity gave Texas a 17-9 lead at intermission.

Early in the third quarter, A&M's Shane Lechler took the snap for a punt but attempted to run on fourth-and-6 from the Aggies' 36. He was stopped at the 39 by Dustin Armstrong, and Texas got momentum after the play.

"In the third quarter, we didn't make the fake punt and they capitalized on it," Slocum said. "From that point on, it went their way."

"They wore us down," A&M linebacker Keith Mitchell said. "You can't hold an offense like theirs when you're tired."

The Aggies were hurt repeatedly by mental mistakes. They lost a big scoring chance in the first quarter when a 79-yard run by Eric Bernard to the Texas 2 was nullified by an offsides penalty.

A&M suffered several dropped third-down passes and Stewart ended a drive just before the half by picking up enough yards for a first down on a third-down scramble, but then lost the first-down yardage by retreating from a tackler.