Longhorns show they can hold lead

By MICHAEL A. LUTZ / Associated Press

The Texas Longhorns picked a good time to show their hearts, something fans were beginning to question.

The Longhorns could have added to a season of unfulfilled dreams by allowing Texas Tech to rally past them in Saturday's Big 12 South Division showdown.

The Red Raiders came back from 28-3 and 35-18 deficits, but the Longhorns (5-4, 4-2) held on for a 38-32 victory and moved into the division lead. The Raiders (5-4, 4-3) dropped to second place.

"We learned from our mistakes," Texas fullback Ricky Williams said. "We were sick of people saying we were under-achievers and didn't have heart. We knew that wasn't true. And we knew what we could do."

In other South Division games D'Andre Hardeman spiced Texas A&M's (5-5, 3-3) 24-7 victory over Baylor with a 95-yard touchdown run and Oklahoma 3-6, 3-3) defeated Oklahoma State (4-6, 1-6) 27-17.

Texas Tech narrowed the Longhorns' lead to 35-32 in the fourth quarter but the Longhorns used 4:11 of the clock to set up a 53-yard field goal by Phil Dawson with 51 seconds left in the game.

That meant a field goal couldn't tie the game and possibly force overtime.

"This time, we weren't worried at all," Taje Allen said. "I don't know why. I guess we learned how to play all 60 minutes."

The Longhorns almost blew a 21-point lead before beating Baylor a week ago and they did blow late leads to Notre Dame, Virginia and Oklahoma.

They came away smiling this time.

"You probably just saw one of the greatest shootouts of '96," Texas coach John Mackovic said. "That was one heck of a football game."

Hardeman's two touchdowns helped A&M extend its dominance of Baylor, which hasn't beaten the Aggies 1985.

"We have a lot of young guys out there who are learning to play the whole game without letting up," A&M coach R.C. Slocum said. "They're starting to show the character I thought they had."

Hardeman gained 121 yards on seven carries and his 95-yard touchdown came with 9:51 left in the game.

"The run put the game away for us. It was still in doubt until then," Slocum said.

Hardeman said he followed his blocks.

"I saw (center) Calvin Collins pick off the linebacker so I moved toward the sidelines and took off. I got a little winded but I told myself I wasn't about to let anybody catch me from behind."

Baylor coach Chuck Reedy said the Bears couldn't get A&M to turn the ball over like they had been doing.

"They wore us down at the end," Reedy said. "The game was played without any turnovers and A&M might be undefeated this season if they had done that all year."

The Aggies caught Baylor in a linebacker blitz as Dean Jackson went right by Hardeman, who hit the hole and outran the Bears' secondary. The previous longest run from scrimmage in A&M history was 94 yards by Bubba Bean in 1975 against Texas Tech.

"I feel like we really came together as a team," Aggie defensive end Keith Mitchell said. "We didn't make the mistakes that have caused us to lose some games we should have won."