Texas A&M
(#2) Nebraska
(#2) Nebraska 54, (#14) Texas A&M 15
Dec 06, 1997 | Football
December 06, 1997
Kickoff time at the Dr Pepper Big 12 Conference Football Championship Game. Tens of thousands of Aggies packed the Alamodome, ready to see the game they had waited for ever since the announcement of the formation of the new league.
Just under five minutes later, the second-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers scored the first seven of their eventual 54 points, proving they would not look past this year's title game as they had done in St. Louis one year earlier.
After that touchdown, the A&M defense tightened up, forcing placekicker Kris Brown to score Nebraska's next nine points, connecting from 27, 26 and 31 yards out.
Unfortunately, the offense's lack of ability to pick up a single first down against the dominating Husker defensei in the opening quarter forced the Aggie defenders to remain on the field for 10 of the first 15 minutes, physically wearing them down.
Nebraska took advantage of good field position and the weary Aggie defense, as the North Division Champions scored 21 second-quarter points on three rushing touchdowns. However, Texas A&M was able to scratch out a 32-yard Kyle Bryant field goal after Branndon Stewart connected with Derrick Spiller on a 63-yard pass, resulting in one of the two A&M first downs in the half.
By halftime, the writing was on the wall.
Nebraska had wracked up 37 points behind 348 total yards, divided equally between the ground (172 yards rushing) and the air (176 yards passing), while Texas A&M accounted for three points and 83 total yards, including minus five rushing.
After intermission, the Aggies came back with a strong defensive performance, limiting NU to 85 yards and a field goal.
A&M had their chance to put more points on the board in the quarter, but an incomplete Randy McCown pass on fourth-and-three from the NU 11 gave the Huskers back the football.
Both teams managed two touchdowns each in the final period, with the Huskers scoring the first and the last. Stewart found Spiller open in the endzone for the Aggies' only offensive TD of the afternoon. Jason Glenn recovered a Husker fumble and returned it 35 yards for the other A&M score. When the clock wound down to 0:00, the scoreboard read: Nebraska 54, Texas A&M 15.
In a losing effort, Stewart completed 18-of-38 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown, and Spiller grabbed four catches for 89 yards. Sophomore Chris Cole also added four catches for 56 yards.
On defense, the Aggies received another standout performance from inside linebacker Dat Nguyen, who tallied 16 tackles, including two for losses. Nguyen also caused a fumble, recovered a fumble and registered his team-leading 20th third-down stop of the season. Also in double-digit tackles were safety Rich Coady (13) and inside linebacker Trent Driver (10).
Aggie fans will have to wait at least another year to celebrate a Big 12 Conference Football Championship, but the players will get the chance to redeem themselves, as Texas A&M has received and accepted a bid to play in the 1998 Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl Classic against the fifth-ranked UCLA Bruins on Jan. 1 in Dallas.
