Texas ruins Texas A&M’s SEC championship hopes

AUSTIN – Soon after Texas quarterback Arch Manning and the Longhorns ruined Texas A&M’s hopes of reaching the SEC Championship Game, he and Marcel Reed visited briefly at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Manning encouraged Reed to keep leading the No. 3 Aggies, who could find solace knowing the 27-17 loss to Texas on Friday night won’t keep them out of the College Football Playoffs.

The No. 16 Longhorns must still hope the CFP committee finds room for them in the 12-team field. As far as Reed is concerned, Texas (9-3, 6-2 SEC) belongs in the playoffs. 

“It was just quarterback to quarterback talk about … ‘keep leading your team. You all are going to go far,’” Reed said of Manning’s message to him. “I told him, ‘Yeah, you all should get in. You all deserve to get in. You’re a good team. You all go work for what you want, and everything is going to fall into place.’”

Texas entered the Lone Star Showdown with slim hopes of reaching the playoffs, but the Longhorns, as usual, had plenty of incentive to ruin their archrivals’ undefeated season.

Aggies suffer first loss

The Aggies (11-1, 7-1 SEC) were trying to reach the SEC Championship Game for the first time since joining the league in 2012. They arrived in Austin hoping to improve to 12-0 for the first time since 1992.

Unfortunately for the Aggies, they have now lost two in a row against Texas since the Longhorns joined the SEC last season. Texas turned a 10-3 halftime deficit to a 20-10 lead with 17 unanswered points.

“It hurts a lot,” Texas A&M captain Taurean York said after collecting 11 tackles. “But we have to regroup and get ready for the playoffs.”

The first game between the schools in Austin since the Aggies won the 2010 meeting was the 120th edition of the rivalry.

With the score tied at 3, KC Concepcion returned a punt 30 yards to the Texas 42-yard line to set up the Aggies’ first touchdown. Concepcion capped the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run with 56 seconds left in the first half.

That marked the Aggies’ final lead of the night. Texas A&M’s offense struggled to mount an attack on its first two drives of the third quarter while the Longhorns’ offense found its footing after struggling in the first half.

Texas kicker Mason Shipley cut A&M’s lead to 10-6 with a 46-yard field goal. Manning then found Ryan Wingo wide open in the back of the end zone to give the Longhorns a 13-10 lead with 7:12 to play in the third quarter.

Third quarter rally

Tight end Nick Townsend made it 20-10 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Texas A&M running back EJ Smith cut the Longhorns’ lead with a 13-yard touchdown run with 9:15 to play in the fourth quarter.

Manning’s 35-yard touchdown run up pushed the Longhorns’ lead back to 10 with 7:04 to play. Reed, who entered the night as a darkhorse Heisman Trophy candidate, threw interceptions on the Aggies’ next two drives to end Texas A&M’s comeback hopes.

When asked if he thought his Heisman Trophy candidacy took a hit, Reed said he didn’t care because he was more focused on trying to win a national championship.

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Indeed, the Aggies still have plenty to play for, beginning with a playoff game at Kyle Field on either Dec. 19 or 20. Even that consolation price didn’t soothe the sting for Texas A&M coach Mike Elko.

“Right now,” Elko said, “it just hurt that we lost to our rival.”