The third time was a charm for the Texas A&M football team.
It took the Aggies three weeks to get over the bowl eligibility hump, earning their needed sixth win with a 38-3 win against Baylor on Saturday at Kyle Field.
"Texas A&M should never not be in a bowl game," junior quarterback Jerrod Johnson said. "Last year was hard on us. It is a great feeling to have to have qualified for a bowl game."
The Aggies failed to reach bowl eligibility in 2008 with a 4-8 record. If A&M is invited to a bowl game, it will be its first bowl game since losing to Penn State in the Alamo Bowl in 2007.
Freshman running back Christine Michael was one of the Aggies' biggest weapons in getting their sixth win, rushing for 116 yards and two touchdowns, including a 97-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Michael's 97-yard touchdown run was the longest offensive play in school history and the longest rush in school history, trumping records set in 1999 and 1996, respectively.
With Texas on the horizon, Michael said he cannot dwell on his success against the Bears.
"That is another blessing, having the record of the longest touchdown," Michael said. "I can't keep it on my heart. I just have to keep playing."
Sophomore running back Cyrus Gray backed Michael up with 107 yards of his own, contributing to the team's 375 rushing yards. Johnson had 83 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Johnson tossed a pair of touchdowns with a 153-yard effort. Johnson set the school record for single season passing yards and career record for touchdown responsibility with 2,875 and 61, respectively.
"It always feels good to beat another team in Texas," Johnson said. "We definitely didn't feel that we played as well as we should have last year. We have a lot of respect for them but we wanted to come out and beat them."
After falling behind 7-0, Baylor kept from being shut out by scoring a 31-yard field goal with a little more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
After the Bears' field goal, A&M got going both offensively and defensively, scoring 31 unanswered points.
Defensively, senior safety Jordan Pugh, sophomore defensive back Terrence Frederick, and freshmen linebacker Kyle Mangan each pulled down interceptions in the second quarter.
For the second time in 2009, the Aggie defense did not give up a touchdown. Baylor was 2-for-13 on third down conversions and 1-for-3 on fourth down conversions.
"It's big as a defense," Pugh said. "That is what you try to do. The goal is to keep them from scoring and that is what we did today."
It will be a short week for A&M as it prepares for a Thanksgiving Day showdown with undefeated archrival Texas. The Aggies have won two of the past three games against the Longhorns, losing the 2008 meeting 49-9.
"I don't want it to end," senior lineman Michael Shumard said about the nearing end of the season. "At the same time we would love to go out with a bang, and a win. It would be great to saw 'em off after we really do it."
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