LARAMIE, Wyo. — Aggie fans witnessed a familiar sight on Thursday night, seeing the heavily favored Texas A&M football team fall behind the opponent — this time the Wyoming Cowboys — early and have to battle back to take a hard-nosed victory.
The Aggie offense took the spotlight in a high-flying 28-20 win over the Cowboys, despite temperatures lower than 40 degrees.
The A&M offense stumbled during the Aggies’ opening drive of the game, giving Wyoming the momentum. The Cowboys stopped redshirt freshman Keith Joseph on a sweep to the right side on third and one, and the momentum from that stop would be carried over to the Cowboy offense.
Taking over on their side of the field, Wyoming quarterback Casey Bramlet completed passes of 19 and 14 yards, setting up the Cowboys to take the lead in the game when senior fullback Nate Scott plunged in from four yards out.
The Aggie offense would take control on the next drive when junior quarterback Mark Farris completed an important third-down pass to junior receiver Greg Porter, picking up 20 yards on the play. The drive would stall soon thereafter, when the offense committed three straight deadball penalties, moving the Aggies back out of field goal range. The Cowboy defense would force a punt, ending the Aggie scoring threat.
On the following drive, the defense gave the offense another shot when senior free safety Jay Brooks tipped a Wyoming pass, and sophomore cornerback Jonte Buhl came down with the interception at midfield.
The Aggie offense made the Cowboys pay for their miscue, capitalizing on the interception, going 51 yards in eight plays to tie the game. Junior fullback Joe Weber scored from one yard out to knot the score at seven a piece.
A&M took the lead in the second quarter on a drive highlighted by a third and one pass from Farris to Joseph, who was all alone 15 yards downfield. Weber would add his second score a short time later, giving the Aggies a 14-7 lead.
The A&M squad would keep the momentum on the next defensive series, when sophomore cornerback Sammy Davis picked off a pass and returned it to the Wyoming 21-yard line.
Just two minutes later, Weber completed the hat trick, scoring his third touchdown of the half and extending the A&M lead to 19-7. Farris nailed a pass to senior Bethel Johnson in the back of the endzone, giving the Aggies a 21-7 lead on the two-point conversion.
Farris, set a career high for passing, going 30 for 42 and racking up 342 yards on the night. Joseph also added 106 yards on the ground on 21 carries.
“Mark made some big plays for us,” said A&M football head coach R.C. Slocum. “He did a good job of not taking the sack and dumping the ball off.”
Farris, behind a solid offensive line performance, was not sacked all night.
“When you start to see Mark scramble you have to break,” said Porter. “He hung in there well and got us the ball.”
The Cowboys would retaliate on their next drive, using the run to eat up yardage on their way to scoring their second touchdown of the night. The drive was the Cowboys’ most impressive of the night, covering 80 yards on nine plays.
Farris and the Aggie offense mounted another attempt to reach the endzone and looked to be putting away the game before halftime. With only three minutes left in the half and the Aggies threatening, Farris was pressured and his hurried throw was intercepted in the endzone, proving to be a turning point in the ballgame.
On the opening drive of the second half, the Cowboys used the leftover first-half momentum and held the Aggie offense scoreless, while adding two field goals to pull within one point, 21-20, with two minutes left in the third quarter.
The Cowboy defense looked to stop the Aggies on an important third-and-four play, but Farris passed to junior Michael de la Torre for 17 yards and set up the backbreaking score for the Aggies.
With Farris scrambling away from Wyoming defenders, junior receiver Dwain Goynes found a seam in the middle of the field and raced to the goalline for the final score of the game.
“That was a big play,” Farris said. “That was probably the play of the game, and we were glad to get it done.”
Goynes touchdown gave A&M a 28-20 lead, and the Wrecking Crew defense stopped the Cowboys, sealing the win.
“I don’t think we were sharp in our execution,” Slocum said. “We made too many mistakes and were not consistent on offense.”
The Aggies will have a week off before hosting the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Kyle Field Sept. 22.
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