COLLEGE STATION, Texas - It was no secret why Texas A&M's offense had been so effective going into Saturday's game against Nebraska.
Really, the Aggies' attack had been pretty straightforward:
Run the ball, and then run the ball some more. And if that didn't work, give it to a different player and see if he can find success on the ground.
Before Saturday, the Aggies ranked first in the Big 12 Conference in rushing offense, averaging 212.7 yards per game.
But by halftime at a raucous Kyle Field, A&M had accumulated only 21 rushing yards on 12 attempts as the Cornhuskers took a 21-10 lead into the break.
"We pretty much shut down the run," NU junior linebacker Bo Ruud said.
However, a handful of big plays in the second half got the Aggies back on track.
A&M running back Mike Goodson's 53-yard scamper late in the third quarter helped set up teammate Layne Neumann's 20-yard field goal with 16 seconds left in the third quarter to close the gap to 21-13.
On the Aggies' next possession, quarterback Stephen McGee had a 57-yard touchdown run with 12:51 on the clock in the third quarter to cut the Husker lead to 21-19.
"It wasn't like they were constantly gashing us," Ruud said. "They were squeaking out big runs here and there, and that was a little frustrating."
A&M took its first lead of the game with 7:28 left in the fourth quarter when running back Jorvorskie Lane scored on a 1-yard run.
Two plays before the touchdown, the 274-pound Lane had taken a pitch from McGee and launched a 44-yard pass to Chad Schroeder to move the Aggies to the Huskers' 4-yard line.
A&M finished the game with only 155 rushing yards, but, thanks to a few huge plays, totaled 443 yards of offense compared to Nebraska's 390 yards.
"The big plays were little dink plays like two guys missing a tackle," NU junior linebacker Corey McKeon said. "If we could eliminate that from the game, we'd really dominate them on defense."
As it was, though, the Blackshirts were fortunate their second-half defensive lapses didn't cost them the game.
It also didn't help that NU's offense didn't score in the second half until the final minute of the fourth quarter.
NU Coach Bill Callahan credited defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove for having an excellent game plan.
"I felt that we did as good a job as you can do in the first half," Callahan said. "I thought we dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides. And in the second half (A&M) made some huge plays that hurt us, but overall I felt that we were pretty good at controlling the line of scrimmage and controlling their running game."
Trailing 27-21 with 2:50 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Blackshirts stopped the Aggies after only three plays and 53 seconds had ticked off the clock, forcing A&M to attempt a 42-yard field goal, which was blocked by NU sophomore defensive end Barry Turner.
That defensive stand set up NU's game-winning drive in which senior quarterback Zac Taylor found junior wide receiver Maurice Purify in the end zone to give the Huskers a 28-27 lead.
A&M got the ball back with 21 seconds left, but two plays later, NU senior defensive end Adam Carriker sacked McGee for a 1-yard loss as time expired to seal the Huskers' victory.
Though the Blackshirts limited the Aggies to only 5-of-14 third-down conversions and helped NU win the time-of-possession battle, McKeon admitted the Husker defense could have done a more effective job of stopping A&M in the second half.
"We should have adjusted better and played better," McKeon said. "We made a few mistakes that cost us a little bit, but in the end we were able to hold onto it."
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