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Texas looks to beat Texas A&M, clinch Big 12 South title

Nov 22, 2006 - 12:43 AM Texas A&M (8-3) at No. 11 Texas (9-2), 12:00 pm EST

AUSTIN, Texas (Ticker) - Texas A&M would love nothing more than to ruin its chief rival's Big 12 Conference title hopes.

The Aggies try to prevent 11th-ranked Texas from clinching the Big 12 South Division title when they visit the Longhorns on Friday in a matchup of teams coming off byes.

The Longhorns (9-2, 6-1 Big 12 South) will not defend their national championship after absorbing their second defeat of the season, a 45-42 setback at Kansas State on November 11.

Star redshirt freshman Colt McCoy suffered a stinger on a one-yard touchdown keeper in the first quarter and did not return. He has gotten medical clearance to play against the Aggies.

The Longhorns are in a first-place tie with Oklahoma atop the division but own the head-to-head tiebreaker and would set up another meeting with Big 12 North winner Nebraska in the conference title game with a victory over Texas A&M.

Texas also can advance with a loss, provided Oklahoma loses at Oklahoma State on Saturday.

"Just about every goal that we had after the second game of the year is still alive for us, so this is a very, very important game for us," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "We're focused, and the guys are excited; they had a great week of practice, and I expect them to play well."

The Aggies (8-3, 4-3 South) have lost back-to-back games, including a 28-27 setback to the Cornhuskers on November 11 that clinched the North title for Nebraska.

Texas A&M rallied from a 14-point second-quarter deficit to take a 27-21 lead on a one-yard run by Jorvorskie Lane and a two-point conversion pass from Stephen McGee to Martellus Bennett with 7:28 remaining.

But Layne Neumann had a 42-yard field-goal attempt blocked with 1:57 left, and Nebraska's Zac Taylor threw a go-ahead nine-yard TD pass to Maurice Purify with 21 seconds left.

The Aggies have dropped six straight meetings with the Longhorns since a 20-16 victory in 1999.