It was under far better circumstances the last time Texas A&M took on UCLA. With head coach R.C. Slocum fielding Texas A&M’s first of two consecutive Big 12 South Division titles, the Aggies battled the Bruins in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas following the 1997 season.
The two teams will face off once again in the 2016 season opener on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 3, in Kyle Field.
If it’s anything like the last time, the expected capacity crowd of 102,733 should be in for a great game. UCLA rallied from a 16-0 deficit to turn back the Aggies, 29-23. It was Texas A&M’s seventh Cotton Bowl appearance in 13 years.
The Aggies finished 9-4 that season and ranked No. 21 by the Coaches Poll and No. 20 by the AP. UCLA, by virtue of its Cotton Bowl victory, won for the 10th consecutive time after an 0-2 start and rose to No. 5 in both polls. It was the Bruins’ highest finish in the rankings since a fifth-place showing in 1982.
But it was the Aggies who looked to get the better of it early in that Cotton Bowl classic, the 62nd annual edition. It was a game that had everything, including a former Texas A&M assistant coach heading the UCLA program.
Bob Toledo was Slocum’s offensive coordinator for five years during a time that included a string of three consecutive Cotton Bowl trips (1991-93) and two top-10 finishes. Toledo took a similar post with UCLA in 1994 and by 1996 he was elevated to head coach.
Texas A&M’s Wrecking Crew defense sacked UCLA QB Cade McNown, who hadn’t been sacked all season, five times in the first half and scored the game’s first touchdown. Linebacker Dat Nguyen intercepted a McNown screen pass at the Aggies’ 17-yard line and after a 19-yard return, lateralled to free safety teammate Brandon Jennings, who took it to the house. The 83-yard play was the second-longest interception return in Cotton Bowl history.
Nguyen went on to record a Cotton Bowl-record 15 solo tackles. He finished with 20 total tackles and the game’s outstanding defensive player award.
Aggies DE Zerek Rollins then tackled McNown in the end zone for a safety and a 9-0 lead early in the second quarter. Then, Texas A&M RB Dante Hall ripped off a 74-yard touchdown dash, and it appeared as though the Aggies were on their way to a rout. Hall led the Aggies’ ground game with 93 yards on just 7 carries.
But McNown began the comeback just before halftime. He threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jim McElroy with just two seconds remaining in the first half and the Bruins’ momentum carried over into the second half.
Just three plays into the third quarter, McNown fired a 41-yard scoring strike to TB Skip Hicks and the comeback was put fully into motion.
The Aggies answered and seemed to regain the momentum when WR Chris Cole took a reverse pitch and dashed 43 yards for a touchdown and a 23-14 lead.
However, McNown — the game’s offensive MVP with 239 yards passing — would not allow the Bruins to fall. His 20-yard touchdown run completed the third-quarter scoring and cut the Aggies’ lead to 23-21.
He then engineered a 71-yard touchdown drive that spanned a little over seven minutes midway through the fourth quarter. It was the only score of the final period and proved to be the difference. Hicks, the game’s leading rusher with 140 yards on 31 carries, churned out 50 yards in the game-winning drive. It was capped by a 5-yard touchdown run from Ryan Neufeld, and McNown ran for the 2-point conversion to cap the scoring.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for a Texas A&M team that started out with such fire. The Aggies have had to wait 18 years for a chance to exact revenge on the Pac-12 team.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
