Aggies rally to win Texas Bowl
QB’s 117 rushing yards lead shorthanded ground attack Much-needed victory puts Aggies on positive footing
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, the recipient of a Gatorade bath, happily ran a few minutes late to Friday night’s postgame news conference after the Texas Bowl. Fisher, fresh from a shower, grinned, apologized and said, “I had to get that sticky stuff off me.”
Fisher also knows being a bit late beats the alternative — and the Aggies stared the alternative in the eyes for more than three quarters before defeating No. 25 Oklahoma State 24-21 after wiping away a double-digit deficit.
“It just shows how resilient this team is,” said A&M junior quarterback Kellen Mond, the game’s Most Valuable Player.
Mond was touted as one of the nation’s top dualthreat prospects in the class of 2017, but he only has shown off the running aspect of that threat here and there during a decent three-year career at A&M.
With the Aggies hurting in the running game and hurting for points for much of the Texas Bowl, Mond cut loose when A&M needed it most. He went 67 yards for the Aggies’ go-ahead touchdown with 10:45 to
Kellen Mond sauntered through the hall at NRG Stadium on Friday night sporting a black cowboy hat and a smile.
The Texas A&M junior quarterback had just led his team to a 24-21 win over No. 25 Oklahoma State in the Texas Bowl to wrap up the 2019 season.
The win capped the season in a positive light, which was much needed considering the way the Aggies’ last game went.
The 50-7 loss to LSU a month ago was the rock bottom point of a season that never lived up to early expectations.
Texas A&M has a lot of offseason work to do, a lot of issues to fix and questions to answer.
The Aggies don’t measure up in the SEC and don’t strike as a team capable of contending for any kind of championship.
But there’s time for that later.
On Friday, at least, Texas A&M was a good team, a winning team. And that’s the way the Aggies will head into the offseason.
Mond looked like the kind of quarterback that could lead any team to wins over ranked opponents. The Aggies defense appeared to be ready to handle fiery offenses- even one with the top running back in the country.
And the A&M team proved that it could face adversity and come from behind to win a game.
All in all, for most of Friday night, A&M looked like the team that earned a preseason ranking.
Unfortunately, the Aggies didn’t look like that team much during the season.
Still, the 2019 season is in the books.
The Aggies finished with an 8-5 record and survived the toughest schedule in college football.
“It was a good win tonight against a tough team,” coach Jimbo Fisher said. “We kept our poise and showed a lot of character in this win. It was a good end to the season.”
It’s certainly a better one than the regular season ending.
The Aggies have had to live with that 50-7 loss in the finale in Baton Rouge. Because of that atrocious performance by the Aggies, there were doubts about A&M headed into the matchup on Friday against the Cowboys.
The Aggies had lost five games during the season, and while every one of them was to a ranked opponent- three which were ranked No.1 at some point this season (Clemson, Alabama and LSU)- the Aggies never really looked like a team that came together.
They came close a couple times in big games — losing 2820 to Auburn and 19-13 to Georgia. But more often, against good teams, the Aggies looked outmatched- like in a 24-10 loss to Clemson and a 47-28 loss to Alabama.
And then there was LSU — a loss so bad that Texas A&M had no choice but to learn from it.
A month later, it appeared the Aggies had.
“I’ve said it before and I will say it again,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “They lost to No. 1, No. 1, No. 1, No. 4 and No. 12. They are a top 20 team in my opinion.
A&M certainly didn’t look like one to start Friday night. The Cowboys took an early 14-0 lead. Star running back Chuba Hubbard impressed as expected. He finished the night with 19 carries for 158 yards and surpassed 2,000 rushing yards for the season along the way.
The Aggies adjusted to him and the rest of the Cowboys offense, though.
They scored 24 straight points after trailing 14. The poise, the focus and the clear improvement Texas A&M showed in the comeback is something they can take with them into the offseason.
“From a confidence standpoint, this is a great win,” Fisher said. “You have to learn to prepare for a bowl game. We are the only sport where you have to wait a month before you play your postseason. It takes a lot of focus, a lot of time, game mode, game planning and our guys did a really nice job preparing. That will help us down the road.”
The win should inject Mond with a large dose of confidence. The quarterback, who was named the game’s MVP, passed for 95 yards and rushed for 117.
He was cool and calm, even as the Cowboys cruised to an early
lead.
And as he broke free for a 67-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, he reminded everyone how versatile he can be.
The junior will be back next season. He will be one of 20 seniors on the Aggies’ roster. Plus there are 30 other underclassmen who got playing time this season.
“It’s great to have young players who are talented if they learn and get better and have the urgency to be great,” Fisher said. “That’s my challenge to them right now. We are good. We have the talent. You have to have the urgency and the desire. Why don’t we practice better, practice smarter.
“Hopefully we learn from this and we will get where we want to be.”