COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Nebraska's fans might be better, but on Saturday, its team wasn't.
Just days after Cornhuskers coach Bo Pelini declared "our fans are better than Aggie fans," Texas A&M used a stifling defense and tailback Cyrus Gray to keep its Big 12 South hopes alive with a 9-6 victory over the No. 9 Cornhuskers.
The Aggies got three short field goals from Randy Bullock to upend a second top-10 opponent at home in as many weeks. Last week, A&M dropped Oklahoma, which was ranked ninth in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll.
Gray ran for 104 of his game-high 137 yards in the second half, and also led all receivers with nine catches for 65 yards as A&M won its fifth straight after a 3-3 start.
And a record turnout of 90,079 at Kyle Field certainly played a role. The "12th-Man" crowd was revved and ready and buoyed by A&M students, who broke their national record by pulling more than 31,000 tickets.
By the end of the game, the air was filled with the Aggie handkerchiefs that were handed out at the gates and the field was flooded with maroon-clad fans celebrating the biggest win of the turnaround season.
A&M held Nebraska without a touchdown, limiting the Huskers to 306 total yards and a pair of Alex Henery field goals.
The hard-hitting affair came down to the fourth quarter when A&M took its first lead of the game with 14:33 to play on Bullock's 28-yard field goal. It capped a 15-yard drive that was aided by a pair of pass-interference calls. Although legitimate, the calls drew the ire of Pelini, whose Huskers were flagged a season-high 16 times for 145 yards.
After the game, Pelini quickly shook the hand of A&M coach Mike Sherman's hand before taking off after the officials.
After Henery tied the game at 6-6 with 8:31 remaining, the Aggies drove 68 yards in nine plays. Bullock was good again from 19 yards out in what amounted to an extra-point kick for the game-winner with 3:02 left.
Then it was time for the Aggie defense to close it out.
Defensive end Von Miller sacked Taylor Martinez twice on the final drive to deny the Huskers. Martinez reinjured his right ankle when he was stepped on by center Mike Caputo late in the opening quarter. He was replaced by Cody Green, but returned to start the second half. Martinez wound up completing 11 of 17 for 107 yards and carrying 11 times for 17 yards.
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