Texas A&M's offense had trouble scoring against the Texas defense, so linebacker Marcus Buckley and punt returner Kevin Smith helped out.
Buckley intercepted Texas' first pass of the game and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown and Smith broke open a defensive duel in the third quarter with a 73-yard punt return, leading the No. 10 Aggies to a 31-14 victory Thursday night.Texas A&M (10-1, 8-0), which clinched its 16th Southwest Conference title last week in a 65-6 victory over Southern Methodist, accepted the Cotton Bowl's week-old invitation to play No. 3 Florida State on Jan. 1.
"The race is officially over," Aggies coach R.C. Slocum said. "We felt if we could hang in there, the defense would win us the game. I was prepared to go into the fourth quarter and win with defense."
But Smith's return and a pair of second-half touchdown runs by Greg Hill helped the Aggies to finally wear down a Longhorn defense that was ranked fourth in the nation.
"I thought Greg Hill ran hard all night," Slocum said. "He took some shots but kept getting back up for more."
Texas A&M's defense, ranked first in the nation, held Texas (5-6, 4-4) in check in the first half and eased to a 10-7 halftime lead. The Aggies extended it to 17-7 on the first drive of the third period on Hill's 2-yard run.
On his big return, Smith fielded the punt, made a move to his right and raced 73 yards for the touchdown. He also had a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown against Rice earlier this season.
"I'll never forget this," Aggies linebacker Jason Atkinson said. "It's a family feeling the way we pulled together this year. We started celebrating after Kevin's punt return."
Grady Cavness's 18-yard interception return led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Rodrick Walker with 8:44 to play. Hill got his second touchdown on a 2-yard run with 3:03 left.
"This win tonight was a team effort," Texas A&M quarterback Bucky Richardson said. "The defense played great, we played good and the special teams played good. That's what it takes to win championships. You have to have all three and we had all three tonight."
Buckley helped the Aggies' top-ranked defense in the first half with his 19-yard touchdown interception return, two sacks and a fumble recovery.
"When I turned around and saw the ball coming at me, my eyes got big as my helmet," Buckley said. "I thought if I didn't get my hands up fast enough, it would hit me right in the face."
The Aggies extended their Kyle Field record to 27-1-1 since losing to Baylor in 1984.