Troy Aikman threw a TD pass, rookie cornerback Kevin Mathis had a touchdown off an interception return and Herschel Walker showed he can still find the end zone as the Dallas Cowboys outlasted the St. Louis Rams 34-31 Friday night in an NFL exhibition game.
Emmitt Smith made his 1997 debut for Dallas but could gain only 24 yards on 12 carries.The Cowboys (1-2), using the first half as a dress rehearsal for their season opener on Aug. 30 against Pittsburgh, showed good offense, solid special teams play and slipshod pass defense.
It was a special teams play, a blocked punt by Billy Davis for a safety, that turned around a 10-3 deficit for Dallas.
St. Louis (1-2) built a 10-0 lead on a 38-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins and a 33-yard Tony Banks-to-Eddie Kennison touchdown pass on which Mathis was beaten.
After Richie Cunningham kicked a 34-yard field goal for the Cowboys, Davis blocked a punt by Will Brice out of the end zone for a safety.
Then the Cowboys struck for two touchdowns in eight seconds. Aikman threw an 8-yard TD pass to tight end Eric Bjornson, and on the next play from scrimmage, Banks was picked off by Mathis, who returned the interception 27 yards for a touchdown.
Banks then burned Mathis with eight seconds left on the clock, hitting Kennison on another 33-yard scoring pass.
The 95-degree heat got to Aikman, who became dehydrated and was given an intravenous at halftime. Aikman wasn't going to play the second half anyway after hitting 14 of 25 passes for 160 yards, including seven tosses to Michael Irvin for 90 yards.
In the fourth quarter, Walker scored on a 13-yard run and third-string quarterback Jason Garrett hooked up with Davis on a 59-yard pass-and-run after cornerback Dexter McCleon gambled and lost on an out pattern. Davis had eight catches for 148 yards.