Longhorns rout Aggies in thanksgiving day rivalry game

The Texas Longhorns continued to press their case for a slot in the BCS National Championship game with a 49-9 Thanksgiving Day rout of traditional rival Texas A&M.  It was the most lopsided margin of victory in the rivalry in over 100 years, dating back to a 48-0 Longhorn win back in 1898.  The Longhorns were dominant on both sides of the ball, and A&M did little to stop them.

Colt McCoy also continued his bid for a Heisman Trophy with an impressive all around offensive performance consisting of 311 yards passing (23/28) with two TD passes, plus 48 yards rushing and two rushing TDs.  He managed to defeat the Aggies for the first time in three tries and set a couple of school records in the process—he earned career victory #31 as a starting QB, breaking Vince Young’s mark and pushed his passing yardage to an all-time Longhorn best 3,594 yards. 

Cody Johnson added 102 yards of rushing for Texas, along with two touchdowns.  For the game, Texas outrushed A&M by a staggering 216-(-24) margin.  A&M did muster 269 yards passing, but were outgained for the game 536-245.  Texas also held a decisive edge in first downs (24-12) and was much better on third down conversions, going 14-17 to the Aggies 4-14.

Even Mack Brown got into the record breaking act, earning his 200th career heading coaching victory.  After the game he refused to make a campaign pitch for his Longhorns:

"The voters have a real tough decision. Oklahoma is a great team. Texas Tech is a great team. I do not want to sit here and take anything away from them. This league is better than it's ever been."

Texas A&M, meanwhile, dropped to 4-8 in the first year under coach Mike Sherman.  Despite the struggles, Sherman got a vote of confidence from Aggie defensive lineman Alton Dixon:

"I think this program, this team, this family, this organization is headed in the right direction. It's basically coming down to just winning the game."

Next up for the Longhorns is a Big 12 Championship date with Northern Division winner Missouri on December 6th at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.  The two teams played on 10/18, with Texas winning easily at home by a 56-31 score.