Texas A&M’s perfect season spoiled by rival Texas, but playoffs await for the Aggies

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas beat Texas A&M again in a bitter rivalry. And while any loss to the Longhorns stings, this one is likely to stick with the Aggies for a long time.

Texas’ 27-17 victory Friday night doomed Texas A&M’s Southeastern Conference title hopes, spoiled the Aggies’ undefeated season, upended their potential seeding in the College Football Playoff and dinged quarterback Marcel Reed’s late-season surge as a Heisman Trophy contender.

But the playoffs and a chance to play for a national title still await.

“There’s (still) a lot right now to be proud of,” Reed said, noting the Aggies won 11 games in the regular season for the first time since 1992. “There’s still a lot to work for … I think we believe that we can make it to the national championship. And so we’re just going to put our heads down and grind.”

The Aggies (11-1, 7-1 SEC, No. 3 CFP) are a solid bet to make the playoff for the first time. But a special season has definitely been saddled with a sour note after a second straight loss to the Longhorns after the rivalry resumed following a decade-long break.

“We’re just thinking about not getting the job done tonight,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “Maybe coming out of this weekend, maybe we’ll regroup and figure out moving forward what the positives are of 11-1. Right now it just hurts that we lost to our rival.”

The Aggies had never been to the SEC title game since joining the league in 2012. Texas made it last season in its first year in the conference.

Texas started this season No. 1 and the Aggies had a chance to bury the Longhorns’ playoff hopes once and for all. By winning, the Longhorns can start lobbying to be let in.

“We want to go to the SEC championship. We’re tired of losing to the same team back to back years, tired of not winning that trophy,” Texas A&M linebacker Taurean York said. “ But, you know, (the playoffs), that’s the bright side, so we’ll look at it that way.”

Reed had a chance to solidify his Heisman resume, and looked like he might do it when he shook off an early ankle injury scare and led the Aggies to a 10-3 halftime lead.

But he was ultimately outplayed by his Texas counterpart Arch Manning. It was Manning who started the season as the Heisman favorite only to go through a stretch of poor games at the beginning of the season.

Reed’s star rose when he led the Aggies to a shock comeback against South Carolina two weeks ago. There was no rally in A&M this time.

The Aggies cut the Texas lead to 20-17 before Manning scored his clinching touchdown. Reed then threw two late interceptions that sealed it. He finished with 180 yards passing.

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