Aggies rally late, take out Colorado

The No. 5 Aggies (2-0) held Colorado (1-1) to a mere 54 yards and one first down after halftime and allowed an offense crippled by the loss of starting quarterback Haynes King to find its footing in a dominant fourth quarter in a 10-7 victory before a pro-A&M crowd of 61,203 at Empower Field at Mile High.

"We were fortunate to come out of that one," coach Jimbo Fisher said afterward.

The Aggies didn't look fortunate early on. They looked cursed. After punting on the first possession, a blitz from linebacker Aaron Hansford forced Colorado quarterback Brenden Lewis (13-25, 89 yards, 1 INT) into an awkward throw that was picked off by defensive tackle Jayden Peevy at Colorado's 43. A&M was able to pick up 8 yards, but the last two were costly as King was defensive end Thomas Guy jumped on his back, twisting his ankle awkwardly under him. Kicker Seth Small missed from 53 yards but, more importantly, King's day -- and likely longer -- was done.

While the Aggies were struggling to find their footing with backup quarterback Zach Calzada, Colorado was running at will in a dominant first quarter. Lewis, who led the Buffaloes with 79 rushing yards, ripped off a pair of big runs to put Colorado in position for running back Jarek Broussard (12 carries, 51 yards) to punch in a 2-yard score with 2:24 to go in the quarter.

Colorado outgained the Aggies 127-18 in the first quarter, but that would be the high point of the game for the Buffs. They would miss a field goal on their next possession, then had a 12-play, 66-yard drive that reached the A&M 5-yard-line. The Buffs decided to go for it and a sneak by Lewis was stuffed by defensive end Micheal Clemons and a host of other A&M defenders for a 1-yard loss.

"Sneak sneak sneak. Get low, get your pads down. We already knew where they were going," Peevy said.

Colorado coach Karl Dorrell defended his playcall, saying he believed his team would need another touchdown to win.

"We're going to be aggressive. We want to be aggressive, particularly in games like this where you need touchdowns more than field goals," he said.

It wasn't until there was 1:50 left in the half that the Aggies finally showed signs of life on offense, as Devon Achane (9 carries, 50 yards) ripped off a run of 15 yards to move A&M from their 20 to the 35 -- and pick up their first first down of the game. Isiah Spiller (team-high 6 catches, 56 yards, 1 TD; 8 carries, 20 yards) added a 15-yard completion on the next play, and Calzada hit Jalen Wydermyer for 16 yards on 3rd and 6 on the Colorado 46 to keep the drive moving. The drive stalled at the CU 23, but Small was able to hit from 41 yards to make the score 7-3.

Neither team did much of anything in the third quarter, with the Aggies mustering just 45 yards to Colorado's 41. But the tide started to turn as the A&M defense held Colorado to a single first down in the quarter and just 12 yards of passing.

The Aggies offense managed what qualified as an explosion in this game during the fourth quarter, racking up 163 yards, including 118 through the air. It looked like A&M had finally taken the lead with 8:45 to go in the game when Calzada appeared to have capped a 12-play, 87-yard drive with a 13-yard run and dive into the end zone. But a review showed that Calzada had fumbled the ball just short of the goal line and Colorado had recovered -- and moved out to the 35-yard-line after a facemask penalty on Wydermyer in the end zone.

The Aggies had the ball back 50 seconds later after A&M forced Colorado into another 3 and out. The Aggies took over at their own 23, 77 yards away from a go-ahead score.

"I just told (Calzada), 'You've been waiting for this for three years. It's your time. Ball out," defensive end DeMarvin Leal said.

Calzada appeared to be unfazed by his error on the previous drive, completing a 25-yard pass to Achane and finding Spiller for an 8-yard gain on 3rd and 8 at the Colorado 27.

"The linebackers were playing over the top, so I had to sit down and I had to make the catch. No other way around it," Spiller said.

Colorado forced the Aggies into a 3rd and 9 at the 18, then flushed Calzada from the pocket and made him roll to his left. The rifle-armed Calzada then threw a perfect lob to Spiller in the corner of the end zone to give the Aggies their first lead with 2:41 to go in the game.

"The throw he made to Spiller was a great play and a great throw to a receiver — who was the third receiver on that route," Fisher said.

That would be more than enough, because Colorado was completely stymied on offense. They picked up a total of 54 yards and 1 first down after halftime, and only ran 7 plays in the fourth quarter. After linebacker Andre White sacked Lewis on 3rd and 10 from the CU 25, the Aggies laid back and made sure to take down wideout Dimitri Stanley short of the sticks on 4th and 13, allowing the Aggies to escape with a win.

"The second half was perfect (by the defense), and it was what we needed because it was the only way we could win the game," Fisher said.

Kind of like how the Wrecking Crew used to do it.