Texas A&M eludes upset-minded Colorado

Zach Calzada dug deep and found Isaiah Spiller for a game-winning score that induced sighs of relief all over College Station.

The Calzada-Spiller connection propelled Texas A&M over former rival Colorado in the waning moments of the game. Down 7-3 and nearly poised to crumble, the backup quarterback found the star offensive player for the go-ahead score. The fifth-ranked Aggies left Denver with a 10-7 victory that might not keep them there but still avoids a loss in the end.

A&M was out of it for much of the game. Offensively, they couldn’t get anything going. Haynes King went down with an injury, and Calzada at first couldn’t muster up much. What made matters worse for them was that CU couldn’t do much either. They scored an early touchdown — a two-yard plunge into the end zone by Jarek Broussard. But after that, things went sour. They missed a field goal, turned it over on downs, punted, and then went into the half.

The Buffs and Aggies could hardly sustain anything in the second half. The first seven drives of the second half turned into punts. A&M then appeared to score on a 13-play, 74-yard drive. But Calzada fumbled it in the end zone, which led to another CU possession. That amounted to nothing and gave A&M the chance to go ahead again. Go ahead they would, as the Spiller reception in the end zone capped off another lengthy drive.

A&M got the win today, but they certainly can’t afford similar performances. Not when Arkansas is roughing Texas up in the fashion they did, and not with Mississippi State looking threatening and, well, big bad ‘Bama around either. The Aggies have to clean things up big time. But they can celebrate their nail-biting win tonight, that much is certain.