With Auburn coming to town, it’s only fitting that we take a look back at one of Texas A&M’s most clutch defensive stops in history.
It was New Year’s Day 1986, and the Aggies and Tigers were in a close battle at the 50th Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas, Texas. Heisman winner and one of the greatest college athletes of all time, Bo Jackson, was having a pretty dominant game leading into the 4th quarter.
Up by a slim lead of 21-16, The Auburn Tigers were inside the 10-yard line with four downs and the best running back in college football. No matter the situation, this would be a daunting task for any defense.
There wasn’t a soul in that stadium that didn’t believe that Auburn would score for this distance, but the Aggie goal-line defense was on a mission to deny that touchdown. Auburn ran the ball three straight times with Jackson but came up empty. Being two yards out, the Auburn head coach made a call that changed the course of the fourth quarter. On fourth and goal, Auburn handed the ball to Jackson for a fourth straight time, and he was stopped for the fourth straight time.
Below is what Auburn head coach Pat Dye had to say about that moment in the game.
”I think if we had scored on that fourth-down play, we would have won the ball game,” Dye said, via the New York Times. ”But when they stopped us, it gave them the edge and the momentum.”
The Aggies defeated the Tigers in a final score of 36-16, ending the season 10-2 record and ranked 6th in the Nation. Jimbo has the second hurdle of the season coming up on Saturday, and what we see will show us a lot about where the defense is at two weeks removed from the Miami game.
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