Aggies ward off Warfield and the Utes

Despite a strong end-of-the-game comeback by Utah, Texas A&M held on to defeat the Utes 28-26 in front of a Saturday night Kyle Field crowd of 74,019.

A&M (2-0) scored first when an 80 yard run by Terrence Murhphy set up a Todd Pegram field goal. Pegram's second FG kick of the quarter came after a 1 yard Keith Joseph run, making A&M's lead 14-0 at the start of the second quarter.

After a 4 yd TD pass from QB Reggie McNeal to Quinlin Germany, the Aggies held a 21-point lead at halftime.

The second half was a different contest. A&M allowed the Utes (1-1) back in the game after three Aggie turnovers in the third quarter. On A&M's first drive after halftime, Murphy fumbled a kickoff. Later in the third, the Utes recovered a bobbled snap to McNeal, setting up a Utah TD. The final Aggie turnover of the quarter came when Keith Joseph fumbled at the Utah goal line. The Utes' Brandon Warfield turned all three A&M miscues into rushing TDs.

Courtney Lewis scored the only Aggie points in the second half, when he ran for a 28 yd TD in the 4th quarter. Pegram added the extra point.

With the score 28-26 with 6 seconds left in the game, Utah missed a 2-point conversion, preserving the Texas A&M victory.

Utah quarterback Brett Elliott finished the game 18-of-40 for 210 yards, while A&M quarterback McNeal went 12-of-18 for 145 yards. The Aggies had 223 total rushing yards in the game.

Texas A&M has next week off, allowing for extended preparation time for a Thursday night ESPN matchup against top 10 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA on September 18.