John F. Rhodes / DMN
Notre Dame's Kevin Pendergast booted the game-winning field goal with 2:17 to play.No. 1 question: Seminoles or Irish?
A&M loses Cotton Bowl thriller, 24-21
1/2/1994
For three quarters of Saturday's Mobil Cotton Bowl, the Texas A&M Aggies threatened to rescue the Southwest Conference's tattered image and their own reputation as big-game no-shows.
But a fourth quarter of Notre Dame big plays and Aggie turnovers will keep A&M and the SWC in search of a New Year's Day prize for at least one more season.
A 31-yard field goal by Kevin Pendergast with 2:17 to play gave the Fighting Irish a 24-21 victory in the 58th Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic.
It also gave the No. 4 Fighting Irish (11-1) and coach Lou Holtz a soapbox on which to make their national championship pitch.
"If there is not an undefeated team this year," Holtz said after the game, "I certainly feel that this football team deserves the national championship."
The closest Cotton Bowl contest since 1984 was witnessed by the smallest Cotton Bowl crowd in nine years, 69,855. Sunny skies, temperatures in the 60s, three turnover-free quarters and nail-biting suspense throughout (the teams never drifted farther apart than seven points) made it one of the best Cotton Bowls in years. But don't say that to the Aggies, who saw their Cotton Bowl losing streak extended to three games and the Southwest Conference's extended to six.
"We don't get all excited about playing close games," A&M coach R.C. Slocum said. "I'm not at all happy about losing."
The No. 7 Aggies (10-2) ended two years of offensive futility by scoring on their first possession, their first Cotton Bowl touchdown in three games. The Aggies' 341 yards of offense were just four short of their output in the last two Cotton Bowls combined.
The offensive improvement kept the Aggies close for three quarters, after which the teams were tied, 21-21.
But the fourth quarter saw Aggies sophomore quarterback Corey Pullig throw an interception (the game's first turnover), tailback Rodney Thomas lose a fumble and A&M lose a total of two yards on three plays on another important series.
"They ended up doing the things it takes to win the game," Slocum said. "We had a chance to make the plays and we didn't make them."
Notre Dame tailback Lee Becton carried 26 times for 138 of the Irish's 206 rushing yards. Most went right into the gut of A&M's 3-4 defense.
Irish quarterback Kevin McDougal kept for a 19-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, then let Ray Zellars and Marc Edwards pound away from short yardage for two third-quarter touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Pullig completed 17 of 31 passes for 238 yards, the Aggies' second-highest passing total of the season and the third-highest Cotton Bowl total ever.
He moved the Aggies 79 yards on their first possession, which ended on Greg Hill's eight-yard touchdown run. Pullig sneaked for a first down on fourth-and-one from his 45 on the Aggies' 77-yard second-quarter scoring drive. Then, on another fourth-and-one later in that drive, Pullig tossed to Smith for a 15-yard score and a 14-7 halftime lead.
But he threw behind Brian Mitchell on the Aggies' first series of the fourth quarter, killing A&M's drive at the Notre Dame 45.
"I had the right read, the right side of the field, the right guy; I just threw it behind him a little," Pullig said.
Notre Dame's Mike Miller made perhaps the biggest play of the game when the Aggies couldn't move on their next possession. He returned James Bennett's punt 38 yards to the Aggies' 22, setting up Pendergast's field goal.
"A&M had the nation's No. 1 punt returner, but we like to think we have a pretty good kicking game, and we challenged our players on it," Holtz said.
The Aggies got the football after Pendergast's go-ahead field goal on their 32 with 2:13 to play. But Thomas fumbled on the first play when hit by safety Jeff Burris. Sophomore cornerback Bobby Taylor, of Longview, Texas, recovered for Notre Dame . Taylor also blocked Terry Venetoulias' 39-yard first-quarter field goal attempt and made several other big plays.
The Fighting Irish ran three plays and punted back to the Aggies, who took over at their own 20 with 1:10 to play. A 32-yard pass to tight end Greg Schorp gave the Aggies hope. But it ended on a fourth-and-17 play from their 41. Pullig passed to Tony Harrison, whose attempted toss to Leeland McElroy on a hook-and-ladder play sailed high.
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