The Texas A&M Aggies have waited 13 long years to get revenge on their fiercest rival, the Texas Longhorns.

Since Justin Tucker’s kick in 2011 set the stage for what the victors called the “forever scoreboard” the last time the in-state rivals met, the Aggies have been devastated. They chirped. They turned their noses up and the other way. As a sign of their opulence, they even rebuilt their home field and loudly boasted about the bold new era they had begun without the burnt orange in the SEC.

Above all, they waited with anticipation for the day when they could finally get a player between the Longhorns’ lines again. They also prepared accordingly, making sure there were no luxuries that could hold them back (or a buyout that was too big for the coach to handle).

When we played No. 3 Texas again Saturday night at Kyle Field, in front of a near-record 109,028 feverish fans, No. 20 Texas A&M had two opportunities to almost fulfill the 13 years it spent waiting . Nine inches, give or take, from picking up momentum on two fourth downs and providing some much-needed catharsis to all the fear that has built up in a fan base that doesn’t know much about it.

However, each time the Longhorns had a simple answer to their far more experienced SEC opponent to secure a 17-7 victory: no.

Not just no, no, indeed. You shall not pass.

“Many of these people have heard that we would have difficulty getting into the SEC since the day it was announced that we were going to the SEC. That it would be difficult. That we were going to go into that environment tonight — and it was going to be the toughest environment in college football — and we weren’t prepared for it,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “There were a lot of things that presented us with challenges that were brewing in a lot of people in that locker room, including coaches and players.

“It wasn’t a gimmick win. We didn’t do any tricks, we lined up, played good, hard football and delivered. A few balls didn’t bounce our way, but we won the game physically – which is exactly what we needed to do in the Southeastern Conference.”

They won, and now it’s the Longhorns who will play in their first-ever SEC championship game next week, rather than their rivals with a lead of 13 years – a spot in the College Football Playoff all but assured. The trip to Atlanta belies the fact that changing leagues is supposed to be difficult. It’s about much more than just updating a series of logos on the jerseys and throughout the football facilities.

In Texas, however, they make things look easy even when they aren’t.

Against the Aggies on Saturday, the Horns were by far the more physical team. They were better prepared and clearly superior on almost every series, save for a blocked punt and two red zone turnovers that breathed life into a game that was otherwise a runway. Texas nearly doubled A&M’s total yardage (458 to 248) and was evenly matched on the ground and in the air with over two appearances. Defensively, they pitched a shutout, although cornerback Will Lee III returned a tipped pass 93 yards in the third quarter for the home team’s only touchdown of the night.

It was as complete as it could be, although the end result didn’t really convey how one-sided things were in the Lone Star Showdown revival.

“I’m called a passer, but we pass the ball in critical moments, especially late in the game, and I thought that showed tonight,” Sarkisian said. “We continue to play really good defense. I thought we did a good job of keeping the quarterback from getting confused, we kept the ball in front of us. I thought we tackled really well tonight. All in all, we really are.”

Sarkisian carefully planned for this Texas team to show up in moments like this. Nick Saban’s former assistant coach knew exactly what physicality was needed to make the move from the Big 12 to the SEC, and he assembled one of the best front sevens in the country. They recorded just three sacks but were in the backfield on nearly every play after the snap, forcing freshman quarterback Marcel Reed to an ineffective 16-of-23 pass attempt for just 146 yards.

Normally incredibly elusive, the dual-threat quarterback was pinned for 60 yards on the ground and was essentially the A&M rushing attack (3.0 yards per carry) on a night when moving the chains became one It was a battle of wills that the guests consistently won.

Not that the Aggies didn’t try. They tried to set the tone early on the game’s first drive, quickly getting into the red zone after a couple of chunk plays from just outside the Texas 10-yard line on fourth-and-short. Instead of scoring the points, coach Mike Elko got the crowd behind him by making a run down the middle.

Filled.

A&M tried again as the clock ran out in the fourth quarter with another four-and-short just inside the goal line. A touchdown would have made it a one-score game, and the reeling fans would surely have turned the third-largest crowd in the stadium into a rolling earthquake the rest of the way.

Tailback Amari Daniels had no chance and was swallowed up by Texas lineman Ethan Burke just as he had been played right at the line moments before by Vernon Broughton and Jermayne Lole.

“We were excited,” said linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. “We feel like no one is going to pass us in the end zone. If you feel like you’re about to run a meter straight towards us, I feel like you’ve lost your mind. That is not will happen.”

This mentality comes not just from fourth downs against the rival, but over the years and especially during training camp drills like the one Sarkisian introduced this year, called the “red zone lockout.” The premise is simple: live, good on good between attack and defense of the first team with the ball at the 25, as if there was only one loss of possession.

One side needs to score, the other needs a stop.

In this situation, a spot in the SEC Championship game was at stake against the Aggies.

“Sark is committed to culture,” said cornerstone Jahdae Barron. “We’re just continuing to build the culture, not just on the field but off the field as well.”

Sarkisian also challenged his offense to match the intensity of the last few weeks, with a series of ups and downs since the loss to the Georgia Bulldogs not really demonstrating the level he felt they were capable of. This was particularly true in the running game, which dealt with season-ending injuries to the team’s top two options, but seemed to explode in the game against the Aggies with 240 yards, including 33 carries, a career-high 186 yards from Quintrevion Wisner corresponds.

“We’re all excited and couldn’t be more proud of how our team handled adversity and how we remained confident and composed throughout the game,” said quarterback Quinn Ewers, who had a touchdown and an interception during the game because of an ankle injury This limited him from training most of the week. “It means a lot to us. This was a tradition for a long time, then it disappeared for a while. It’s back and it’s fun to be at the top.”

But it’s not back to where the program is Really wants to be. Despite being the largest brand in the state and most associated with football, Austin’s national college football success has historically not been as great as other bluebloods. There were brief periods of dominance, such as under Darrell Royal in the 1960s and 1970s and under Mack Brown in the early 2000s. But on the 40 acres, it was largely fleeting, in ways that have baffled most people in the region over the last century.

The move to the SEC should help change that. The promise of more meaningful games like Saturday’s (and some bigger checks, of course) would help strengthen the Longhorns on and off the field, so that wins would lead to even more wins in a place that was never short of resources , but sometimes it’s because of the will. The program had to get better because it wasn’t just about getting into a better league than the Big 12 it was leaving behind, but also because the powers that be wanted to compete as if they were capable of taking over the league win.

Thanks to the SEC mentality Sarkisian has cultivated since his arrival, the Longhorns have now arrived on such a doorstep. The challenge hasn’t just been accepted, it’s just a game away from completing it – with all the glory that comes with it.

“Not quite,” says a smiling Kevin Eltife, the UT System chairman who was instrumental in orchestrating the school’s entry into the SEC in July 2021, as he envisioned this moment many years ago. “Getting to the SEC championship in your first year is pretty darn sweet, though.”

Maybe even sweeter than making the Aggies wait another year to taste exactly what the Longhorns got Saturday night.