Nebraska Cornhuskers ©	Texas A&M Aggies
Played October 10, 1998 at Kyle Field College Station, Texas

  

 

Teams' Belt Records

 

Team	Belt Reigns	Overall Record				Home Record				Away Record				Neutral Record
		W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT
Nebraska ©	2	16	2	0	.889	7	0	0	1.000	7	2	0	.778	2	0	0	1.000
Texas A&M	0	0	1	0	.000									0	1	0	.000

 

 

The 2^nd ranked, 5-0 Nebraska Cornhuskers of first-year coach Frank Solich met the 18^th ranked, 4-1 Texas A&M Aggies of coach R.C. Slocum.  The Aggies had planned for this game since their loss in the Big 12 Championship game last season & they were ready for the Cornhuskers’ on-slaught.  Texas A&M used big plays on offense & a stout defense that held the Nebraska rushing attack to 141 yards as the Aggies claimed The Belt with a 28-21 win.  Texas A&M made it clear from the outset that this game would be different than the Big XII Championship match-up that the Cornhuskers had won 54-15 last December.  The Aggies' Wrecking Crew defense held Nebraska to -5 yards of total offense on their first 2 possessions.  The first big offensive play of the game came on Texas A&M's 2^nd drive as QB Randy McCown connected WR Chris Taylor on an 81-yard touchdown pass.  McCown completed only one more pass the rest of the day but the Aggies out-rushed the Cornhuskers by 141 yards.  Midway through the 2^nd quarter, Nebraska answered with a 7-yard touchdown run from RB Correll Burkhalter that finished an 8-play, 48-yard drive to tie the score 7-7.  Late in the quarter, the Aggies’ RB Ja’Mar Toombs burst through the middle for a 71-yard run before RB Dante Hall finished the 4-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run as Texas A&M took a 14-7 lead to the locker room.  On the Cornhuskers first possession of the 2^nd half, QB Bobby Newcombe was sacked & his fumble was recovered by Aggies’ LB Warrick Holdman in the end zone giving Texas A&M a 21-7 lead they held through three quarters.  On the first play of the 4^th quarter, Toombs added a 3-yard run to give the Aggies a 28-7 advantage.  Newcomb scored with 8:08 to play on an 11-yard touchdown run to finish a 6-play, 76-yard drive.  Nebraska scored again after traveling 66 yards with RB Joel Makovicka scoring from 9 yards out to close the gap to 28-21 with 4:39 left.  Nebraska got the ball back at their own 20-yard line with 2:00 to play but an interception by Texas A&M's CB Sedrick Curry with 0:51 left sealed the fate of the Cornhuskers & The Belt as the Aggies claimed the win.  For the Aggies, Hall finished with 133 yards rushing with a touchdown & Toombs finished with 110 yards rushing with a touchdown.  Nebraska's WR Matt Davison had 10 catches for 167 yards & Newcombe threw for 204 yards with an interception but was sacked 4 times.  The win gave Texas A&M their first Belt reign.  The Cornhuskers finished the season 9-4; ranked 19^th nationally while the Aggies finished 11-3, Big XII Champions, & ranked 11^th nationally.  Nebraska would play for The Belt again in 2002.