Aggies Crush Sooners in Norman

Texas A&M travelled to Norman, OK, to play their long-time rival the University of Oklahoma on Saturday (03-30-13) and as has been the case all season, the match had major implications within the ARC standings.  The winner would take the regular season championship and a place in the ARC championship game in College Station.  While the Aggies had already earned a spot in the championship, a bonus-point win by Oklahoma would make them the higher seed in a rematch.  If Oklahoma lost, the best they could do was a spot in the 3rd-4th place match at the championships, so a great deal was on the line for the Sooners.  Oklahoma is always extremely tough at home and the Aggies were expecting a hard game in Norman.  Wind conditions on game day were bad which added to the concerns of the coaching staff.

Guillen scoring one of his three tries

The Aggies began the match by asserting a great deal of pressure on the Sooner's backline, resulting in a penalty which flyhalf Conor Mills quickly converted (3:01) for a 3-0 lead.  The defense continued to stifle OU with pressure at the 9-10 exchange which resulted in more Aggie ball.  Wing Brian Guillen scored the first of his three tries (4:35) after getting a pass from Mills and it looked like the Aggies were off to the races.  The Aggies maintained possession after the restart and were able to create a massive overload wide after multiple phases.  Hooker Andres Diaz cruised in for the score (14:46) as the Aggies upped their lead to 13-0.

Guillen scored his second try after delivering a devastating stiff-arm to his opposite number.  He shook loose from the defense and sprinted in for an exciting score (21:45).  The Aggies now had a 18-0 lead, but the offensive onslaught came to a sudden halt.  TAMU began to exhibit the negative effects of the hot day and an early lead.  They allowed the Sooners to come roaring back at the end of the half.  The Sooners managed to score the next two tries (26:12 and 40:32) to close the halftime score to 18-12.

After making some serious halftime adjustments the Aggies unleashed their potent offense in the second half, outscoring OU 52-7.  The Aggies had tries from De la Garza (48:11, 83:07)), Guillen (54:05), Jacobson (58:56), Dowlearn (61:15, 78:56), Mills (67:32), and Smiley (74:18).  TAMU was unstoppable and the Sooners had no solution defensively.  All the tries were well-worked, through multiple phases and demonstrated that the Aggies are continuing with their growth on offense.  The effort in the second half was  fantastic - providing the Aggies with another excellent team win - 70-19.

The Men of the Match were Armando De la Garza (forwards) and Brian Guillen (backs) - both had multiple try days and dominated their opposite numbers.