Aggies Trail 21-17 After Late Hurricanes Surge

The Texas A&M Aggies trail the Miami Hurricanes after the first two quarters of play in Hard Rock Stadium.

It didn't take long to figure out that this pair of 5-7 football teams from a season ago were much improved. After engaging in a defensive slugfest at Kyle Field last season, the rematch between the Texas A&M Aggies and Miami Hurricanes looks to be a budding shootout.

After the first half of play the Aggies find themself with their first test of the seaosn as they trail the Hurricanes 21-17. 

After starting the game defensively with a quick three-and-out, the A&M special teams unit blocked a Miami punt, setting up Conner Weigman and the Aggies offense with a very short field on the 15-yard line. And just like he did five times last week, Weigman found the endzone on a one-yard run to give A&M an early 7-0 lead. 

After a second three-and-out for the Canes offense, the Aggies offense put together a promising second drive as they 76 yards on 11 plays, mixing it up between run and pass, as running back Amari Daniels put together productive runs picking up 27 yards on five carries. 

Yet, the drive would stall deep in Canes territory as a third-down pass to sophomore receiver Evan Stewart was stopped short of the sticks on third and five, forcing a 24-yard field goal. 

All it took was one explosive play for the Miami offense to get going on their third drive, as Canes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke connected with his receiver Xavier Restrepo for a big 48-yard gain, setting up a touchdown pass for the junior quarterback just a few plays later as he found Colbie Young wide open in the flats for a two-yard score. 

Following their first punt of the game, another special teams blunder by the Hurricanes turned into seven points for the Aggies, as a muffed punt was recovered by A&M before Daniels capitalized on it with a 10-yard touchdown run to extend their lead to 10 points just under two minutes into the second quarter. 

It didn't take long to realize that this season's matchup between the Canes and Aggies wasn't going to be another defensive slugfest as the Hurricanes responded to the Aggies touchdown, with one of their own as Van Dyke found another explosive passing play as he hit his receiver Isaiah Horton for a 52-yard score, bring Miami within a field goal down 17-14. 

Another A&M punt, this time because of their first three-and-out, and momentum seemingly beginning to swing in the Hurricanes' favor, the Aggies defense got off the field without surrendering the lead as a Shemar Turner sack on third-down forced Miami into a 54-yard field goal attempt which was no good. 

The Aggies started out hot as they scored on each of their first three drives, but have since been held scoreless as the Hurricanes have managed to survive the early surge of A&M and have even taken control of the game as Van Dyke led the Canes offense 75 yards in six plays to take the lead after a 11-yard touchdown pass to Jacolby George.