LINCOLN, Neb. -- This time, there was no Texas Tech mystique or Oklahoma spread offense.
This time, it was plain and simple. Texas A&M was given a good, old-fashioned rump-kicking by Nebraska. The Cornhuskers pushed the Aggies around all game long Saturday and ultimately shoved them into also-ran status in the Big 12 South with a 37-0 victory before 77,705 at Memorial Stadium.
The Aggies were shut out for the first time in 143 games, since losing to LSU 27-0 in 1988. Nebraska outgained Texas A&M 430-118 and turned a 6-0 halftime lead into a rout by piling up 288 yards and 31 points in the second half.
"We played horrible offense," Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum said. "We were very inept. We couldn't run the ball, and when we tried to throw, we couldn't protect (quarterback Randy McCown) long enough to get the ball off.
"I'm very disappointed. I have a lot of respect for their defense, but at the same time we should have been able to perform better offensively than this."
With the loss by the Aggies and wins by Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma on Saturday, the Aggies (6-3, 3-3 in the Big 12) were eliminated from contention for the Big 12 South title, which they had won the two previous seasons.
The Aggies have lost all three of their Big 12 road games this season, the last two against Oklahoma and Nebraska coming by a combined score of 88-6.
"Any time you don't put any points on the board against any team, it hurts your pride," offensive guard Chris Valletta said. "We had a lot of three (downs) and outs. There was too much pressure on Randy, so he couldn't get the ball out to the receivers."
The Aggies had a total of two -- count 'em, two -- yards rushing on 38 carries. Ja'Mar Toombs had 46 yards to lead the Aggies, but Nebraska sacked McCown eight times for a loss of 64 yards to count against the rushing total. Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch had 137 yards rushing and tailback Dan Alexander 135.
McCown, under heavy pressure all day, was 11-of-30 for 116 yards and was intercepted four times, twice by safety Mike Brown. Five Texas A&M turnovers led to 20 Nebraska points.
"All they did all day was blitz every down," McCown said. "Their secondary is pretty good, but the guys up front forced me to rush a lot of throws. They had the running lanes clogged up and made it hard to throw the ball."
As bad as the blowout was, it could have been worse. The Cornhuskers twice fumbled the ball inside the Texas A&M 10-yard line and kicker Josh Brown missed a 21-yard field goal.
"I had to slap myself when we were fumbling and blowing some scoring opportunities in the first half," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said. "Many times, those will come back to haunt you."
On Nebraska's first play from scrimmage, wingback Bobby Newcombe fumbled and Texas A&M linebacker Harold Robertson recovered at the Nebraska 11-yard line. Three plays later, kicker Terence Kitchens' 28-yard field-goal try was blocked by Kyle Vanden Bosch.
"That was huge, confidence-wise," said Nebraska nose tackle Steve Warren. "We gave them the ball in our back yard, and they were unable to score. I think it was the biggest play of the game."
The Cornhuskers moved smartly down the field, gaining 76 yards on 15 plays and using up six minutes. But Josh Brown's kick from 21 yards hit the left upright, and the game remained scoreless.
In the second quarter, the Aggies had a chance to take the lead again. After passes from McCown to Chris Cole and Leroy Hodge helped move the ball to the Nebraska 14, Kitchens tried a field goal from 31 yards. Kitchens, who hit a 62-yard field goal earlier this season, had a kick blocked for the seventh time in the last seven games.
"Today, I was thinking about trying to get the ball up," Kitchens said. "In the past, I'd just go out and kick it. I thought I got the first one up OK. The second one, I'll have to watch a tape because I'm not sure."
After the second block, Slocum instructed punter Shane Lechler and backup kicker Timm Gergeni to kick into the net on the sideline. However, the Aggies didn't need a kicker the rest of the game. They didn't score a touchdown, so no extra-point kick was needed, and they didn't attempt another field goal.
"It's something we've worked on in practice, but the trajectory was too low again," Slocum said. "I thought we it worked out, but we didn't."
After a fumble by Toombs at the A&M 11, the Cornhuskers finally got on the board on Josh Brown's 20-yard field goal with 5:29 left in the second quarter. With just more than one minute left in the half, McCown's third-and-eight pass from his own three-yard line was picked off by Mike Brown at the Aggies' 38. He returned to the 18, and Josh Brown kicked a 31-yard field goal to make it 6-0 at the half.
The Aggies were equally horrible in the second half. They had seven drives in the second half; five ended with a punt and two with an interception. Texas A&M's deepest penetration after halftime was the Nebraska 36.
The Cornhuskers, meanwhile, scored touchdowns on four of their drives and put the game away by putting up 17 points in the third quarter to go ahead 23-0.
"We made adjustments in the second half, and we came at them harder and harder," Crouch said. "I think they just wore down as the game went on."
By the end of the game, the Aggies were thoroughly beaten down. With games left against Missouri and Texas, they will need at least one win to be a lock for a bowl game. They have six wins and are bowl-eligible, but a 6-5 team might be on the outside of the bowl picture.
And that, for a team with designs on a national championship earlier this season, is a shocking development.
"We can play better than this, I know we can," Toombs said. "But we can't just get it done in practice and then not do it in the game."
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