No. 1 Texas A&M baseball’s rally from a nine-run deficit to beat then-No. 20 Georgia by the 10-run rule on Saturday has to rank among the most spectacular sports moments in A&M history.
Fortunately, I’ve witnessed several landmark events that just don’t happen often.
Sure, there are great plays in football, big home runs in baseball and last-second shots in basketball, but those kinds of moments, though exciting and memorable, aren’t that uncommon.
We’ve seen performances — good and bad — that are rare accomplishments on a national level.
With some help from TexAgs friend Gabe Bock, here’s a look at some of the most spectacular moments and events involving A&M sports that we’ve seen… and one we wish we didn’t.
(Listed in chronological order)
1. Bye Bye Byington
Full disclosure: I wasn’t there to witness this. But Bock, my old radio partner, lists this as one of the greatest moments in A&M sports history. Who am I to argue?
On April 16, 1989, A&M hosted to No. 9 Texas in a baseball doubleheader. John Byington hit a walk-off grand slam to give A&M an 18-14 victory in the first game.
Byington almost duplicated the feat in the nightcap. That time he hit a three-run walk-off homer for an 8-5 victory.
Two walk-off home runs in one day.
2. McElroy back-to-back TDs
How often do you see a guy return a kickoff for a touchdown? Now, how often do you see a guy return two kickoffs for a touchdown the same season?
OK. Now, how often does a guy return kickoffs for touchdowns in the same game?
Well, on Oct. 23, 1993, Leeland McElroy returned back-to-back kickoffs for touchdowns against Rice.
Because of McElroy, A&M led 14-3 before the offense ever came on the field.
The Aggies went on to prevail, 38-10.
3. Manziel mania
The 2012 season, A&M’s first in the Southeastern Conference, was highlighted by the emergence of Johnny Manziel, who became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.
Andrew Kilzer, TexAgs
In 2012, Johnny Manziel became the first freshman and only the fifth player in NCAA history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in a season.
A redshirt freshman, Manziel took the nation by storm with an exciting style of play that seemed to teeter on the edge of disaster, but frequently resulted in record-breaking performances.
Manziel set the SEC single-season record for offensive production by throwing for 3,706 yards and rushing for 1,410 yards for 5,116 yards of total offense. He passed for 26 touchdowns and rushed for 21. He led the Aggies to an 11-2 finish.
4. Manziel says farewell
A&M trailed Duke 38-17 during the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Dec. 31, 2013. But quarterback Johnny Manziel led a spectacular second-half comeback for a 52-48 victory.
Manziel threw two touchdown passes and ran for another to lead the rally. Playing in his last collegiate game, Manziel completed 30-of-38 passes for 382 yards and four touchdowns.
He rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown. Ironically, the game-winning touchdown was a 55-yard interception return by Toney Hurd Jr.
5. LA collapse
Just to show we don’t only recall the great days…
In the football season-opener on Sept. 3, 2017, the Aggies led UCLA 44-10 after a 41-yard Daniel LaCamera field goal with 4:08 left in the third quarter.
An injury to starting quarterback Nick Starkel forced true freshman Kellen Mond into action. Yet, A&M offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone insisted on calling pass plays. Mond completed only 3-of-17 passes.
Meanwhile, UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen began picking apart the A&M secondary. After leading the Bruins to a third-quarter touchdown run by Soso Jamabo, Rosen threw four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.
The last one — a 10-yarder to Jordan Lasley with 43 seconds remaining — resulted in a 45-44 UCLA victory.
Yes, A&M blew a 34-point lead in 17 minutes. Video replay showed the Aggies could have won nearly by snapping the ball late in the play clock and calling fewer passes.
6. OMG in OKC
Alex Parker, TexAgs
A&M closed regulation vs. Northern Iowa on a 14-2 run over a 31-second span to tie the game and force OT en route to a miracle comeback victory in OKC.
March Madness was redefined on March 20, 2016, in Oklahoma City.
A&M trailed Northern Iowa, 69-57, with less than 40 seconds remaining in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Admon Gilder scored with 34 seconds left.
Then with a series of steals and turnovers, the Aggies pulled within 71-69 on a three-point play with 11.8 seconds remaining.
Gilder stole the ensuing inbounds pass and hit a layup with 1.9 seconds to play in regulation. The Aggies eventually prevailed 92-88 in overtime to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
7. LSU marathon
On Nov. 24, 2018, Quartney Davis caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Kellen Mond with no time remaining to force overtime.
Seven overtime periods later, Mond hit Davis with a 17-yard touchdown and then Kendrick Rogers with a pass for a two-point conversion to clinch a wild 74-72 victory.
It was the most points scored in a FBS game. It also led to changes in the NCAA overtime rules.
8. The legendary… Calzada?
Zach Calzada appeared way over his head when he was thrust into the lineup because of an injury to starting quarterback Haynes King in the second game of the 2021 season.
Calzada struggled mightily. In three games against Power 5 opponents, he completed fewer than 47 percent of his passes. He’d committed costly turnovers in consecutive losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State.
Next up was Alabama, which had the No. 7-ranked defense in the nation that season.
There wasn’t much reason for optimism on Oct. 9, 2021. But Calzada turned in the game of his life. He completed 21-of-31 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns in a stunning 41-38 A&M upset.
Calzada was at his best in leading the Aggies to consecutive scores in the fourth quarter.
First, he completed 4-of-5 passes for 61 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown to Ainias Smith — which forged a 38-38 tie with three minutes left.
On A&M’s next series, Calzada completed passes of 17 and 12 yards, ran for 11 yards and threw another pass that resulted in a 15-yard interference penalty.
That set up Seth Small’s game-winning field goal on the final play.
Calzada’s play was rather mediocre the remainder of the season. He transferred afterward.
But on that night, he was amazing.
9. So long to Texas University
Jamie Maury, TexAgs
Micah Dallas earned the victory (7-3) against the Longhorns in the 2022 Men’s College World Series. He worked 5.0 innings and only allowed one earned run.
On June 19, 2022, A&M faced archrival Texas for the first and only time in the Men’s College World Series in history.
The Longhorns took a 2-0 lead in the elimination game, but A&M answered with four runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Trevor Werner delivered a two-run single in an 11-pitch at-bat that set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Aggies added single runs in the third, fourth, seventh and eighth innings and pushed two runs across in the fifth.
Meanwhile, pitchers Micah Dallas, Jacob Palisch and Brad Rudis frustrated the Longhorns, especially National Player of the Year Ivan Melendez, who was 0-for-4, struck out twice and left three runners on base.
10. Run-rule run-down
Most of us saw it on Saturday, April 27, but to review…
Georgia erupted for nine runs to open the second game of the series last weekend.
Undaunted, in the bottom of the inning, the Aggies got home runs from Jace LaViolette, Ted Burton and Travis Chestnut to pull within 9-8.
The Aggies tied it in the third on a bases-loaded walk by Braden Montgomery.
They broke it open with an eight-run sixth inning, which was highlighted by a Montgomery grand slam.
Then, Chestnut hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to give the Aggies a 19-9 run-rule victory.
