A NEW NEMESIS Colorado is proving to be a big obstacle in the Big 12 for revenge-minded Aggies By Rusty Burson

Here’s something many Aggies may find extremely difficult to believe: Texas A&M and Colorado have only played four times in the history of the two schools. It seems like a much longer series to many Aggies. That’s probably because the Buffaloes have been responsible for producing some of the longest days in recent Aggie history.

A&M broke through in Boulder in 1997 with an uplifting victory that helped propel the Aggies to the Big 12 South title. But the three A&M losses in the series have been nothing short of gut-wrenching.

"We could have been so much better, but instead, I don't think we really ever lived up to our potential. You never know what would have happened if we had just beaten Colorado." –Jason Glenn

Forget Texas. Eliminate Texas Tech, too. The team that has truly been the biggest thorn in A&M’s side in recent years is Colorado. Since 1995, the Buffs have dashed A&M’s national title hopes, destroyed an Aggie’s Heisman Trophy bid, handed A&M its first-ever Big 12 loss and ended the Aggies’ 22-game home winning streak.

Since 1989, A&M has just seven losses at Kyle Field. Colorado is the only team responsible for two of them.

The mere mention of Ralphie is enough to make many A&M fans want to ralph.

"They’ve definitely had our number," current Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dat Nguyen said of the Buffs. "That win up there in ’97 was a great one, but that loss in ’95 still stings."

Indeed, the ’95 loss to the Buffs could probably be labeled as program-altering for the Aggies. A&M soared into Boulder on Sept. 23, 1995 ranked No. 3 nationally and sporting a Heisman Trophy candidate in Leeland McElroy. And the Aggies appeared well on their way to a statement victory over the seventh-ranked Buffaloes when David Maxwell recovered a fumble in the end zone for a 7-0 A&M lead early in the first quarter.

Then the news got even better for A&M when starting CU quarterback Koy Detmer was injured and lost for the remainder of the game without even being hit.

"We definitely thought we had them at that point," said Nguyen, who had nine tackles that day. "But it seemed like we just couldn’t make plays when they were right there for us."

That’s the most agonizing memory of that day. The Aggies had so many opportunities to win the game, but couldn’t make the simple play.

Colorado dared A&M to throw the ball, stacking eight defenders "in the box" to shut down McElroy. As a result, ‘Lectric Leeland was simply Mediocre McElroy on that day, being held to just 52 yards on 23 carries.

To his credit, quarterback Corey Pullig did everything in his power to make the Buffs pay for stacking the line of scrimmage. But a perfect slant pass to Chris Sanders, which could have easily been a long touchdown, was dropped. And another pass to Albert Connell went right through the receiver’s hands for an interception that led to a CU touchdown.

"That loss was probably one of the most disappointing games I’ve had since I’ve been here," A&M head coach R.C. Slocum said. "I’ll never forget having Sanders wide open for an obvious touchdown, and he dropped the ball. You’ve got to make those plays, we weren’t ready to make them that day. As I looked at it after the game, I thought we played like a tight football team. It wasn’t a lack of desire or effort or preparation.

"I think we wanted to win it so badly that we actually tightened up. I have to take responsibility for that as a coach, for allowing that to happen. I wish I had done something. I don’t know exactly what I could have done, but something to somehow keep the desire and intensity to win, but say, ‘Hey this is not life or death.’ We approached it like a life or death deal because of the ranking. You can’t get yourself in a situation where you want something so badly that you can’t function."

A&M held on for a 16-10 win in Boulder in 1997.

The Aggies couldn’t function the following game, either. Obviously suffering a "no national title" hangover from the 29-21 loss to Colorado, A&M was upended by Texas Tech, 14-7, bringing an end to the Aggies’ 29-game unbeaten streak in Southwest Conference play.

"That had everything to do with losing to Colorado," Nguyen acknowledged. "And then the next game, we needed a miraculous catch by (Connell) to beat SMU. Losing to Colorado really ruined that season for us. It was like we had lost everything we had been working for."

The ’96 loss to Colorado wasn’t quite as devastating to the Aggies’ psyche. After all, A&M entered that game with a 1-2 record after opening the season with demoralizing losses to BYU and Southwestern Louisiana.

Still, the Aggies had seemingly righted the ship with a 55-0 win over North Texas and could have completely turned things around with a win over Colorado in the first Big 12 Conference game in school history.

Kyle Field was rocking in the pregame ceremonies. But it took all of 13 seconds to burst the Aggies precarious bubble.

Michael Jennings fumbled the opening kickoff, and Colorado’s Rae Carruth took the reverse 28 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to give CU a 7-0 lead with 14:47 still left in the first quarter. The Buffs merely toyed with the Aggies the rest of the way en route to a 24-10 win. CU went on to a 10-2 season a No. 8 national ranking in the final polls. The Aggies stumbled to a 6-6 finish.

Those two disheartening losses to the Buffs made the ’97 victory in Boulder even sweeter. Nguyen, Rich Coady, Shane Lechler and Dante Hall all made big plays as the Aggies posted their first road win over a ranked opponent since 1991.

"That was fun, I enjoyed that game," Slocum said of the 16-10 win. "We played physical that day. The score wasn’t a huge margin, but I thought we really controlled the ballgame. I thought we really played pretty good as a team."

Unfortunately for the Aggies, the victory in Boulder didn’t put an end to the CU jinx. Last year’s loss to the Buffs may not have been the most demoralizing in the series, but it was the most humiliating.

By all accounts, the Aggies appeared to be on a roll entering last October. But then they rolled a snap back to the punter against winless Colorado. As a result, the impressive roll A&M had put together at Kyle Field came to an end. And the Aggies’ role in the national setting changed overnight.

Previously winless Colorado 26, stunned Texas A&M 19.

"That game killed me at the time, and it still does," said Jason Glenn, now with the New York Jets. "I had nightmares about that Colorado loss. If we win that game, the sky is the limit.

"We really would have been on a roll. I believe it could have been like 1998 all over again. At the very least, we would have probably been in the Top 10 when Oklahoma came to town (on Nov. 11). That game really put a damper on our season. We could have been so much better, but instead, I don’t think we really ever lived up to our potential. You never know what would have happened if we had just beaten Colorado. That’s the one that just hurts to think about."

At the very least, a win last year over Colorado would have meant the Aggies wouldn’t have ended the season in Shreveport. Maybe Arizona. Possibly even San Diego. But definitely not snow-covered Shreveport.

"It would have been a totally different season if we win that game," A&M quarterback Mark Farris said of the Colorado loss. "We would have been 8-3 going into the bowl game, and that’s totally different than being 7-4. It would have been a lot better bowl game, no snow bowl. I wouldn’t have been sick for two weeks after the Independence Bowl. But we didn’t get it done. It’s nobody’s fault but ours. You’ve got to give some credit to Colorado, but we felt like we should’ve won the game."

Now, of course, is the time for the Aggies to make amends for that game. An A&M win on Saturday in Boulder probably won’t make the previous losses to CU any easier to take. But it would keep the Aggies’ Rocky Mountain miseries from mounting.

Literally, it’s "high" time for some Aggie redemption.