UP FOR GRABS Texas A&M: 16, Baylor: 10 By Rusty Burson

COLLEGE STATION – As the first "Hail Mary" pass left Greg Cicero’s right hand and floated toward the back corner of the south end zone, Texas A&M linebacker Jarrod Penright said a quick prayer.

A tense moment later, as the second Hail Mary went up, A&M quarterback Mark Farris watched helplessly from the sidelines and felt as if his heart stopped.

With its daunting schedule, A&M knew there would be nail-biting moments like this in 2001. But they were supposed to start the following week on the road.

Not now. Not at home. And certainly not against Baylor.

A&M's Keith Joseph is stopped at the goal line on a key fourth down play just before halftime.

Fortunately for the Aggies, A&M’s impromptu prayers were answered and a pulse returned to an eerily quiet Kyle Field. Neither desperation pass landed in the hands of a Baylor receiver, allowing A&M to narrowly escape with a harrowing 16-10 victory.

It was an exhilarating finish to an exasperating day for the Aggies, who seemed far more puzzled than pleased following their 11th straight win over the Bears.

"Maybe Baylor is a lot better," Farris said after the Aggies improved to 5-0 overall (2-0 Big 12) for the first time since 1997. "Or maybe it was just a case of us not playing well. Maybe it was a combination of both. Whatever it was, we’re not pleased with our performance. It’s pretty darn frustrating, to tell you the truth."

Truthfully, it was pretty darn shocking to most of the 82,589 fans who packed Kyle Field expecting to witness a bench-clearing, feel-good blowout for the Aggies. Instead, it was a teeth-clenching fight to the finish against an opponent that has never won a Big 12 road game and was routed, 41-0, a week earlier by Iowa State.

"I’m disappointed," A&M center Seth McKinney said. "I didn’t see too many smiles in that locker room."

"We dodged a bullet," linebacker Brian Gamble said. "Baylor played hard, and they gave us a serious scare. We just have to breathe a big sigh of relief and get back to work."

Based on the number of miscues and mental errors the Aggies made against Baylor, there’s plenty of work to be done before A&M goes on the road for back-to-back games against Big 12 North heavyweights Colorado and Kansas State.

First and foremost among the Aggies’ concerns are the troubles in the red zone. A&M spent much of the day within spitting distance of the Baylor goal line, but could only punch in one touchdown.

One impressive, 14-play A&M drive ended inches away from the BU goal line late in the first half and five other times the Aggies were forced to settle for field goal attempts deep in Baylor territory. The Aggies were also penalized eight times, missed two field goal attempts and fumbled five times, losing two.

Quarterback mark Farris fires a pass toward a receiver in the Aggies' 16-10 win over Baylor at Kyle Field.

It all added up to the Aggies’ lowest point production at Kyle Field since a 13-10 loss to Texas Tech in 1996 and the closest game in the A&M-Baylor series since the Aggies’ 19-13 win in 1992.

"We had a hard time getting it done (in the red zone)," said A&M head coach R.C. Slocum, who improved to 12-0-1 in his career against Baylor. "It was the Baylor defense. We weren’t getting a surge on our offensive line. On that fourth-and-goal play (late in the first half), we tried to go over the top, but we didn’t get any movement. We couldn’t get close enough to do that. We had too many problems to elaborate on all of them, but it’s obvious that we have too many problems on our plate."

The Aggies certainly had problems on their hands at the intermission. Because of A&M’s fourth-down failure at the goal line, the Bears led 10-3 at the break, marking the first time Baylor had led at the intermission of a Big 12 game since 1998.

Of course, it could have been worse for the Aggies.

A&M gift-wrapped Baylor’s first score late in the first quarter. BU defensive end A.C. Collier blew past tackle Alan Rueber to sack Farris and force a fumble at the A&M 1. One play later, Jonathan Golden scored to give the Bears a 7-0 lead.

And on A&M’s next offensive play, Derek Farmer coughed it up, giving the Bears the ball on the A&M 20 with a great opportunity to add to the lead.

But in what turned out to be one of the biggest plays of the game, Penright immediately turned the momentum back in A&M’s favor. Breaking into the backfield on Baylor’s first play following the Farmer fumble, Penright stripped Golden of the ball and Linnis Smith recovered at the A&M 31.

The Aggies then took over and drove for a field goal, making the Penright forced fumble a potential 10-point swing in what turned out to be a 6-point game.

Ironically, the soft-spoken Penright wasn’t even immediately aware he had made such a monumental play.

"I was trying to get out there and make a stop," said Penright, who also added three sacks against the Bears. "I was ripping at the ball, but it was not like I was trying to intentionally strip it away. And to be honest, I didn’t even know I had caused a fumble. I thought someone else had caused the fumble. I didn’t know I had caused that until I saw the replay (on the JumboTron).

"I was just thankful that I could help my team out and that we could put things together in the second half."

The Aggies were much more impressive in the second half, scoring on their opening two drives and taking the lead for good on a 5-yard Keith Joseph run with 3:42 left in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, the Wrecking Crew was, for the most part, sensational in the second half. Again.

By blanking the Bears in the second half, the Aggies have now outscored opponents 66-10 in the second half this season, including 18-0 in the fourth quarter.

Penright was overpowering against the Bears, and A&M seemed to have an answer for every Baylor threat in the second half. Defensive end Marcus Jasmin came up with a key blocked field goal early in the fourth and defensive back Sammy Davis batted away a pair of big passes, including one Hail Mary attempt in the final seconds.

It was enough to help the Aggies avoid a humiliating defeat and should keep A&M quite humble about its 5-0 start.

"It helps a lot to be in a tight game like this," Penright said. "Hopefully, this helps the team to humble itself and work harder. We have to know that every team is going to fight us tooth and nail. We should be humble about how we approach things the rest of the way."