Southwest Roundup : Texas A&M; Beats Arkansas, 10-6

Texas A&M; quarterback Kevin Murray threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Roger Vick for the winning margin in a 10-6 win over No. 9 Arkansas Saturday night at College Station, Tex.

But the game ball belonged to the Aggie defense.

Kip Corrington and Darrell Austin each intercepted passes, and Domingo Bryant recovered a pair of fumbles, one setting up the winning touchdown, as the Aggies raised their record to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the Southwest Conference to remain in the hunt for the SWC title.

Arkansas, 8-2 overall and 4-2 in the SWC, virtually dropped out of contention for the conference title and Cotton Bowl bid.

The Razorbacks, who ranked No. 8 in the nation in rushing with an average of 278 yards per game, were held to 141 yards rushing by the Aggies, who cut off scoring attempts with an interception in the end zone and a fourth-down stand. They also stopped a two-point attempt in the final minutes.

Defensive end Jay Muller stopped Arkansas’ Marshall Foreman on a two-point conversion after the Razorbacks had scored with 3:03 to play.

A&M; Coach Jackie Sherrill said the two-point play was the key in the closing minutes. “That changed the complexion of the game,” he said.

“Our offense could not sustain any drives,” Arkansas Coach Ken Hatfield said. “We had some slips on the wet field, but a lot of our problem was A&M;’s defense.”

Texas A&M; held Arkansas to 188 total yards and allowed Razorback quarterbacks to complete 3 of 9 passes for 47 yards.

Baylor 34, Rice 10--Senior quarterback Tom Muecke passed for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns at Waco, Tex., as 17th-ranked Baylor kept its Cotton Bowl hopes alive.

Muecke threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ben Baker, a 28-yard scoring toss to Horace Ates and a 52-yard touchdown bomb to Glenn Pruitt.

The Bears’ 6-1 conference record gives them a half-game lead in the SWC with a game against Texas coming up next week. Baylor is 8-2 overall.

Rice is 2-5 in the SWC and 3-7 overall.

Southern Methodist 9, Texas Tech 7--With SMU trailing, 7-6, and facing fourth and 17 at the Texas Tech 41 with only 4:58 left, Coach Bobby Collins went with his gut feeling and called on field-goal kicker Brandy Brownlee.

Brownlee responded with a school-record 57-yard field goal to give the Mustangs the victory at Irving, Tex.

Brownlee’s kick broke the record of 53 yards set by Eddie Garcia in 1980 against Texas A&M.;

With the victory, SMU improved to 6-3 for the season and 5-2 in the SWC. Tech fell to 4-6 for the year and 1-6.

Reggie Dupard, the conference’s leading rusher, finished with 137 yards in 26 carries to become the first SMU player to gain 1,000 yards for three consecutive seasons. He came into the game needing 60.

With two games remaining, Dupard has 1,077 yards.

Texas 20, Texas Christian 0--At Austin, Tex., freshman tailback Eric Metcalf, the son of former pro star Terry Metcalf, sprinted 71 yards for a touchdown, and wide receiver Russell Hays recovered a teammate’s fumble in the end zone to keep the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl chase.

Metcalf, 5-9 and 178 pounds, also returned a punt 20 yards to set up a Jeff Ward field goal. He finished with 123 yards in 11 carries but left the game with a sprained ankle with 2:54 remaining.

With the victory, Texas raised its conference record to 5-1. TCU is 0-7 in the SWC.