A&M; Goes for Win, Loses by 1 : SWC: Aggies come up short against Texas when Lewis is stopped on two-point try.

Texas had only one real good tackle on Texas A&M; halfback Darren Lewis all day.

“But if I had to pick a time to have one, that would be it,” Longhorn Coach David McWilliams said.

Fifth-ranked Texas beat the Aggies, 28-27, Saturday when cornerback Mark Berry stopped Lewis on a two-point conversion attempt with a little less than four minutes to play.

The Longhorns, 10-1 overall and 8-0 in the Southwest Conference, already had clinched the SWC’s Cotton Bowl berth. Texas A&M; dropped to 8-3-1 and 5-2-1 and will play No. 4 Brigham Young in the Holiday Bowl at San Diego Dec. 29.

Texas quarterback Peter Gardere ran for touchdowns of 50 and 11 yards and passed for another score.

After Texas had rallied from a 14-0 second-quarter deficit to lead, 28-21, with 8:30 to play, A&M; drove 80 yards and scored on Bucky Richardson’s 32-yard run with 3:46 to play.

Lewis, a 220-pound senior who had rushed for touchdowns of 17, 12 and 31 yards, was met by Berry, nearly 40 pounds lighter, and dropped on the spot to spoil the conversion attempt.

Texas A&M; Coach R.C. Slocum, who saw the Aggies’ six-game winning streak against Texas broken, said: “We didn’t want to tie. Both teams played hard, and neither team wanted that. But we went for the win and came up short.”

Lewis tied the score, 21-21, on a 31-yard run with 12:35 left.

He carried 25 times for 150 yards and became the fifth rusher in NCAA history to surpass 5,000 yards in his career. He finished the season with 1,691 yards.

Texas, which repeatedly has come from behind this year, was behind, 14-0, when Gardere broke a 50-yard scoring run on third and one.

After Lane Talbot’s 52-yard field goal attempt was wide left, Texas drove 66 yards with Gardere passing seven yards to Keith Cash to make the score 14-14 at halftime.

Texas led for the first time in the third quarter on a four-yard run by Chris Samuels, but A&M; responded with Lewis’ 31-yard run.

The Longhorns’ winning drive went 58 yards. Gardere skirted left end for 11 yards and a touchdown with 8:30 remaining.