And the third-ranked Longhorns needed every offensive helping to keep their national championship hopes alive.
A&M shredded the country's third-ranked defense only to have Texas answer time again, and the Longhorns escaped with a 49-39 victory over the Aggies on Thursday night at Kyle Field.
The highest-scoring affair in the 116-game history of the rivalry series was won for the eighth time in the last 10 years by Texas (12-0, 8-0 Big 12), which remained in the hunt for a berth in the Bowl Championship Series title game heading into next week's Big 12 Championship matchup against Nebraska.
Most fan's turkey lunches had barely settled when the teams started carving up the opposing defenses. The fireworks began with a 70-yard touchdown strike by the Aggies (6-6, 3-5) on the third play from scrimmage and ended with the Longhorns' 95-yard kickoff return for a score.
In between were a combined 1,129 yards of offense and a myriad of big plays that kept the 84,671 fans on the edge of their seats.
