DALLAS (FWAA) With their 12-7 win over Texas, the
Texas A&M Aggies (9-3) are the
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week, as selected by the pollsters of the FWAA's Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll for games of the weekend of Nov. 25.
Quarterback Stephen McGee capped an 88-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run with 2:32 remaining as the Aggies stunned the Longhorns in Austin to prevent Texas from winning the Big 12 South and earning a berth in the conference title game.
Texas A&M ran for 244 yards against the nation's top-ranked rush defense, held the ball for nearly 36 minutes and intercepted Texas quarterback Colt McCoy three times. The win gives the Aggies their first 9-win season since 1998.
"I will need some time to absorb this win," said Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione after the game. "It feels good. We felt that there were some things we could do against the Texas defense, and we knew if we were going to win the game, we had to have some rushing yards."
Other Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend of Nov. 25 included:
LSU (10-2): Jamarcus Russell threw a pair of touchdown passes as the Tigers topped SWC West champion Arkansas, 31-26, in Little Rock.
Rice (7-5): The Owls earned their first bowl berth since 1961 with a 31-27 win over SMU. Jarrett Dillard caught three touchdown passes, including the game-winner with 4:05 left.
South Florida (8-4): The Bulls held West Virginia to 121 yards rushing and Matt Grothe threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score in a 24-19 upset in Morgantown.
USC (10-1): Dwayne Jarrett caught three touchdown passes from John David Booty as the Trojans beat Notre Dame for a fifth straight time, 44-24.
Wake Forest (10-2): The Demon Deacons became the first team in ACC history to finish 6-0 on the road in winning their school-record tenth game, a 38-24 victory over Maryland that clinched the Atlantic Division title and sent the Deacons to the ACC championship game.
The FWAA has named a national team of the week since the 2002 season. This is the second season that the award has been sponsored by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
The 16 pollsters of the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll decide the weekly honor. Each Monday during the 2006 college football season, the FWAA has name the Tostitos Bowl National Team of the Week. This is the final team of the week presentation of the season.
The Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll, released each Tuesday, has resumed this season. The top-ranked team in the final poll will be awarded the Grantland Rice Trophy as the FWAA's national champion. The FWAA has awarded the trophy each season since 1954. Texas is the defending FWAA national champion and Ohio State is ranked No. 1 in the most current 2006 poll.
Since 1971, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has hosted five games that have decided the college football national championship, including two Bowl Championship Series title games. The 2007 game will be played on Jan. 1. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, along with the new Tostitos BCS Championship Game, moves to the new University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., and will be played on Jan. 8.
For more information on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week, go to
www.footballwriters.com or www.fiestabowl.org.