No. 5 Texas A&M ended its best season of the Jimbo Fisher era with a 41-27 victory against No. 13 North Carolina in the Orange Bowl on Saturday night. It was the first appearance of the Six bowl in the New Year for the Aggies and their biggest bowl game since the 1998 season, so finishing on the winning side puts an exclamation point in their argument as one of the best teams in the country in 2020.
Texas A&M was excellent in the fourth period, recovering from a 27-20 handicap with three quick touchdowns to close the game, the two finals coming from Devon Achane. Isaiah Spiller, who had 50 yards and two touchdowns in victory, was out of the game and that opened the door for Achane, who opened the game with his 76-yard score.
Achane finished the game with 140 yards and two touchdowns in 12 attempts, with another 24 yards in two receptions during the passing game.
Texas A&M’s defense also deserves a lot of credit for the way the Aggies closed the game, turning a round-trip dispute into a double-digit victory. Buddy Johnson, DeMarvin Leal and the rest of the defensive front were relentless in applying pressure to Sam Howell and stopping the attack that was missing two 1,000-yard rushers at Javonte Williams and Michael Carter. Texas A&M ended the game with four sacks and nine loss tackles, providing the necessary stops to seal the victory against a Tar Heels attack that, although exhausted, was moving the ball effectively for the first two and a half quarters of the game.
North Carolina’s early success was the most notable highlight of the first half, punctuated by an absurd Howell move to Dazz Newsome to give Tar Heels a 13-10 lead at the end of the second quarter.
But Kellen Mond, who tied Johnny Manziel’s school record of 93 touchdowns in total in the fourth quarter, guided the Aggies’ attack straight into the field for a fantastic response to that score to take a 17-13 lead at halftime. North Carolina scored the third season’s only touchdown to retake the lead, forced a field goal attempt early in the fourth period and then scored a touchdown with Howell’s 75-yard bomb for Josh Downs.
Texas A&M now points out that it not only ended the year with just one loss, but also beat North Carolina by the same margin as Notre Dame, the team that finished ahead of them in the College Football Playoff. This may be an Aggies team that felt scorned on Selection Day, but is set to one of the top four positions in the final polls thanks to this performance against a fun team of Tar Heels on the rise in ACC.
CBS Sports has followed you all the way, updating this story with the latest news from the 2021 Orange Bowl with live results, analysis and highlights for Texas A&M vs. North Caroline.