Texas A&M vs. West Virginia: Score and Twitter Reaction for 2014 Liberty Bowl

In one of the most explosive bowl games thus far of the 2014 college football season, Texas A&M took down West Virginia, 45-37, to win the Liberty Bowl.   

Texas A&M Football's official account provides a look at the final result and reaction from Memphis, Tennessee:

The Aggies' win was their fourth straight bowl victory, as ESPN Stats & Info notes:

Kyle Allen paced the Aggies, going 22-of-35 with 294 passing yards, five total touchdowns and just one interception. The freshman bounced back from the early pick to lead A&M to a huge win in a crucial game.

His performance was good enough to tie a Liberty Bowl record, via ESPN Stats & Info:

Coming into the contest, Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin talked about not putting pressure on the young signal-caller, via Kevin O'Connor of WTAW:

"

All I can do is talk about our team and I think that Kyle has been very, very solid since he’s started. I think that what we’re looking for tomorrow is more consistency, not just out of our team but out of the other ten people on the field offensively. There’s no secret that I keep putting the pressure not on our quarterback, but on our other guys.

"

From the start of the game, Allen came out ready to play as evidenced by an early touchdown. He found Josh Reynolds down the field for a 44-yard touchdown to open up the scoring in the first quarter. 

Just a year after Mike Evans broke the Texas A&M record with 12 touchdown receptions, Reynolds broke that mark with his 13th on Monday afternoon. SportsCenter passes along video of the huge touchdown and the significance for Reynolds:

The next scoring drive was a notable one as a targeting penalty on Howard Matthews moved West Virginia down the field. After a huge hit on a defenseless receiver, Matthews was ejected and the Mountaineers went on to chip away at the lead with a field goal.

CBS Sports breaks down the play and result for WVU:

The Mountaineers had two touchdowns on offense and another on an interception return before the half, but Allen led the Aggies to a 28-27 lead heading into the locker rooms.

However, the biggest story of the first half wasn't about anything in between the lines, but rather what happened on the sidelines. Texas A&M student assistant Mike Richardson was seen physically contacting WVU players on the sidelines, as Pat McAfee of the Indianapolis Colts shared on Instagram:

Sam Khan Jr. of ESPN.com provides video of a different play and noted Richardson would not return for the second half:

Mark Passwaters of Rivals.com offered his thoughts on the situation:

In the second half, the Aggies put any distractions from Richardson behind them and jumped out to a 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. That was thanks, in large part, to Allen leading the way again through the air while Trey Williams broke off some huge runs.

Williams finished with a receiving and rushing touchdown, but his 18-yard scamper in the third quarter was a thing of beauty. College GameDay gives a look at the highlight of the physical run:

Even with a two-score lead heading into the fourth, the Aggies were unable to completely put away the Mountaineers. Skyler Howard threw for his third touchdown to Elijah Wellman with just over two minutes remaining, but A&M was able to run down the clock on the final drive.

By virtue of the win, A&M comes away with eight wins and yet another solid season. There were certainly some struggles along the way and a huge change under center, but the Aggies look like a program on the rise again under Kevin Sumlin.

A loss puts a damper on the end of the year for West Virginia, but it still comes away with a winning season. With plenty of young talent still in the fold and even more on the way, the Mountaineers have a chance to return to another notable bowl next season.

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