COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Oklahoma and Texas A&M; are notorious for the offensive fireworks and the down-to-the-wire finishes they’ve generated over the last seven seasons.

The fireworks were mostly duds Saturday night at Kyle Field. But the late-game drama was overflowing in the 18th-ranked Sooners’ 17-16 victory over the No. 21 Aggies.

It all came down to fourth downs in the fifth game decided by a touchdown or less between the two teams since 2000.

Facing a fourth-and-inches from its own 29, OU coach Bob Stoops elected to go for a game-sealing first down with 1:29 left.

It was the decision of the season. A first down would allow OU to run out the clock. Failing to get it would leave the Aggies in field-goal range with a stiff wind at their back.

Stoops was going to punt, but his mind changed when he looked at his players during a timeout.

“I just looked at all of the offensive guys,” Stoops said. “None of them chatted to me, but I could tell in their eyes. I thought to myself, ‘I can’t punt. I have to go for it here.’”

Paul Thompson gained 2 yards, but he didn’t have to. Texas A&M; was whistled for too many men on the field and the Sooners had their first one-point victory since beating Kansas State 38-37 in 2001.

OU improved to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big 12 Conference and maintained its high standing in the bowl pecking order. The win put OU in sole possession of second place in the Big 12 South.

Bowl representatives from the Cotton Bowl were numerous at Kyle Field and they saw OU turn back a pesky Texas A&M; team that was trying to snap a two-game losing streak to the Sooners.

The Aggies came close.

OU’s offense grounded almost to a complete halt in the second half. Quarterback Paul Thompson only threw for 39 yards and the Sooners only had 263 of total offense

However, Allen Patrick galloped for 173 yards on 32 carries. It was the junior’s third straight game with at least 110 yards and also his third straight with over 30 carries.

“We knew we had to go out and eat up the clock because it was going to be an important factor in the game,” Patrick said. “I think that’s what we were trying to do.”

For a quarter, it worked to perfection.

The Sooners, who will face Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Saturday at Owen Field, pounded the ball right down A&M;’s throat their first two possessions.

Patrick’s 1-yard touchdown run on the game’s first possession capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive that featured eight runs from the tailback.

OU followed it up with a 10-play, 80-yard march and capped it with Thompson’s 7-yard touchdown run.

Texas A&M;, which fell to 8-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12, only managed a 28-yard field goal from Neumann in the first quarter.

“The first two drives, we were rolling,” Thompson said. “We really felt good about where we were at. Then it got a little sloppy.”

That’s an understatement.

Only 99 of OU’s 263 yards came in the final three quarters.

The Sooners had all the momentum and were on the brink of blowing the game open after Thompson’s score. They tried to seal the deal early with an on-side kick.

Darien Williams might have recovered, but couldn’t gain control. The Aggies recovered and momentum started to swing in their direction.

Javorskie Lane only rushed for 62 yards, but the Aggies’ touchdown machine delivered a 1-yard rumble, cutting the gap to 14-10 with 11:24 left in the first half.

But the Aggies didn’t find the end zone again.

They settled for fourth-quarter field goals from Neumann of 19 and 39 yards. Both times, Texas A&M; had less than 6 yards to go for a first down.

However, OU was willing to gamble while the Aggies weren’t.

“If you get one stop we’re going to have the ball around the 40-yard line and it’s not going to take much to for us to get in field-goal range to win the game,” Franchione said on his last decision to kick a field goal, facing fourth-and-6 from the OU 22 with 3:28 to play. “Hindsight is 20-20.”

Texas A&M; quarterback Stephen McGee had a horrible night, completing just 8-of-18 passes for 63 yards. He also had a string of 142 attempts without an interception snapped when Marcus Walker snared a pass and returned it to the Aggie 6 midway through the third quarter.

It set up Garrett Hartley’s 23-yard field goal, which turned out to be the game-winner in another down-to-wire finish between the Sooners and Aggies.

“There was a lot of excitement and it was a great atmosphere and place to compete in,” Stoops said. “We had a fun night out there.”

John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com