Sept. 29, 2007
COLLEGE STATION, Texas --Stephen McGee and Jorvorskie Lane each ran for over 100 yards and a touchdown as Texas A&M beat Baylor 34-10 on Saturday.
Mike Goodson had an electrifying TD catch and the Aggies' defense did the rest, holding the Bears to only seven first downs and 60 yards rushing.
The Aggies (4-1, 1-0) rushed for 352 yards and won time of possession by more than 26 minutes to beat Baylor for the 11th time in the last 12 meetings. The Bears (3-2, 0-1) had a three-game winning streak snapped and haven't won at Kyle Field since 1984.
McGee ran for 110 yards and threw for 200. Lane rushed for a season-high 123 yards after carrying only twice for 2 yards in the loss at Miami.
The Bears averaged 411 yards in their first four games, but the Aggies held them to two first downs and 68 yards in the first half. Blake Szymanski, third in the Big 12 in total offense coming in, completed only five of his first 20 throws.
But Texas A&M kicker Matt Szymanski (no relation) missed field goals at the end of two long drives, and the teams were tied 3-3 midway through the second quarter.
With about two minutes left in the half, Goodson made the play of the game, grabbing a short pass from McGee with one hand, breaking three tackles and outrunning the defense to the end zone.
The 58-yard touchdown was A&M's longest since McGee's 75-yard throw to Martellus Bennett in last year's win over Baylor.
McGee threw a 48-yard pass down the middle to Kerry Franks on A&M's first drive of the third quarter, and Lane bulled into the end zone with 10:45 remaining.
Bears receivers dropped balls all day, and on their next series, A&M cornerback Marquis Carpenter intercepted a pass that bounced off Ernest Smith's hands. Matt Szymanski kicked a 23-yard field goal with 7:36 left in the third quarter to stretch the lead to 20-3.
He missed another field goal attempt with 14:52 left in the game. Two plays later, Blake Szymanski threw a 69-yard pass to David Gettis to the Aggies 3-yard line. Freshman fullback Jay Finley followed with his first career touchdown run as the Bears trimmed the deficit to 20-10.
A&M mounted an 11-play drive and McGee scored from 2 yards out with 5:39 to go. Backup quarterback Jerrod Johnson scored with 1:42 left to cap the scoring.
NOTES...
200/100 FOR McGEE --- Quarterback Stephen McGee had the first 200 pass/100 rush game of his career with 200 passing yards and 110 rushing yards against the Bears. McGee became the first 200/100 Aggie since quarterback Reggie McNeal threw for 263 yards and rushed for 150 yards in the Aggies' 62-23 win over Oklahoma State in 2005.
CENTURY RUSHERS --- For the second time this season, the Aggies had a pair of 100-yard rushers in a game. Running back Jorvorskie Lane led the way with 123 yards on 24 carries, while quarterback Stephen McGee added 110 yards on 17 carries. The pair also posted dual 100-yard efforts against Fresno State.
LANE CONTINUES THE CLIMB --- Big back Jorvorskie Lane moved to No. 3 on the Aggies' career rushing touchdowns list with a one-yard TD plunge in the third quarter. Lane has 36 for his career, which is eight behind Darren Lewis' school record of 44 rushing scores from 1987-90. Coming into today's game, only two active running backs in the nation had more career rushing touchdowns than Lane --- Steve Slaton of West Virginia and Kalvin McRae of Ohio University (which is, of course, Terrance Harris' alma mater).
DIALING LONG DISTANCE --- Running back Mike Goodson's whirling dervish 58-yard touchdown catch and from quarterback Stephen McGee marked the Aggies' longest reception of the season. It is the longest reception by the Aggies since a 75-yard touchdown catch and run by Martellus Bennett against Baylor in 2006 in Waco. The previous long catch this season was a 33-yard catch by Bennett from Jerrod Johnson against Miami (Fla.). Continuing the big-play in the passing game theme, McGee and wide receiver Kerry Franks hooked up on a 48-yard connection that led to a one-yard TD plunge by Jorvorskie Lane.
CONTROLLING THE BALL --- The Aggies, who operated at a time of possession deficit for the season coming into today's game, dominated T.O.P. against Baylor, 43:18 to 16:42. The Aggies had 94 plays, tying for the fifth most in school history. It was the most plays in a game by A&M since they had 94 against Louisiana-Lafayette in 2002. It was the second most plays by the Aggies in a Big 12 game behind the 97 they had against Colorado in 1996. A&M's 31 first downs were its most since it had 32 against Baylor in 2003. The Bears managed just seven first downs. The Aggies were dominant on third down situations on both offense and defense. The Aggie offense converted 11-of-19 third down chances, while the A&M defense allowed just 2-of-11 conversions.
RUNNING WILD --- A&M rushed for more than 300 yards for the third time in the last four games with a season-high 352 yards, its most since it had 399 against Oklahoma State in 2005. It was the second time in three games that the Aggies have rushed for more than 300 and passed for 200 or more. A&M's 552 total offensive yards were the Aggies most since they compiled 694 against Oklahoma State in 2005.
RED ZONE MISS --- The missed 34-yard field goal by Matt Szymanski in the second quarter marked the Aggies' first unsuccessful trip to the opponent's "red zone" in 2007. The Aggies were a perfect 22-of-22 in trips inside the opponent's 20-yard line coming into the Baylor game.
MISCELLANEOUS --- Today's 12th Man was Nick LaMantia, a junior fullback from Mission, Texas. It is LaMantia's seventh straight 12th Man assignment and the 16th of this career. +++ Running back Keondra Smith, from Tyler Lee High School, made his first career start against Baylor. +++ Offensive tackle Travis Schneider, a nine-game starter in 2006, started against the Bears in place of the injured Yemi Babalola. ... Today's attendance of 82,970 marked the largest crowd ever in the long series between Texas A&M and Baylor (previous high was 82,589 in 2001).
Post-Game Quotes
LINEBACKER MARK DODGE: "We played well. We had a good game plan coming into the game and we executed. We wanted to prove last week was a fluke and we did that."
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN CODY WALLACE: "The offensive played together. We still had some mistakes. Penalties and little things got in the way. Overall it was a decent game." (on next week) "I haven't even thought about next week. It's another big game but I haven't thought about it."
DEFENSIVE BACK DEVIN GREGG: "I thought we played great. We defended the pass well except for one play. We held them to seven first downs. We knew they were going to come in and throw the ball a lot. We really wanted to create turnovers and we did that. As a defensive unit, we really made a statement like we wanted to."
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN RED BRYANT: "I thought we did a great job. This is the best defense has played since the season started. We have another big challenge next week against Oklahoma State. Their offense scores a lot of points and is very complex. I'm just going to come in Sunday ready to work. I'm excited about the challenge."
HEAD COACH DENNIS FRANCHIONE: "It was just a good all around day for the Aggies, the way we played. It was a great crowd, a great student crowd. I was really proud of our guys. We played kind of good old dirty shirt Aggie football. This is a game that the stats probably don't lie. 500 yards of offense and 94 snaps. They only had six first downs and 52 snaps. The first drive for both teams in the second half was pretty critical. They went three and out I believe, and we went down and scored. That gave us a little bit of push."
(on the defensive confidence after the win) "It's huge. Today was probably our best all around day defensively this year. I mean, if we don't give up that one pass, it's a three point game and less than 200 yards of offense for them. So it was great to see our defense play like that. I think it was probably our most complete game."
SOPHOMORE LINEBACKER JOE PAWELEK: "We had a pretty good game plan and we felt we prepared well, but they (Texas A&M) are a good football team and outplayed us. They have good players and their style of offense is pound the ball and kill the clock. Our defense gave up too many yards and we couldn't get off the field. They kept running the ball and found holes in our defense. We felt like we were in the game at halftime."
SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK BLAKE SZYMANSKI: "Overall, we didn't play well and didn't come out and play. Drops and penalties were killers today. We have to catch the ball better and I have to throw the ball better. They didn't take anything away from us, we just killed ourselves. Our time of possession was horrible. The defense did a really good job in the first half. We have to improve on only six first downs in the game. These are conference games and we have to step up to the challenge. The teams and the speed of the Big 12 are a lot better than our non-conference schedule."
BAYLOR HEAD COACH GUY MORRISS: "We couldn't get anything going offensively. Our defense was out on the field for 94 plays in the heat. Their running game just wore us down. At halftime, we talked about how we were still in the game. We just couldn't get it done. I told the team after the game, you have to come out and play. I think our kids play better at home and I hope this wakes our team up. I don't think we executed very well. Protection was pretty good and we just couldn't find a rhythm. We live and die by the pass and if you can't catch, you die."