Nov. 10, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. --Jeremy Maclin caught two touchdown passes, one to pull No. 7 Missouri out of late trouble and the other on the school's longest reception in 31 years, in a 40-26 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday.
Chase Daniel threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns for Missouri (9-1, 5-1 Big 12), which reached nine victories for the first time since 1969 and only the fourth time in school history. The Tigers scored nine points in the final 3:44 on Maclin's 12-yard grab and a safety when Lorenzo Williams sacked Stephen McGee in the end zone to avert a second-half collapse.
Missouri set a single-season scoring record of 411 points, 12 more than the 2003 team in a 13-game season, with at least three games to go.
They also finished 5-0 at Faurot Field and clinched their first winning record in conference play under coach Gary Pinkel, in his seventh season.
But Texas A&M (6-5, 3-4) made Missouri work on Senior Day.
Maclin's 82-yard sprint on a routine sideline pass near the end of the half put Missouri ahead 24-9, but the Aggies twice cut the deficit to five and missed a chance to narrow it to 2 when Matt Szymanski was wide right on a 36-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter.
Maclin twisted, strained and then stretched the ball into the end zone on his 12-yard grab up the middle with 3:44 left that put Missouri ahead 38-26. He bruised his left shoulder on the play and did not return.
Texas A&M has lost three in a row, all against top-10 competition.
Jorvorskie Lane tied the Texas A&M record for career rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns, getting his 44th rushing and 45th overall on a 2-yard run in the third quarter.
Maclin finished with five catches for 146 yards, and his catch-and-run with 1:43 to go in the first half was the school's longest scoring play since an 86-yard run by Robert Delpino in 1987.
Tony Temple scored on a 44-yard run in the first quarter, Missouri's longest run of the year, and the Tigers enjoyed their longest drive of the year on a 17-play march capped by Chase Coffman's 5-yard catch in the second quarter.
Temple finished with 22 carries for 141 yards.
Texas A&M scored on its first two possessions of the second half. Mike Goodson's 43-yard catch on a tipped ball set up Lane's 2-yard run, and Kerry Franks had a 60-yard catch in the second quarter that set up McGee's 6-yard scoring pass to Martellus Bennett.
McGee finished 18-of-28 for 247 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
The game drew a near-sellout of 64,945 and gave Missouri a season-average attendance of 60,232, the school's best since 1981.
NOTES...
MIGHTY MARTELLUS --- Tight end Martellus Bennett became the first Aggie with multiple touchdown catches in a game since he did it against Baylor last season. Bennett grabbed a pair of touchdowns against the Tigers with a 6-yarder and a 42-yarder while reeling in four catches for 63 yards. Bennett also extended his school record for consecutive games with at least one catch to 28 against the Tigers.
PAYDIRT FOR J-TRAIN --- Big back Jorvorskie Lane's two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter made him A&M's all-time leading scorer among non-placekickers. The six-pointer brought Lane's three-year, 34-game total to 272 points.
Lane also matched the school record for career rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns with 44 (with Darren Lewis, 1987-90) and 45 (with Lewis and Rodney Thomas, 1991-94), respectively.
Lane's score gave him 104 points in 2007, which makes him the first Aggie to score 100 points in two seasons (Lane had 114 in 2006).
Today's touchdown was his 17th of the season, which is just two off the school record of 19 originally set by Joel Hunt in 1927 and matched by Lane last season.
PRODUCTIVE GOODSON --- Speed back Mike Goodson turned in his most productive game of the season against Missouri. The sophomore gained 48 rushing yards on team-high 15 carries, and matched his career high with five catches for 67.The 60-yard connection from quarterback Stephen McGee to wide receiver Kerry Franks was the Aggies' longest catch of the year.
McGee threw for a season-high 247 yards on 18-of-28 passing, and produced 282 yards of total offense against the Tigers.
The Aggies scored on a safety when Missouri's deep snap on a punt attempt sailed over the punter's head. It was the second safety of the safety scored by the Aggies (Red Bryant sack against Fresno State). The Aggies returned the safety favor when McGee was sacked in the endzone late in the fourth quarter. It was the first safety by the Aggies since last year's Missouri game when a bad shotgun snap exchange resulted in a two-pointer.
Making their first starts of the season were linebackers Anthony Lewis and Matt Featherston, who joined senior Misi Tupe in the Aggies' 3-3-5 defense. Normal linebacker starter Mark Dodge did not make the trip due to the death of his maternal grandmother. It was Lewis' first career start, while it was Featherston's second start of his career (Citadel, 2006).
Senior offensive guard Chris Yoder, who started the first seven games of the season, saw his first action since the Texas Tech game. Yoder missed the last three games due to an injury suffered against the Red Raiders.
MISCELLANEOUS --- Game captains were Chris Alexander, Kerry Franks, Devin Gregg and Kirk Elder . The Aggies won the toss and deferred to the second half. +++ For the 13th straight game, junior Nick LaMantia was the 12th Man. It was the 22nd 12th Man start of LaMantia's career, which puts him just one away from matching the school record of 23 starts set by John Ray from 2003-05.