Oct. 8, 2011
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Ryan Tannehill ran for two touchdowns and threw for another to lead No. 24 Texas A&M over Texas Tech 45-40 on Saturday night.
After leading by double-digits at halftime and losing the last two weeks, Texas A&M finally put together four quarters, despite being outscored 20-14 in the second half.
The Aggies (3-2, 1-1) ran for 205 yards on 46 carries.
Seth Doege threw for three touchdowns and 391 yards to lead Texas Tech (4-1, 1-1). Eric Stephens injured his knee late in the third quarter and had 122 yards on 22 carries.
Texas A&M running backs Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael each ran for a score.
Tannehill found Michael Lamothe early in the fourth quarter for a 5-yard TD to put the Aggies up 45-30.
Tannehill's pass to Lamothe proved crucial. Doege came back and found Alex Torres on a 20-yard TD pass with 31 seconds remaining in the game to pull within 45-40.
The game's momentum turned on a blocked field goal by the Aggies in the third quarter. Terrence Frederick put A&M up 38-23 when he picked up the ball and ran 63 yards untouched along the near sideline for the touchdown. Dustin Harris was the Aggie who got his hand on the 50-yard attempt by Donnie Carona.
That score took the air out of the Red Raiders and their fans.
A roughing the kicker penalty on the Aggies earlier in the third quarter gave Texas Tech another shot at scoring. The Red Raiders got only a field goal, though, to pull within 31-23. Steven Terrell appeared to have be pushed into Red Raiders punter Ryan Erxleben on fourth-and-10 from Texas Tech's 35.
Doege found a wide open Torres for a 22-yard gain and then was sacked for a 7-yard loss. Donnie Carona finished the drive with a 49-yard field goal -- his second from that distance as the Red Raiders had to settle for 3-pointers throughout the game.
For a third straight week, Texas A&M carried a double-digit lead into halftime, up 31-20.
This time, though, the Aggies prevailed.
Both offenses played fast and the defenses struggled to get to the line in time.
Stephens scored on a 4-yard run to pull Tech within 24-20 late in the first half. Texas Tech got big help on the scoring drive from back-to-back pass interference penalties.
Tannehill did it all in the first half. He completed 12 of 16 passes for 156 yards. He also rushed for 55 yards and the two rushing touchdowns.
Texas Tech kept pace until settling for a 27-yard field goal to trail 17-13.
The day started poorly for Texas A&M. The Aggies found their team buses were vandalized overnight Friday. Bus drivers found manure inside and outside the four vehicles.
A&M athletic director Bill Byrne said Saturday manure went "from one end to the other" inside one bus that couldn't be locked. The others had manure along the exterior. He tweeted that the outsides of all the buses had vulgarities "spray painted" on them.
"Classy," ended his first tweet.
The team was accompanied school security and a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper and no official report was made to the agency, an email from Aggies spokesman Brad Marquardt stated.
Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt called the vandalism "unfortunate" and that it doesn't "represent who we are as a group."
AGGIES PREVAIL WITH ANOTHER HUGE SCORING OUTBURST VS. TECH
Texas A&M won its third straight game against the Red Raiders on the strength of another big scoring night. In the three-game winning streak, the Aggies went over 40 points in every game and averaged 46.3 points. A&M's 45 points tonight were the second-most ever scored by the Aggies in Lubbock, behind only the 52-point outburst in 2009.
It's the first time A&M has won three in a row against Texas Tech since the early 1990s when A&M won five straight from 1990-94. It's also the first time A&M has won consecutive games in Lubbock since 1991 and 1993. It's just the third time A&M has won consecutive games in Lubbock since the Bear Bryant era in 1950s.
NO TAKEAWAYS, NO PROBLEM
The Aggies couldn't muster a takeaway for the fourth straight game, while withstanding a school-record 105 offensive plays by the Red Raiders (old record was 99 plays by Texas in 1968).
ANOTHER UNIQUE DOUBLE FOR TANNEHILL
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill passed for 188 yards, which pushed him past the 3,000-yard plateau in career passing yards. According to FX research, that makes Tannehill the first NCAA Football Subdivision player with over 3,000 passing yards and 1,500 receiving yards in his career. It is Tannehill's second unique double: He is also the only FBS player with a 400-yard passing game (447 vs. Texas Tech in 2010) and a 200-yard receiving game (210 vs. Kansas State in 2008).
Notables:
· Mike Sherman's Aggies won in meeting of two former R.C. Slocum assistant coaches. Sherman coached for Slocum from 1989-93 and again from 1995-96, while Texas Tech's Tommy Tuberville served as Slocum's defensive coordinator in the Aggies' undefeated 1994 season.
· Senior Cyrus Gray posted his 12th career 100-yard rushing game with 116 yards on 21 carries. It is his third century game of 2011, and the 10th time in his last 12 games.
· Two Aggies were lost for the game with injuries: WR Jeff Fuller (concussion) and Joker Brandon Alexander (dislocated elbow).
· The Aggies' Dustin Harris blocked Donnie Carona field goal attempt, which was returned 65 yards for a touchdown by A&M's Terrence Frederick. It was A&M's first FG block since Harris blocked a three-point attempt against Baylor last year.
· Strong performance by punter Ryan Epperson, who blasted five boots for a 45.6 average including 68-yarder that was downed at the TTU 5. He finished the night with two 50-plus punts and two coffin-corner efforts.
· Frederick's return was A&M's first touchdown of the season not scored on offense.
· Ryan Tannehill had a career-high two rushing touchdowns in the first half. He only had two career rushing TDs coming into the game.
· Texas A&M scored a touchdown on its initial offensive series for the third straight game, and fourth time in five contests.
· New starters for the Aggies: redshirt freshman Jarvis Harrison at LG (Brian Thomas moved to RG), junior Michael Lamothe at TE; junior Spencer Nealy at DE; sophomore Damontre Moore at Joker; freshman Howard Matthews at SS. First-ever starts for all five Aggies.
· Texas A&M game captains were permanent team captains Ryan Tannehill (offense) and Trent Hunter (defense), along with sophomore defensive back Desmond Gardiner (special teams).
· The 12th Man was C.J. Jones, a junior from Houston, who is fourth straight 12th Man start.