Aggies Drop Red Raiders, 33-15

Saturday, September 30

College Station

11:30 AM

Texas A&M

3-1 , 1-0

Texas Tech

4-1 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas Tech

Texas A&M

Sep 30, 2000 | Football

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

September 30, 2000

The Texas A&M football team broke open a tight game midway through the fourth quarter, scoring twice in the last seven minutes of the game to post a 33-15 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders Saturday afternoon before 83,644 fans at Kyle Field-the second-largest crowd in the stadium's history.

The victory improves A&M's record to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 play, and increases the nation's third-longest home winning streak to 22 games.

The game took the form of recent A&M/Tech showdowns midway through the fourth, as the Red Raiders erased a 12-point deficit to climb within four. Texas Tech wide receiver Carlos Francis then dropped a fourth-down pass on the A&M goal line, and the Aggies responded with two Ja'Mar Toombs touchdowns to ice the victory.

"When the game got close I thought the team responded really well," Toombs said. "We couldn't let them come down here and beat us."

The Aggies (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) came out of the locker room riding a high wave of emotion, and it showed in their performance. After holding Tech to negative yardage on their first drive, A&M marched 51 yards in just over a minute, taking a 7-0 lead two minutes into the game on a 14-yard run by sophomore Joe Weber.

Texas Tech (4-1, 0-1) responded on the next drive, moving into Aggie territory on a wide receiver pass from Mickey Peters to King Scovell. The Red Raiders would line up for a 47-yard field goal when holder Eric Rosiles faked the spot and tried to flip the ball to a wide receiver coming over the middle. A&M defensive back Michael Jameson, playing his first game at Kyle Field this season after coming back from injury, picked the pass out of the air at the A&M 17 and returned it 76 yards to the Tech 8-yard line. The Aggies would get a 32-yard field goal from Terence Kitchens to extend their lead to 10-0 midway through the first quarter.

Making several big plays, the Red Raiders were able to march 80 yards down the field in 14 plays and score on their next possession to cut the Aggie lead to three. Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury converted four long third-down situations with passes of 26, 14, 14 and 15 yards, the last being a touchdown pass to wideout Tim Baker who leapt over defensive back Jay Brooks for a great catch in the back corner of the end zone.

Special teams came up big for A&M with five minutes to play in the half. After freshman punter Cody Scates pinned Texas Tech at their own 10-yard line, the Wrecking Crew defense forced a punt. Double-teamed on the play, Brooks reached through the two blockers to swat the kick of Rosiles, and the ball was downed on the Tech 2-yard line. Freshman running back Richard Whitaker raced into the end zone on the next play to give the Aggies a 16-7 halftime advantage.

Facing 4th-and-2 at their own 38 on their third possession of the second half, Tech gained a first down when A&M was tagged with an offsides penalty. Kingsbury tried to burn the Aggie secondary with a long ball, but sophomore Terrence Kiel leaped into the air and hauled in the interception at the A&M 13-yard line. Junior wide receiver Robert Ferguson made a big over-the-shoulder catch good for 30 yards on the next drive, moving the Aggies into Red Raider territory. Kitchens would connect from 40 yards out to give A&M a 19-7 lead with 1:18 to play in the third quarter.

Kingsbury would shine on Tech's ensuing drive, going 5-for-7 for 55 yards in leading the Red Raiders to another score. The 84-yard, 11-play drive would cash in when Kingsbury found Baker over the middle on a 13-yard strike to cut the A&M lead to six. Cole Roberts caught a two-point conversion attempt, putting Tech within four at 19-15 with 13:41 to play in the game.

Whitaker was hit by Marquis Turner on the ensuing kickoff return and fumbled. Anthony Terrell recovered for the Red Raiders on the A&M 20-yard line, setting up the big dropped pass by Francis. The Aggies marched down the field, converting three 3rd-and-long situations to sustain the drive. Ferguson made another spectacular catch, this one off a tip by a Red Raider defender, to set up A&M at the Tech 3. Toombs would plow into the end zone on the next play out to increase the lead to 26-15. The junior fullback would tack on another scoring run of one yard to close out the scoring.

"I looked up and it went through the defender's hands," Ferguson said. "I was able to make the play. We do the tip drill every day in practice, so it really wasn't anything new to me."

Both teams racked up 345 yards of offense on the day, but the Aggies held Texas Tech to 23 yards on the ground on 28 attempts. Farris was 16-of-21 on the day for 186 yards, connecting eight times with Ferguson for 95 yards. Whitaker was A&M's leading ground-gainer, scoring a touchdown and gaining 73 yards on 12 carries. Kingsbury completed 28-of-50 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns for the Red Raiders but was picked off twice.

"A lot goes into a game, especially a hotly-contested game like this," Slocum said. "Anytime you can win a conference game it's really big. We've got a very challenging conference schedule in a very competitive league. We took a step forward today, but it's a long time before this race is over."

A&M has now won seven of its last eight meetings with Texas Tech at Kyle Field. The Aggies play host to Colorado, winless after a loss to Kansas State in Boulder, on Saturday. Kickoff for the non-televised contest is set for 1 p.m.