Aggies Slam Iowa State, 34-3

Saturday, October 9

Ames, Iowa

TBA

Texas A&M

4-1 , 2-0

Iowa State

2-3 , 0-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas A&M

Iowa State

Oct 09, 2004 | Football

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

October 09, 2004

Reggie McNeal passed for 222 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score to lead surging Texas A&M to a 34-3 victory over Iowa State on Saturday night.

With its fourth straight win, A&M (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) matched last season's victory total and handed Iowa State its 12th consecutive conference loss. The Cyclones (2-3, 0-2) have lost those games by an average of 33 points.

McNeal gave Iowa State fits all night with his accurate throwing and nimble feet. He scrambled out of trouble on several occasions and finished 16-for-27 with no interceptions and touchdown passes of 18 yards to Tydrick Riley, 13 yards to Joey Thomas and 12 yards to Courtney Lewis.

His most impressive footwork came early in a 13-play, 96-yard scoring drive that gave the Aggies a 20-3 halftime lead. On second-and-21 from his own 4, McNeal danced away from three Iowa State defenders who had a shot at him in the end zone and completed a 23-yard pass to Jason Carter.

McNeal went on to complete seven straight passes in taking A&M to the Iowa State 22. Lewis then sprinted 20 yards up the middle before McNeal slipped untouched into the end zone from the 2.

Any chance Iowa State had of getting back into it ended on the first play of the second half. Mike Montgomery intercepted Austin Flynn's pass and returned it 14 yards to the ISU 17.

An illegal block in the back nullified Lewis' 13-yard touchdown run, but it didn't matter because the Aggies scored on the next play. McNeal floated a short pass to Lewis in the right flat and two defenders missed tackles on the 12-yard scoring play that made it 27-3.

Iowa State's starting quarterback, Bret Meyer, was hit hard at the end of the second quarter and did not play in the second half. By the time A&M scored its final touchdown on reserve Ty Branyon's 8-yard pass to DeQawn Mobley with 5:59 left, long lines of cars were leaving the stadium parking lots in all directions, their red tail light glowing brightly in the night.

McNeal gave Iowa State's defenders an indication of what they'd be facing on the game's first play. He started to his right on a keeper, saw three ISU players blocking his path, reversed field and ran 19 yards around left end.

That started a seven-play, 56-yard drive that McNeal finished with his touchdown pass to Riley, who caught the ball on a crossing pattern and dragged safety Steve Paris into the end zone.

Iowa State appeared to make the first interception of the season off McNeal when Nik Moser picked off a pass in the end zone on A&M's next possession. But a pass- interference call against defensive back LaMarcus Hicks, who was 15 yards from the ball, gave the Aggies another chance.

Two plays later, McNeal rolled to his right, dumped the ball to Thomas at the 10 and the 6-foot-5, 243-yard freshman took it the rest of the way.

Texas A&M Postgame Notes

AGGIES END ROAD LOSING STREAK, CONTINUE OVERALL WINNING STREAK --- A&M's victory over Iowa State in Ames ended an eight-game road losing streak, which was just one short of the longest road losing streak in school history. Gene Stallings' 1970 and 1971 teams set the record with nine straight road losses. The win was A&M's fourth in a row, marking its longest winning streak since opening the 2001 season with five straight wins.

ANOTHER TURNOVER-FREE DAY FOR A&M --- The Aggies posted their fourth turnover-free game of the season, which is a school record. The previous record was three games set by the 1998, 1997, 1993 and 1990 teams (those teams were a combined 39-12-1 and won three conference or division crowns).

LONG AND SHORT OF IT --- The Aggies opened the game with touchdown drive that took just 1:58 off the clock, which marked A&M's seventh straight 2:00-or-less touchdown drive. Later in the first half, the Aggies went on a 96-yard touchdown march that set season highs for plays (13) and time of possession (7:11).

OPENING DRIVE SUCCESS --- The Aggies' first possession touchdown was their first opening drive score of the season. Prior to the ISU game, the last time A&M scored on its first drive of the game was the 2003 Kansas game (span of seven games). A&M also scored on its second drive of the game, marking the first time the Aggies have scored on their first two drives since the 2003 Baylor game (span of 10 games).

MCNEAL EXTENDS PICKOFF-FREE STREAK --- Junior quarterback Reggie McNeal extended his interception-free streak to 132 attempts dating back to the final game of 2003. McNeal had another strong game, gaining 237 yards of total offense and accounting for four touchdowns (three via pass, 1 rush) before leaving the game with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter. McNeal threw for 222 yards on 16-of-27 passing and his three touchdown strikes matched his career high.

As a team, A&M has attempted 141 passes this season without an interception. Dating back to the season finale in 2003, A&M quarterbacks have attempted 156 passes without a pickoff.

AGGIES WIN TURNOVER BATTLE --- The Aggies improved 6-0 in the Franchione era when having the turnover margin advantage with the win over Iowa State. The Aggies were turnover-free, while notching two interceptions for a plus-2 turnover advantage. The two pickoffs give A&M 10 for the season, which already surpasses last year's 12-game total of six interceptions.

Last season the Aggies were minus-11 in turnover margin (last in the Big 12, 105th nationally), but are plus-13 after five games in 2004.

In 2004, A&M holds a 56-3 advantage in points after turnovers. Against Iowa State, the Aggies scored seven points after turnovers.

CARTER HAS CAREER-BEST NIGHT --- Senior Jason Carter, who has emerged as the No. 2 option at wide receiver, matched his career-best with five receptions for a career-high 99 yards (previous high was 68 yards vs. Missouri, 2003). Carter's 14 catches for 230 yards both rank No. 2 on the team.

YOUNG HAS FIRST 40-YARD PLUS DAY OF '04 --- Senior Jacob Young had his best statistical punting day of 2004 with four punts for a 41.5 average. His previous high game this season was 35.7 against Clemson. For the season, Young has punted 30 times and just seven have been returned for a total of eight yards.

FIRSTS --- Senior defensive end Mike Montgomery grabbed the first interception of his career in the third quarter. It was the first INT by an A&M defensive lineman since Linnis Smith had a pickoff against Baylor in 2001. ... Junior transfer Lee Foliaki made the first start of his A&M career at strongside linebacker ... Redshirt freshman Joey Thomas' 13-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was the first TD catch of his career ... Junior Todd Pegram missed his first kick of any kind this season when Iowa State blocked his first-quarter point-after attempt ... Sophomore Brandon Leone tallied his first career interception late in the fourth quarter.

MISCELLANEOUS --- Game captains were Johnny Jolly, Keith Joseph, Aldo De La Garza and Ronald Jones ... the 12th Man was John Ray, a sophomore from Giddings, Texas. Ray has been the Aggies' 12th Man all year.

Iowa State Postgame Notes

Tonight's nine pass completions in 18 attempts (50%) by Bret Meyer is the fourth time in five games were Meyer has completed half of his passes or better.
Tonight's nine pass completions by Austin Flynn was his highest total of completions in a games since he completed 13 passes on Oct. 25, 2003, at Nebraska.
Tonight's 24 pass attempts by Austin Flynn is the most attempts he has had since he threw 29 times on Oct. 25, 2003, at Nebraska.
Tonight's five pass receptions by Jon Davis marks the fourth consecutive game where Davis led Iowa State in receptions. His five receptions tonight give Davis 25 catches this season.
Tonight's 86 receiving yards by Jon Davis was a career-best. His previous high was 68 yards receiving at Iowa on Sept. 11.
Tyease Thompson averaged nearly 30 yards per kickoff return with 119 yards on four returns with a long of 38 yards.
Tonight's 85 plays run were the most by Iowa State since running 85 plays against Iowa on Sept. 13, 2003.
Tonight's 85 plays run by Iowa State were the most in a Big 12 Conference game by the Cyclones since Iowa State's 42-35 win over Missouri on Nov. 2, 2002.
Tonight's attendence of 44,307 was the highest home game attendence of the season to date.

Postgame Quotes

TEXAS A&M DEFENSIVE BACK JACKSON APPEL: "It was big for us to play as well as we did on the road. We are far away from home and remained focused and got the win."

(on Todd Blythe) "We game planned him well and shut him down, like we did [Darren] Sproles. We focus on each teams main player each week."

TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH DENNIS FRANCHIONE: "I thought our great start was pivotal. It's been awhile since we won a road game. We had a great first half and we did what we needed to do."

"One of the great things about tonight was we got to play a lot of different players."

(On Reggie's play...) "That was just great athleticisim on his part and a great sense on the field."

TEXAS A&M QB REGGIE MCNEAL: (On the 2 and 21 play at A&M's end zone): "I felt pressure from the middle and I was just trying to make a play. I was trying to run but the corner was right there. I just looked up and Carter was wide open."

"All of our receivers make plays. You can't focus on 1 or 2 players with this offense, all of our guys are capable of making the big play."

"ISU has been good all season against the run and we knew we had to throw the ball today if we were going to win the game. The defense gave us some cushion and we just tried to pick our spots."

IOWA STATE QB BRETT MEYER: "I thought we moved the ball really well early, but we have to be able to finish, that's been our problem all year. As soon as we get open and convert it, we have to be able to finish with things like that. "

"They did a pretty good job of isolating Blythe, getting some double coverage over the top. We got to get him more chances to get him the ball because we all know what he can do once he gets it."

IOWA STATE DL NICK LEADERS: (On second quarter drive that broke game open:) "We tried to keep him contained, but he (McNeal) is a great athlete. He's a great passer when he has time to sit back in the pocket and read the defense. When he has the time he's as good as any quarterback in the nation."

(On how defense played:) "We made a lot of fundamental mistakes that really hurt us. We got out of our lanes, and he (McNeal) really hurt us."

IOWA STATE HEAD COACH DAN MCCARNEY: (On Texas A&M:) "They have an outstanding football team, and they are as good as anybody we will play this year. Coach Franchione has done an outstanding job in turning the program around."

(On outcome/injuries:) "Of course I am disappointed with the outcome. But no injuries happened out there today that will hold anyone out of the Colorado game."

(Looking ahead:) "There is still a lot of football left to be played."

(On Bret Meyer's condition:) "Bret could have gone in the 4th quarter, but I made the decision not to send him out. I wanted to make sure he was at 100% strength."