Texas A&M 34, Oklahoma State 33

Saturday, October 21

Stillwater, Okla.

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

7-1 , 3-1

Oklahoma State

4-3 , 1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas A&M

Oklahoma State

Oct 21, 2006 | Football

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

October 21, 2006

Stephen McGee threw a 2-yard touchdown pass with 3 seconds left in regulation and Red Bryant blocked an extra-point attempt in overtime, allowing No. 23 Texas A&M to escape with a 34-33 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday night.

The Aggies (7-1, 3-1) forced the extra period on a 2-yard touchdown pass from McGee to tight end Joey Thomas at the end of regulation. The Aggies had the ball first in overtime, and needed only three plays to score, with Jorvorskie Lane plowing in from a yard out. Layne Neumann's extra point put Texas A&M ahead 34-27.

Oklahoma State (4-3, 1-2) quickly answered, as backup quarterback Zac Robinson threw his third touchdown pass, a 15-yarder to Adarius Bowman, to pull the Cowboys within 34-33.

But Bryant, positioned in the middle of the line, was able to bat down Jason Ricks' kick. Oklahoma State also botched an earlier extra-point try in the first quarter on a bad snap by Zach Allen.

Oklahoma State took a 27-20 lead with 3:24 left on a 60-yard touchdown run by Dantrell Savage. But McGee rallied the Aggies, completing a 17-yard shovel pass to Lane on fourth-and-13 from the Texas A&M 32 before hitting Thomas for the tying score.

McGee completed 17 of 26 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns and also led the Aggies in rushing, with 17 carries for 86 yards.

"This is very typical of these young men," Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione said. "They will never give up. We found a way to make one more play and that's based on spirit and character. Jorvorskie Lane made a big tough grab on fourth down and then Red Bryant blocked the extra point. I couldn't be more proud of this group of guys."

Savage carried 13 times for 134 yards for Oklahoma State. Robinson, who replaced the injured Bobby Reid, finished 7-of-16 passing for 94 yards.

Reid, who entered the game as the Big 12's leader in pass efficiency, left the game early in the second quarter after sustaining what Oklahoma State officials said was a mild concussion after being tackled following a 6-yard run. He did not return.

In the first quarter, the game appeared it might be an offensive show. Texas A&M drove 74 yards on its opening possession before settling for a 23-yard field goal by Neumann.

Grant Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to the Texas A&M 47. A bad snap cost Oklahoma State 13 yards on its first play, but the Cowboys recovered and went ahead 6-3 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Mike Hamilton. Allen's bad snap foiled the extra-point attempt.

The Cowboys threatened again on their next possession, reaching the Aggies 31 before Danny Gorrer intercepted Reid in the end zone.

Midway through the second quarter, Oklahoma State's Donovan Woods returned the favor, intercepting a halfback pass by Pierre Brown at the Cowboys 3-yard line.

Texas A&M, going against Robinson, forced a quick Oklahoma State punt, and took advantage of the short field. Martellus Bennett caught a short pass from McGee and bulled into the end zone to complete the 10-yard scoring play with 1:18 left in the half.

Robinson threw second-half touchdown passes of 22 yards to Bowman and 12 yards to John Johnson.

Texas A&M Postgame Notes

It was the first overtime game for the Aggies since 2005 when A&M tallied a 16-13 OT victory over Baylor. The Aggies and Cowboys battled in overtime once previously: in 1997, the Aggies rallied from 15 down to send the game into overtime and then won it on a six-yard D'Andre Hardeman run. The Aggies are now 6-4 all time in overtime games.
Quarterback Stephen McGee had 26 INT-free attempts vs. OSU which increased his pickoff-free streak to 103. For the season, McGee has thrown just one pickoff in 204 attempts.
The Aggies are 7-1 for the first time since 2001. It's the 15th time in Franchione's 24 seasons as a head coach that his team has won seven or more games.
The Aggies once again dominated time of possession with a 35:25 - 24:35 advantage through four quarters. The Aggies have won the TOP battle in five straight games and six games this season.
The Aggie defense held the Cowboys to 10-of-22 passing, which marked the fifth time this season that A&M has held an opponent to a 50 percent or less completion percentage.
Sophomore Pierre Brown's 48-yard kickoff return was a career long.
The 60-yard touchdown run by OSU's Dantrell Savage was the long rush of the season given up by the Wrecking Crew.
It was a near 200/200 rushing/passing night for the Aggies. A&M gained 231 rushing and 192 passing. For the season, the Aggies have rushed for 1,631 yards (203.9) and passed for 1,667 yards (208.4), but have only actually had 200 rushing and passing yards in the same game once (vs. Louisiana-Lafayette).
The game was the fourth nail-biter that was decided in the final minutes by the Aggies: defensive stop as time ran out against Army; Texas Tech TD with :26 remaining; Jorvorskie Lane TD with :34 remaining vs. KU.
With catches against Oklahoma State, receivers Chad Schroeder and Martellus Bennett continued their season-long streaks with at least one catch in every game.
Despite a 50.7 average on three punts against the Cowboys, Justin Brantly still won't show up in the NCAA stats because he doesn't have the requisite 3.6 punts per game. His effort against the Cowboys raised his season average to 47.2 on 28 punts (3.5 per game).
The Aggies led 10-6 at halftime, marking just the fourth time A&M has gone into intermission with the lead.
Sophomore cornerback Danny Gorrer's second quarter interception was the first of his career.
Sophomore tight end Martellus Bennett logged the first touchdown of 2006 with a 10-yard reception in the second quarter.
The 12th Man was Nick LaMantia, a walkon sophomore from Mission, Texas. It was the seventh 12th Man assignment of the season for LaMantia. Game captains were Ty Branyon, Devin Gregg, Red Bryant and Chad Schroeder.

Texas A&M Postgame Quote

HEAD COACH DENNIS FRANCHIONE: "This game was very typical of these young men; they will never give up. We found a way to make one more play than Oklahoma State, and that is based on spirit and character. (Running back) Jorvorskie Lane made a big, tough grab on fourth down and Red Bryant blocked the extra point. I could not be prouder of this group of guys."