Oklahoma 17, Texas A&M 16

Saturday, November 4

College Station

7:00 PM

Texas A&M

8-2 , 4-2

(#18) Oklahoma

7-2 , 4-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Oklahoma

Texas A&M

Nov 04, 2006 | Football

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

November 04, 2006

Allen Patrick ran for a career-high 173 yards and No. 18 Oklahoma sealed a 17-16 victory Saturday night over No. 21 Texas A&M by converting a fourth-and-inches from its own 29 with 1:29 remaining.

The Sooners won their fourth straight in coach Bob Stoops' 100th game at Oklahoma and broke a four-game winning streak by the Aggies.

The Aggies (8-2, 4-2 Big 12) had a chance to get the ball back when Oklahoma (7-2, 4-1) came up a couple of inches short on third down late in the fourth quarter. Stoops made a bold call, electing not to punt and putting the game in the hands of his offensive line.

The gamble paid off.

Paul Thompson's second effort on a sneak gave Oklahoma the first down, but the play ended up being moot. Texas A&M -- home of the 12th man -- was called for having 12 men on the field, giving the Sooners a first down and the ability to run out the clock.

Patrick now has 440 yards in the three games since replacing Adrian Peterson, who is out with a broken collarbone.

The Aggies got two late field goals to close the gap, but were foiled by their inability to convert two second-half turnovers by Oklahoma into any points. Texas A&M's defense forced fumbles by Patrick and Thompson on consecutive possessions, but the offense stalled both times and had to punt it away.

The Aggies cut the lead to 17-13 on a field goal by 19-yard field goal by Layne Neumann with 7:45 remaining and got within a point on a 39-yarder with less than four minutes to go.

The Sooners only points of the second half were set up by the defense.

Marcus Walker intercepted a pass by Stephen McGee and returned it 19 yards to the 6. The Sooners got a 23-yard field goal after Patrick was stopped for no gain and Thompson threw two incompletions to lead 17-10 with 7:31 left in the third quarter.

Patrick ran for 54 yards on Oklahoma's first drive and gave the Sooners an early lead when he scored on a 1-yard run. He had 14 carries for 101 yards in the first quarter.

The Aggies got out to a quick start too with Mike Goodson taking a pitch 58 yards to the 13-yard-line. But the Aggies were called for two penalties and had to settle for a field goal.

The Sooners went up 14-3 after Thompson scored on a 7-yard run later in the first. Oklahoma then tried an onside kick and it almost worked, but the ball squirted out from under a Sooner and Texas A&M recovered.

Working with the short field and bolstered by two Oklahoma penalties, the Aggies got within 14-10 when burly running back Jorvorskie Lane bulled in from the 1 for the touchdown in the second quarter. Lane finished with 13 carries for 62 yards.

The Sooners had 256 yards of offense and 220 of those yards came from the running game.

Texas A&M Postgame Notes

Sophomore running back Jorvorskie Lane rolled to touchdown No. 18 leaving him just one behind the second-oldest record in the Texas A&M record book: Joel Hunt's 19 rushing touchdowns in 1927.
Freshman running back Mike Goodson rushed for a career-high 127 yards on only 10 carries. His previous best was 96 yards on 8 carries last week against Baylor. Goodson has run for at least 65 yards in five straight games.
Senior placekicker Layne Neumann booted a career-high three field goals.
Quarterback Stephen McGee threw his second interception of the season after 142 consecutive INT-free attempts. It was the Aggies' first turnover since the third quarter of the Oklahoma State game, a span of seven quarters.
The above-capacity crowd of 85,697 was the ninth-largest in Kyle Field history and the second-largest of the season (largest was 85,979 vs. Texas Tech on Oct. 30)
Tonight's game marks only A&M's second loss under Dennis Franchione when it has won the turnover battle. The Aggies had one interception and Oklahoma had two fumbles. A&M is 17-2 under Coach Fran when it has a positive turnover margin and is 7-19 with an even or minus turnover margin.
A&M came into the game as the national leader in possession time (34:08) and had a 31:24-to-28:36 edge tonight, despite the Sooners posting a 10:51-to-4:09 margin in the first quarter. OU's 28:36 possession time was its lowest since the season opener against UAB (24:46).
A&M converted 6-of-14 third downs (42.8 percent) after entering the game converting 52.5 percent (64-of-22). Oklahoma converted just 1-of-9 third downs (11.1 percent) after converting 39.3 percent coming into the game.
After gaining 165 yards of total offense and 10 first downs in the first quarter, Oklahoma gained just 98 yards and six first downs in the final three quarters. A&M gained just 76 offensive yards with one first down in the first quarter, but had 191 yards with 14 first downs in the final three periods.
Oklahoma's 263 total offensive yards and 39 passing yards were both season lows for the Sooners. Their previous lows were 271 total yards and 105 passing yards against Colorado. OU's 16 first downs were their fewest since it had 14 in the season opener against UAB.
A&M had 204 yards rushing, tying for the most against the Sooners this season. Washington also ran for 204 yards.
Texas A&M game captains were Justin Warren, Red Bryant and Earvin Taylor ... the 12th Man was Nick LaMantia, a sophomore walk-on from Mission, Texas. It was LaMantia's ninth 12th Man assignment of the season.
Making his return to Kyle Field was former Aggie defensive coordinator Bob Davie, who provided color commentary for ABC. During Davie's tenure at A&M from 1985-93, the Aggies posted an 85-24-1 overall record, including a 50-3-1 record at Kyle Field. The Aggies won six conference championships and went to eight bowls.

Oklahoma Postgame Notes

In head coach Bob Stoops' 100th game at Oklahoma, the Sooners improved to 7-2, extending their win streak to four. With the win, the Sooners now lead the series against Texas A&M, 15-10 and have won the the last four meetings and seven of the last eight against the Aggies.
OU's 17-16 victory marked the Sooners' second game this season that was decided by one point (OU's 34-33 loss to Oregon). It also marked the first time OU won by one point since Sept. 29, 2001 when the Sooners beat Kansas State, 38-37, in Norman.
Sooner Offense
Oklahoma has had an individual rush for 100 yards in every game this season. OU has rushed for at least 100 yards as a team for 15 consecutive games.
Allen Patrick's one-yard touchdown run with 10:09 in the first quarter marked the fourth time that Oklahoma has scored on its opening drive this season, all of them touchdowns.
Sooner Defense
Oklahoma has forced at least one turnover in 89 of Bob Stoops' 100 games and has one interception in 66 of the last 87.
michael cohen
Cohen's 75-yard punt in the third quarter was the longest punt by a Sooner since Brian Lewis' 81-yarder against Oklahoma State in 1996. That punt ranks 17th on the all-time list, tying Darrell Royal (75 yards against North Carolina in 1948) and Jack Jacobs (vs. Kansas in 1940).
Allen Patrick
Patrick's 101 yards in the first quarter marked the 46th time in OU history a player has rushed for 100 or more yards in a quarter. His 101 yards in the first quarter ranks 39th on that list. The record for most yards in a quarter is held by Adrian Peterson who rushed for 161 yards against Oklahoma State in the third quarter of the 2004 game.
Patrick's 132 first-half rushing yards ranks second among OU players since the inception of the Big 12 Conference. Former Sooner running back Quentin Griffin recorded 155 first-half yards against Tulsa in 2002. The previous best first half for a Big 12 game was held by Adrian Peterson who rushed for 126 yards against Texas in 2004.
Paul Thompson
Quarterback Paul Thompson recorded his second straight game with a rushing TD with his seven-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. It marked his third of the season.
Marcus Walker
Walker's interception in the third quarter marked his second of the season with the first being last week against Missouri.
BY THE NUMBERS
85,697 - Today's attendance at Kyle Field.
3 - Allen Patrick recorded his third straight game with a 100 or more yards.
224 - OU recorded its second-highest rushing total of the season with 224 yards. Last week, the Sooners rushed for a season-best 231 yards.
173 - On his 29th attempt, Allen Patrick passed his previous career high of 162 yards (set last week against Missouri) and finished the game with 173 rushing yards.
101 - With Allen Patrick's one-yard TD rush in the first quarter, Oklahoma raised its streak of consecutive games with a touchdown to 101 (dating to Nov. 7, 1998).

Texas A&M Postgame Quotes

HEAD COACH DENNIS FRANCHIONE: (on Allen Patrick and OU's first quarter) "Well, they had a great first quarter that's for sure. But you know after that we got settled in and did a pretty nice job. We certainly were behind the chains and he ran north and south and their offensive line did a good job and physically it wasn't very pretty there in the beginning but our guys kept playing and hung in there and made some plays and did the right thing and got off the field. I think we held them to one of nine on third down. We started playing better on first down and not letting them get eight or nine yards or first down."

(on the 4th quarter thought process) "Well, yes, you think about four downs and you think about field goals and you have all those kind of thoughts in your mind. Certainly going for it on the fourth down is something we discussed and talked about -- but, you've got a good feeling if you get the three points with the way our defense had played. If we get one stop we're going to have the ball around our 40-yard line and it's not going to take much for us to get in field goal range to win the game. Hindsight is 20/20. It's a tough call either way and whatever decision you make you've got the make at the right decision and we weren't able to do that."

(on OU's 4th-and-1 late in the game) "We had some confusion and we got Chad (Schroeder) out there and a safety and that's our fault as coaches. That shouldn't have happened, but they made it anyway. But that was ridiculous. You have somebody to catch it for it if they're going to punt so it doesn't roll for 15 or 20 yards. Chad's not going to make much difference on whether we stop them on the quarterback sneak. We just had a little break down in communication."

(on Michael Goodson's efforts) "Michael wished he would have gotten one to the house like he did last week. He had a good night and he was excited. HeHeHe broke several long runs and did great job for us out there."

(on bouncing back for Nebraska game) "Well, we have no choice. It's the senior's last home game next week They have been resilient and done it week in and week out and I have no reason to believe they won't continue to do so next week. Next week will be our eleventh straight game. We've got an open date after that. We're banged up a little bit but those guys will find a way as we go through the week and they'll get ready to play and be out there on Saturday. This team has done it every week and I don't have any doubt they'll do it again."

Oklahoma Postgame Quotes

QUARTERBACK PAUL THOMPSON: (on fourth down conversion at end) "Coach said he wanted to go for it and he wanted to go for it again. That did it. That's what we wanted. Whenever we ran the play on third down, I knew we had fourth down in our pocket. We didn't want to give the ball back and allow them to score. The first two drives (of the game), we were rolling. We felt really good about where we were at, and then we got a little bit sloppy from there on out. It's a big win but I don't think my play was close to par. There's a lot of things I could have done better. We came away with a big win on the road and in an environment like this."

RUNNING BACK PATRICK ALLEN: "We came out here to run the ball. I guess they got their stuff together and capitalized on their defense. I think we're coming together and we're ready to make things happen. It was a hard game coming out and playing at a place like Texas A&M. It's a tough stadium to play in. We just came out, stuck together and fought it out. I think all the players had the mindset of 'let's go get it.' We got it and that's what we came out here to get."

HEAD COACH BOB STOOPS: "There was a lot of excitement and it was a great atmosphere and place to compete in. I'm proud of the players and the way they played. I compliment, always, Texas A&M. They did an excellent job. We had a fun night out there with everybody competing. I think both sides played well. It was a well-played game. (on late fourth-down conversion) I went through a range of what to do. There was a certain point early on when I thought we would just punt it and then I started considering the wind. The second I said punt it, I looked at all the offensive guys in their eyes, then I thought 'I can't punt it.' The factors I was considering was that although their wasn't a lot of wind, there was enough to affect the punt 10 to 15 yards, which is enough to affect a field goal kick 10 or 15 yards. In college, you get a first down and the clock stops, so a 1:30 is an eternity. I just felt we would make an inch and that's it. Paul did a great job on that play. He initially didn't have it, but he kept pushing and Paul's a strong guy and he kept driving."