Texas Tech 31, Texas A&M 27

Saturday, September 30

College Station

2:30 PM

Texas A&M

4-1 , 0-1

Texas Tech

4-1 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas Tech

Texas A&M

Sep 30, 2006 | Football

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

September 30, 2006

Graham Harrell threw three touchdown passes to Robert Johnson, including the game-winner with 26 seconds left, and Texas Tech beat Texas A&M 31-27 on Saturday.

Harrell completed 32 of 45 for 392 yards, shredding A&M's sixth-ranked pass defense most of the game. The Aggies were allowing only 127.5 yards passing per game.

Tech trailed 27-24 when Johnson outleaped A&M cornerback Jordan Peterson to make an acrobatic catch in the front corner of the end zone, stunning the crowd of 85,979. He also had TD catches of 21 and 5 yards in the second quarter for the Red Raiders (4-1, 1-0 Big 12). Texas A&M fell to 4-1, 0-1.

Joel Filani also caught a TD pass from Harrell. Filani had 10 catches for 156 yards.

The Aggies' final 15 plays from scrimmage were clock-eating runs and Layne Neumann's 32-yard field goal with 2:12 left gave A&M a 27-24 lead.

That was plenty of time for the Red Raiders to answer, though they needed help from the replay official.

On the third play of their final drive, receiver Danny Amendola bobbled a Harrell pass and officials on the field ruled that A&M linebacker Mark Dodge had made a diving interception.

But the play was reviewed and replays showed the ball hit the ground first. Replay official Terry Turlington overruled the field ruling, correctly calling the pass incomplete.

Five plays later, Johnson made the winning catch.

Tech outgained A&M 433-353 and won at Kyle Field for just the third time in its last 11 visits.

Kerry Franks returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and Jorvorskie Lane rushed for 77 yards and another score for the Aggies. Stephen McGee went 9-for-20 for 103 yards.

Tech safety Darcel McBath picked off McGee's first pass at the A&M 32, the first interception thrown by McGee in 91 attempts this season. The Raiders drove to the A&M 18, but settled for Alex Trlica's 33-yard field goal.

Franks took the ensuing kickoff, sidestepped a Tech defender and kicker Keith Toogood and ran untouched to the end zone. It was A&M's first kickoff return for a TD since 2003 and the longest since Sirr Parker's 100-yarder against Texas in 1996.

The Raiders drove to the Aggies' 7 on their next drive, but as Filani reached for the goal line after a catch, nose tackle Marques Thornton swatted the ball away and linebacker Matt Featherston recovered.

Filani took a short pass on Tech's next possession, broke free of Peterson and sprinted for a 54-yard touchdown.

The Aggies chewed up more than seven minutes on their answering drive and Lane scored on a 2-yard run, his 11th TD of the season.

Johnson's first two TD catches came late in the second quarter, capping drives that were both aided by roughing the passer penalties.

The Aggies consumed six more minutes with a 14-play drive in the third quarter but came away with only Layne Neumann's 30-yard field goal.

On A&M's next possession, Lane shed three tackles on a 21-yard run that spurred a 99-yard drive. Chris Alexander ended it with a game-tying, 4-yard TD run with 8:44 left.

The suddenly struggling Red Raiders went three-and-out on their next possession and the patient Aggies ran eight consecutive running plays to set up Neumann's go-ahead kick.

TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES

CONTROLLING THE BALL --- The Aggie offense dominated the football against the Red Raiders with a trio of drives that all used 14 plays and drained more than six minutes off the clock. A&M added a 9 play, 44-yard drive that culminated in a go-ahead field goal with 2:12 left to play. For the game, the Aggies enjoyed a 37:18-to-22:42 advantage in time of possession, including a 21:07-8:53 margin in the second half. A&M had 40 plays in the second half, compiling 238 yards, while Tech had only 22 plays for 136 yards (with 37 yards coming on the winning touchdown pass).

 Long Drives vs. Texas Tech 2nd Quarter: 14 plays, 80 yards, 7:11 (TD) 3rd Quarter: 14 plays, 67 yards, 6:34 (FG) 4th Quarter: 14 plays, 99 yards, 6:07 (TD) 9 plays, 44 yards, 5:16 (FG)

A&M's last three full drives included 51 plays, covered 210 yards and burned 17:57 off the clock. A&M's last-ditch drive with just :26 left included two plays and covered 44 yards. The 14-play drives were A&M's longest of the season based on plays, while the 7:11 drive in the second quarter was the longest based on time. The previous highs were 13 plays and 6:28 TOP on a 53-yard drive against Louisiana-Lafayette.

BETTER AS THE GAME PROGRESSED --- The Aggie defense improved (and the Aggie offense dominated the ball) as the game progressed.

 Texas Tech Offense 1st Quarter 22 plays, 185 yards, 10 points 2nd Quarter 12 plays, 112 yards, 14 points 3rd Quarter 11 plays, 55 yards, 0 points 4th Quarter 11 plays, 81 yards, 7 points

FRANKS' RETURN --- Wide receiver Kerry Franks (LaMarque, Texas), who entered the game averaging 28.7 yards on kickoff returns, ripped off his first career kickoff return for a touchdown against the Red Raiders. Franks fielded the kickoff on the 1-yard line and shot up the middle for a 99-yard return. A key clearing block was thrown by sophomore Alton Dixon (Lufkin, Texas). It was A&M's first kickoff return for a touchdown since Jason Carter returned one 89 yards against Nebraska in Lincoln in 2003. It was the seventh longest in school history behind six 100-yard returns, the most recent by Sirr Parker against Texas in 1996.

FIRST INT OF THE YEAR --- Quarterback Stephen McGee's first interception of the season came on his 91st attempt of 2006 and his first attempt of the game. It was also the first INT of the season for the Aggies. It was McGee's second career interception with his first coming in the first quarter of last season's Texas game in the season finale.

FOR THE RECORD --- The 12th Man was Nick LaMantia, a walk-on sophomore from Mission, Texas. LaMantia, who has a team-best six tackles on kickoffs, has been the Aggies' 12th Man in three of four games this season. ... Texas A&M suited up 128 players for the Texas Tech game. ... Game captains were #14 Chad Schroeder, #19 Ty Branyon, #33 Melvin Bullitt, #92 Chris Harrington. ... Joel Filani's 55-yard TD catch in the first quarter was the longest play given up by the Aggies in 2006. ... The crowd of 85,979 was the eighth-largest in Kyle Field history...Jorvorskie Lane rushed for 77 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries. For the season, Lane has scored 11 touchdowns through five games. The school record for a season is 19 set by Joel Hunt in 1927.

TEXAS TECH POSTGAME NOTES

GETTING STARTED

Texas Tech won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. Texas Tech is 2-3 this season on the opening coin toss and broke a string of three-straight losses with the coin toss win today.
Senior wide receiver Jarrett Hicks made his first start of the season. Hicks missed the first three games of the season until the NCAA issued a waiver last week that cleared him to play against Southeastern Louisiana.
Today's attendance was 85,979 - the eighth largest crowd in Kyle Field history.

TECH'S WIN . . .

Gives Head Coach Mike Leach a career record of 52-29 and 28-22 in the Big 12. Leach is in his seventh season at the helm of the Red Raiders.
Gives Texas Tech a record of 41-2 under Mike Leach when leading at halftime. Tech's last loss when leading at halftime was here at Texas A&M in 2004.
Gives Mike Leach his second win at Kyle Field (2-2 all-time).
Gives Mike Leach a record of 22-18 in day games and 47-8 against unranked opponents.

MAKE THAT NINE OF TWELVE-- Texas Tech's win over Texas A&M marked the ninth win over the Aggies in the last 12 games and gives the Red Raiders a two-game win streak. The Aggies maintain a slight advantage in the overall series as they lead 34-30-1

AMENDOLA MOVES PAST SAUL IN CAREER PUNT RETURN YARDAGE-- Junior punt returner/wide receiver Danny Amendola moved into third place on the career punt return yardage list, surpassing Tech great Tracy Saul (1989-92). Amendola moved past Saul with a 16-yard return late in the first half that helped set up a last minute touchdown that gave Tech a 24-14 lead. Amendola has 907 punt return yards in his Texas Tech career.

NOTING THE RED RAIDERS

Junior cornerback Chris Parker picked up a key interception on Texas A&M's second play of the game. The interception was the first of the season for Parker (second of his career) who had missed the last two games due to injury. The INT was also the first thrown this season by Texas A&M quarterback Stephen McGee.
Junior placekicker Alex Trlica scored the first points of the ballgame as he put Tech ahead 3-0 on a 33-yard FG with 9:45 remaining in the first quarter. The FG was a result of a Texas A&M turnover and that now gives the Red Raiders 17 total points on turnovers this season.
Texas A&M returned the second kickoff of the game for a touchdown to put the Aggies ahead 7-3. The last time an opponent ran a kickoff back for at touchdown was last season against Kansas State (Yamon Figurs - 98 yards).
Senior wide receiver Joel Filani regained the lead for Texas Tech in the final seconds of the first quarter when he scored on a 54-yard touchdown pass from Graham Harrell. The 54-yard pass marked the second longest offensive play for Tech this season and is the longest scoring play of the year. The 54-yard pass also marked the longest offensive play given up by the Texas A&M defense this year.
The Texas Tech defense surrendered its first touchdown since the game at UTEP on Sept. 9, ending a stretch of nine consecutive quarters. Texas A&M's Javorskie Lane scored on a two-yard rush with 7:59 remaining in the second quarter.
Senior wide receiver Robert Johnson picked up his fourth touchdown reception of the season when he scored on a 21-yard pass from Harrell with 4:40 remaining in the first half. The touchdown gave Tech a 17-14 lead.
Sophomore quarterback Graham Harrell finished with 258 yards passing in the first half to mark a season high. Harrell was 19 of 26 with three touchdowns.
Robert Johnson hauled in his second touchdown of the game with 13 seconds remaining in the first half to give Tech a 23-14 lead. The touchdown drive lasted just 49 seconds and marked the second quickest scoring drive of the year (46 seconds is the quickest set last week against Southeastern Louisiana).
Robert Johnson caught his third touchdown of the game with 26 seconds remaining in the contest to put the Red Raiders up 30-27.