Texas A&M dominates Oklahoma State

Texas A&M notched another conference victory Saturday, beating the Cowboys of Oklahoma State 62-23 in front of 78,451 fans at Kyle Field.

It was all Texas A&M (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) in the first quarter. Aggie PLK Todd Pegram was solid with a 32-yard field goal and a career high 45-yarder. Jorvorskie Lane added to the scoring effort, rushing up the middle for two touchdown runs.

A&M’s special teams contributed with a pooch-kick/fumble recovery, setting up a four-yard scoring drive that gave Texas A&M a 20-0 lead with 12 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Not to be left out, Texas A&M’s defense held Oklahoma State (3-3, 0-3 Big 12) to just one first down in the opening quarter and a meager -11 yards of total offense.

With two receivers in the end zone Aggie quarterback Reggie McNeal elected to keep the ball, taking it on the ground to the right side for a four-yard touchdown in the second quarter, giving A&M a 27-3 lead.

A 57-yard kick-off return helped set up Oklahoma State’s key scoring drive of the first half. Several plays later, Cowboys quarterback Al Pena tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass to John Johnson, making the score to 27-10 mid-way through the second quarter.

Oklahoma State caught a break in the second quarter, recovering a Brandon Leone fumble. OSU’s Julius Crosslin capitalized on the Aggie miscue and rushed for a two-yard touchdown to cut the Aggie lead to 27-17 headed into the half.

Aggie senior DB Jaxson Appel notched his ninth career interception on a Pena pass during Oklahoma State’s opening drive of the second half. The Aggie offense took the ball 98 yards down the field on 9 plays, capping the drive with a McNeal to fullback Chris Alexander touchdown pass. Pegram made it 34-17 with the extra point.

A&M continued to dominate on both sides of the ball, as the Aggie defense recovered another OSU fumble at the end of the third quarter, and Aggie TE Boone Stutz caught a 14-yard TD pass from McNeal. But the score changed quickly again on the next drive, as Lane notched his third touchdown of the day, going untouched into the end zone on a 3-yard rush play, taking the Aggies’ lead to 48-17.

Back-up A&M QB, redshirt freshman Stephen McGee entered the game with 10:30 minutes remaining in the game and promptly connected with true freshman Martellus Bennett on a 14-yard touchdown pass, making the game 62-23.

The maroon crowd enjoyed a fun moment late in the game, when Twelfth Man representative John Ray intercepted an Oklahoma State pass.

The Aggie offense was explosive, but the defense tightened up as well as the game progressed. After giving up 17 points in the first half, the A&M defense allowed just six points in the second half.

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