Sep 9, 2007, 0:33 GMT
College Station, TX - Jorvorskie Lane finished with 121 yards and four touchdowns rushing as 23rd-ranked Texas A&M held on for a 47-45 triple-overtime victory over Fresno State at Kyle Field.
Stephen McGee completed 13-of-24 passes for just 79 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 124 yards for the Aggies (2-0), who avoided a possible letdown after defeating Montana State in their opener last weekend.
'It's every running back's dream. I give my o-line all the credit for my touchdowns. They did a great job,' Lane said.
Tom Brandstater threw for 260 yards with three touchdowns and an interception on 21-of-31 passing for the Bulldogs (1-1), who trailed 19-0 at halftime but scored 29 points in the second half to send the game into overtime.
Bear Pascoe finished with seven catches for 70 yards and three touchdowns in defeat.
With the game tied late in the fourth quarter, McGee orchestrated an 10-play, 88-yard drive with all the yardage coming on the ground. Lane ended the rush- heavy drive with a five-yard touchdown plunge up the middle to give the Aggies a 29-22 lead.
McGee compiled 41 yards rushing on the game-winning drive while Lane had 30 yards on the ground.
On the ensuing drive, Brandstater moved the Bulldogs all the way down to the three-yard line with 24 seconds left after a 17-yard pass to Pascoe. After a timeout, Brandstater over threw a pair of passes and on third-and-goal, the Aggies pressured him forcing him to throw the ball away with just nine seconds left. After using their last timeout before fourth down, Brandstater found Pascoe wide open in the back of the end zone to send the game into overtime.
In the extra session, Texas A&M scored first as Matt Szymanski hit a 27- yarder.
On Frenso State's first possession of the ensuing drive, Brandstater hit Marlon Moore with a 24-yard pass to set up a first-and-goal. After a review of the play to see if Moore fumbled the ball, the call on the field stood. After the replay, officials called down again, the play was reversed, but a roughing the passer call gave the Bulldogs the ball at the 12-yard line. After failing to get into the end zone on three pass attempts, Clint Stitser tied it at 32-32 after a 25-yard field goal.
In the second overtime, the Bulldogs then went up 39-32 after Anthony Harding sliced into the end zone from one yard out. On their possession in the second overtime, the Aggies tied it after Lane scored his third rushing TD of the game.
Lane continued his impressive day by opening the scoring of the third OT with a three-yard TD run and then scoring on the two-point conversion to put the Aggies in front 47-39.
Fresno State pulled within two points after Pascoe hauled in a nine-yard pass in the end zone, but on the two-point conversion attempt, Brandstater overthrew his receiver in the back of the end zone to give Texas A&M the victory.
The only score of the opening quarter belonged to the home team as Lane capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive with a 18-yard rushing touchdown with 8:08 remaining.
Texas A&M made it 10-0 after a 43-yard field goal by Szymanski with about 4 1/2 minutes to play in the second quarter.
A turnover by the Bulldogs led to the next points for the Aggies. Clifton Smith fumbled and Jord Peterson recovered for the home team on Fresno State's 37-yard line. McGee then made the Bulldogs pay four plays later as he fired a 12-yard strike to Mike Goodson in the end zone to make it 17-0 with 2:14 left in the first half.
Another miscue by Fresno State put more points on the board for Texas A&M as Brandstater was called for intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety with 1:03 remaining in the half to make it 19-0 in favor of the Aggies.
The Bulldogs finally got on the board early in the third quarter as Brandstater completed a pass to Pascoe at about the five-yard line and he barreled his away across the goal line for a 16-yard score to make it 19-7.
With 7:19 left in the third quarter, Szymanski split the uprights with a 32- yard field goal to extend the Aggies' lead to 22-7.
After Szymanski's 32-yarder, Fresno State responded as Ryan Mathews rushed into the end zone from 10-yards out to bring the Bulldogs within eight points with about three minutes left in the third quarter.
Fresno State completed the comeback early in the fourth quarter after Harding scored from two yards out and Brandstater completed a pass to Seyi Ajurotutu for the two-point conversion to tie the game.
Game Notes
This contest marked the first-ever meeting between the schools on the gridiron...The Aggies finished with 397 total yards while the Bulldogs had 399...Martellus Bennett had five catches for 35 yards for Texas A&M...Harding ended with 47 yards on 22 carries for Fresno State.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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