Gray's 4 TDs help Texas A&M snap three-game skid

 

WERE YOU THERE?

Did you attend this game? If so, start chronicling your sports memories today with ESPN's Sports Passport. Enter the games you attend, upload your photos and share your memories! I was there »

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	34	27
Total Yards	559	520
Passing	238	456
Rushing	321	64
Penalties	7-62	10-90
3rd Down Conversions	8-13	4-13
4th Down Conversions	1-1	4-6
Turnovers	1	5
Possession	31:41	28:19

Air/Ground Leaders
Texas A&M Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Johnson 19/28 238 1 0	Texas Tech Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Potts 25/36 310 2 2 Doege 18/25 146 0 0
Texas A&M Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Gray 25 131 3 20 Michael 22 121 2 44	Texas Tech Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Batch 11 58 1 18 Jeffers 3 8 0 5
Texas A&M Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Nwachukwu 4 79 0 41 Gray 4 41 1 15	Texas Tech Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Torres 8 128 1 56 Batch 9 62 0 20

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				TA&M	TTU
	TD	12:52	Alexander Torres 56 Yd Pass From Taylor Potts (Matt Williams Kick)	0	7
	TD	08:19	Cyrus Gray 12 Yd Pass From Jerrod Johnson (Randy Bullock Kick)	7	7
	TD	00:30	Edward Britton 26 Yd Pass From Taylor Potts (Matt Williams Kick)	7	14
SECOND QUARTER				TA&M	TTU
	TD	13:41	Cyrus Gray 3 Yd Run (Randy Bullock Kick)	14	14
	TD	06:50	Christine Michael 1 Yd Run (Randy Bullock Kick)	21	14
	TD	01:22	Cyrus Gray 1 Yd Run (Randy Bullock Kick)	28	14
THIRD QUARTER				TA&M	TTU
	TD	12:56	Christine Michael 44 Yd Run (Randy Bullock Kick)	35	14
	FG	06:19	Randy Bullock 22 Yd	38	14
	TD	01:59	Eric Stephens 7 Yd Run (Seth Doege Pass To Edward Britton For Two-Point Conversion)	38	22
FOURTH QUARTER				TA&M	TTU
	TD	08:38	Jerrod Johnson 21 Yd Run (Randy Bullock Kick)	45	22
	TD	05:13	Baron Batch 1 Yd Run (Seth Doege Pass To Detron Lewis For Two-Point Conversion)	45	30
	TD	01:08	Cyrus Gray 7 Yd Run (Randy Bullock Kick)	52	30

LUBBOCK, Texas -- A week after a humiliating loss, Texas A&M responded with its first victory against a ranked team under coach Mike Sherman.

Cyrus Gray scored four touchdowns to lead Texas A&M past Texas Tech (No. 21 AP) 52-30, snapping a three-game losing streak for the Aggies.

Texas A&M (4-3, 1-2 Big 12) hadn't won in Lubbock since 1993 and was coming off an awful performance against Kansas State. A&M lost 62-14 last week.

Sherman, in his second season with A&M, told his players this game would show how they responded to tough times.

Then Tech score in six plays on its first possession, and the Aggies lost a fumble on their first play.

Here we go again, A&M fans must have thought. Instead, the Aggies held the Raiders after the fumble and put together a nine-play drive that ended in a touchdown.

"We were at a crossroads," Sherman said. "That was a turning point in the game."

The Aggies had 334 total yards in the first half against the Red Raiders a week after they had 301 against K-State.

"I told the guys during this week that this game was more about them as a man than it was about them as a football club and how they needed to respond to play this ball game," Sherman said.

"I'm proud of them as a man and as a football club tonight."

Jerrod Johnson completed 19 of 28 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown, and added 71 yards and another score on 10 carries.

Gray, who finished with 131 yards on 25 carries, rushed for three touchdowns and caught a 12-yard pass for another.

The 52 points by the Aggies was the most they've ever scored against the Red Raiders and the win was A&M's first over a ranked Texas Tech team.

"He brought this team from utter despair Monday to a point where they could play hard and win the game," Aggies defensive coordinator Joe Kines said of Sherman.

The Red Raiders (5-3, 2-2) went to Seth Doege at quarterback after Taylor Potts fumbled in the third quarter.

When Gray didn't have the ball teammate Christine Michael chewed up his share of yards. Michael gained 121 yards and two touchdowns -- including a 44-yarder on the Aggies first possession of the second half -- on 22 carries.

"It was a big win for us," Michael said. "We played as a team, defense and offense, special teams, we all had a great night."

Johnson came into Saturday night's game leading the Big 12 with 16 TD passes and was second in the league with 315.5 yards passing per game.

The Red Raiders' offense appeared flat in Potts' first start since sustaining a concussion Oct. 3 against New Mexico. He was 25 of 36 for 310 yards and two touchdowns before he was pulled from the game midway through the third quarter.

Potts was responsible for three turnovers, two of which led to Aggies scores.

Texas Tech moved into the rankings for the first time this season after winning 31-10 at then-No. 15 Nebraska last week. Steven Sheffield, the backup who made his second career start in that game, was in street clothes and using crutches on the sidelines Saturday night.

Fans chanted "no more Potts" shortly after Terrence Fredericks' interception in the end zone just before halftime.

Leach said his players let their guard down.

"If you have a ridiculously weak opponent, you might play bad and overpower them, but you can't do that against a tradition and a program like Texas A&M," Leach said. "If it was easy anybody could do it. If it was easy, I'd be coaching the Swedish bikini team and I'd have them coming out here to do all this."

Potts committed his third turnover when he fumbled on Texas Tech's second possession of the third quarter. Linebacker Von Miller hit Potts from behind and the ball was recovered by Tony Jerrod-Eddie on the Red Raiders 33.

"I don't think Potts ever got in a rhythm," Leach said. "I don't know if he tried to make too much happen. ....just looked, you know, slow and statue-like."