Kansas State University Athletics
Kansas State University
4-3 , 1-3
Texas A&M
5-2 , 3-1
Aggies Hold Off Wildcats, 30-28
Oct 22, 2005 | Football
MANHATTTAN, Kan. - Reggie McNeal ran for 119 yards and one touchdown and threw for another score, and Texas A&M held on for a 30-28 victory over Kansas State on Saturday.
McNeal ran 26 yards for a touchdown on A&M's first official snap. He put the Aggies up 23-8 with a 5-yard pass to Chad Schroeder late in the third quarter, before Kansas State mounted a comeback that ultimately fell short.
Freshman Jorvorskie Lane added 98 yards rushing and two TDs for the Aggies (5-2, 3-1 Big 12), including a clutch 2-yard scoring run late in the fourth quarter, to help coach Dennis Franchione win his first game in his native Kansas since he left Pittsburg State in 1989.
Kansas State (4-3, 1-3) lost its fifth straight against Texas A&M and its sixth straight against a Big 12 South team. The Wildcats have not beaten a South Division opponent since their 35-7 shocker over then-No. 1 Oklahoma in the 2003 conference title game.
Allan Evridge threw three touchdown passes for the Wildcats, including a 4-yarder to Jordy Nelson with 1:27 left that cut A&M's lead to 30-28. But Schroeder recovered the ensuing onside kick at Kansas State's 47, sealing the Aggies' victory.
Evridge's 42-yard pass to Jermaine Moreira got Kansas State within 23-21 with just over eight minutes left in the game, but Evridge was stuffed by Johnny Jolly on the 2-point conversion try. McNeal had runs of 32 and 19 yards on A&M's answering drive, capped by Lane's second TD run.
The failed conversion was symptomatic of Kansas State's ongoing running woes. They had only 27 yards rushing Saturday, the third time this season they've been held under 50 yards, and failed to convert on fourth-and-2 from A&M's 5-yard line in the third quarter.
Evridge finished with 357 yards passing, five yards short of Kansas State's freshman record, but was plagued by a series of dropped balls in the open field -- four alone by wide receiver Yamon Figurs.
Kansas State's offensive struggles offset a long list of mistakes by Texas A&M.
The Aggies passed up a first-quarter field goal that would have given them a 17-0 lead, instead running a fake that went nowhere. Then, when they did try to kick, Todd Pegram's 43-yard try in the third quarter fell well short.
They blocked a punt near Kansas State's goal line in the second quarter, but got only a safety because several A&M players tried and failed to scoop up the ball rather than falling on it.
They tried to punt out of their own end zone in the fourth quarter, rather than take a safety, and Nelson recovered Adam Hamilton's block for a touchdown that got the Wildcats within 23-15.
Those miscues, and others, turned a seeming rout into a close game.
After Kansas State went three-and-out on its first possession, an interference penalty and a personal foul call gave Texas A&M a short field for McNeal's first score. Lane's 2-yard run later in the first quarter, after Kansas State's Jeff Snodgrass was wide left on a 38-yard field goal attempt, made it 14-0.
After the safety, Kansas State got on the board later in the second quarter on Evridge's 52-yard TD throw to Figurs and 2-point pass to Parrish Fisher.
Running back Courtney Lewis, who missed the two previous games for Texas A&M with an undisclosed injury, returned Saturday. Lewis, the Aggies' leading rusher in 2003 and 2004, had four carries for 19 yards and caught two passes for 15 yards.
Team Stats
TA 7, KS 0
TA - McNeal, Reggie 26 yd run (Pegram, Todd kick), 1 plays, 41 yards, TOP 0:12
TA 14, KS 0
TA - Lane, Jorvorsk. 2 yd run (Pegram, Todd kick), 14 plays, 79 yards, TOP 5:46
TA 16, KS 0
TA - Team 27 yd safety
TA 16, KS 8
KS - Figurs, Yamon 52 yd pass from Evridge, Allan (Fisher, Parrish pass) 2 plays, 54 yards, TOP 0:43
TA 23, KS 8
TA - Schroeder, Chad 5 yd pass from McNeal, Reggie (Pegram, Todd kick) 7 plays, 33 yards, TOP 3:17
TA 23, KS 15
KS - Nelson, Jordy 0 yd blocked punt return (Snodgrass, Jeff kick)
TA 23, KS 21
KS - Moreira, Jerm. 42 yd pass from Evridge, Allan (Evridge, Allan rushfailed) 6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:41
TA 30, KS 21
TA - Lane, Jorvorsk. 2 yd run (Pegram, Todd kick), 8 plays, 76 yards, TOP 3:54
TA 30, KS 28
KS - Nelson, Jordy 4 yd pass from Evridge, Allan (Snodgrass, Jeff kick) 7 plays, 80 yards, TOP 1:29
