Texas A&M: Aggie miscues hand victory to OU

Christmas in Norman turned to a nightmare for the Aggies who were crushed 65-10 Saturday by the Oklahoma Sooners.

Texas A&M (5-5, 2-4 Big 12) turned the ball over three times to start the Sooner (6-4, 4-2) steam roller in the first half. The Aggie defense coughed up 640 yards. Sooner quarterback Landry Jones had his best day ever. He threw four touchdowns while piling up 392 yards through the air. It was a career high for Jones.

The romp started when Aggie running back Christine Michael fumbled on the first series. OU’s Brian Jackson picked up the ball and streaked 52 yards for the first TD. Then Aggie punt returner Terrance Frederick muffed a punt to set up the Sooners on the Aggie 22. That led to the third Sooner touchdown of the half.

In all, the Sooners scored 44 unanswered points starting in the second quarter. The Aggies’ high performance offense sputtered and stopped for most of the game after scoring 10 points in the first quarter. This was the first test the Aggies against a top-rated defense. It left little doubt that the A&M offense may have been put together with smoke and mirrors.

Sooner quarterback Jones has been much maligned in recent weeks. Last week against Nebraska in Lincoln, Jones threw three picks and Oklahoma failed to score a touchdown. That was not evident tonight as the Sooners appeared to be unstoppable, and Jones’ play was stellar.

Aggie running back Cyrus Gray, who last week was the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, was benched after he fumbled while returning a kickoff in the first half and then let a kickoff go between his legs early in the third quarter. Gray was not the only Aggie who had a bad day. Linebacker Von Miller, who leads the nation in QB sacks, was contained by the OU offensive line. In fact, Jones had lots of time to complete passes all night.

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Aggie QB Jerrod Johnson was rushed and harassed all night. He ended up with only 12 of 33 and 115 yards in passing. He had one TD throw. The Aggie rushed for only 59 yards the entire night.

OU runner DeMarco had a stellar night. He rushed for 80 yards and hauled in five catches for 143 yards. His longest was a 67 yarder. He took a screen pass from Jones and cut across the field and raced into the end zone to put the Sooners up 48-10 with less than two minutes to go in the first half.

The Aggies now will have to pin their bowl eligibility hopes on beating the Baylor Bears at home next Saturday. The Bears lost to the Texas Longhorns 47-14 in Waco. The game at Kyle Field Saturday my also decide the absolute cellar dweller in the Big 12 South for 2009.

By Jay Goode
Big 12 Fans Texas A&M Correspondent

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