Gray Guides Aggies Over Baylor
Waco, TX (Sports Network) - Cyrus Gray posted a career-best four touchdowns and gained 137 yards on 28 carries as 23rd-ranked Texas A&M overcame a 16- point first-half deficit to roll past Baylor, 42-30, at Floyd Casey Stadium.
Ryan Tannehill completed 27-of-38 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown to Ryan Swope for the Aggies (7-3, 4-2 Big 12), winners of four straight contests.
Swope finished with 56 yards on four receptions and Uzoma Nwachukwu added eight catches for 73 yards for Texas A&M, which racked up over 500 yards of total offense in the comeback victory.
Robert Griffin threw for 212 yards on 28-of-38 completions and added 92 yards with a score on 20 rushes for the Bears (7-4, 4-3), who have surrendered 97 points in consecutive losses following a three-game win streak.
Jay Finley posted a trio of rushing touchdowns and ended with 169 yards on 28 carries, while Lanear Sampson led the receiving corps with 49 yards on five catches.
Down by a daunting 30-14 margin late in the first half, Tannehill led the Aggies on a 68 yard march in 12 plays, culminating in Swope's 12-yard score on a 3rd-and-7 with two minutes left in the half to bring the Aggies within nine.
Baylor's Aaron Jones missed a 27-yard field goal wide left on the Bears' first drive of the third quarter, and the visitors turned around and rolled 80 yards in 12 plays. Gray's 13-yard touchdown run moved Texas A&M to 30-28 with roughly 6 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.
The Aggies forced a Baylor punt and after a catching interference penalty on the kick, Texas A&M worked from the Bears' 27. Gray rushed for 17 yards on first down then hit the end zone from 10 yards out for a 35-30 edge.
Early in the fourth, Jones failed to make a 39-yard attempt, but it was two drives later when Gray again hit the end zone, from one yard away, with just over six minutes left in the fourth and the visitors were ahead 42-30.
On the ensuing drive, Griffin hit Finley for seven yards, but it wasn't enough on 4th-and-17 from the Bears' 29. The Aggies took over from the 36 and Gray converted a 4th-and-2 from the 28 as Texas A&M worked away the final 3:44.
Jones' 38-yard field goal got Baylor on the board just under five minutes into the contest, then Griffin called his own number and raced 71 yards to the end zone for a 10-0 game.
The Aggies responded when Coryell Judie took the ensuing kickoff 84 yards to paydirt, but Baylor went up 17-7 on a one-yard TD run by Finley with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter.
Gray's four-yard score pulled Texas A&M within three early in the second quarter, but the Bears struck back to take a 30-14 edge with a pair of ground scores from Finley of one and 69 yards.
Game Notes
Texas A&M has won four of the last five meetings...Griffin connected with 10 different receivers for his 28 completions...The Aggies picked up 427 yards of total offense...Both schools are back in action next Saturday as Texas A&M hosts Nebraska and Baylor finishes its 2010 regular-season slate by hosting Oklahoma.
