Tannehill Leads No. 17 Aggies Past Cyclones
AMES, IA (Sports Network) - Ryan Tannehill threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns, as the 17th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies upended the Iowa State Cyclones, 33-17.
Christine Michael rushed for 142 yards and a score, while Cyrus Gray added 125 rushing yards for the Aggies (5-2, 3-1 Big 12), who were coming off of last Saturday's 55-28 rout of then-No. 20 Baylor.
Redshirt freshman Jared Barnett completed 16-of-36 passes for 180 yards and ran for 66 yards for the Cyclones (3-4, 0-4), losers of four straight.
Josh Lenz caught eight passes for 117 yards, while James White and Duran Hollis both ran for a touchdown.
"We did a lot of good things," said Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads, "but not enough to beat the 17th-ranked team in the country."
Barnett finished last Saturday's 52-17 loss to Missouri, completing 3-of-8 passes for 25 yards and an interception in relief of junior starter Steele Jantz.
Against Texas A&M, Jantz again got the start, but threw an interception to Trent Hunter on the Cyclone's first play from scrimmage.
The Aggies took advantage, grabbing a 3-0 lead on Randy Bullock's 25-yard field goal.
Jantz then led Iowa State to consecutive three-and-outs before giving way to Barnett, who provided an immediate spark, driving the team 83 yards downfield for a 7-3 lead on White's 19-yard touchdown run.
Texas A&M then came to life, scoring 27 unanswered points over the second and third quarters to grab a decisive 30-7 lead.
Bullock hit a 47-yarder early in the second to begin the onslaught.
Tannehill, who threw a career-high six touchdown passes against Baylor, then hit Jeff Fuller for a 10-yard scoring strike on the Aggies' next possession.
Following an Iowa State punt, Texas A&M faced a 3rd-and-10 near midfield with under two minutes left in the half, but Tannehill reeled off three consecutive completions. He extended the drive with a 13-yard pass to Ryan Swope, hit Uzoma Nwachukwu for 20 yards, then found Michael Lamothe for an 18-yard touchdown and a 20-7 lead at the break.
Bullock opened the second half with a 47-yard field goal and Michael capped the Aggies' next drive with a nine-yard touchdown run for a 30-7 advantage.
Midway through the third, the Cyclones, who have been outscored by an average of 24 points during their four-game slump, finally responded.
Barnett led the team on a 74-yard touchdown drive, completing passes of 19 and 30 yards to Lenz during the march before Hollis made it a 30-14 game with a goal line plunge.
Zach Guyer added a 43-yard field goal towards the end of the quarter, but Bullock hit a 20-yarder early in the fourth to cap the scoring.
Game Notes
The Aggies, who move to the SEC next season, are 8-1 against Iowa State since 1996. They are 5-0 against Iowa State in Ames...The Cyclones have dropped four straight for the first time since a 10-game skid in 2008...Jantz was 0-for-4 passing.
