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COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ticker) -- In the end, Texas A&M's defense was able to withstand the top-ranked passing attack of Texas Tech.
Courtney Lewis rushed for his second touchdown of the game in overtime and defensive back Byron Jones knocked down a fourth-down pass in the end zone to lift the Aggies to a 32-25 overtime victory over the Red Raiders in a Big 12 Conference matchup.
While intercepting Texas Tech's Sonny Cumbie three times, Texas A&M recorded its seventh turnover-free game of the year, a school record. The Aggies have a 6-1 record in those games.
Cumbie, the nation's leader entering the game with 405.2 yards per game, has now thrown 17 interceptions this season.
"Of course, the turnovers took us out of three drives," Red Raiders coach Mike Leach said. "Based on the turnovers and the penalties, it's somewhat surprising it was as close as it was. I thought we did a pretty good job of hanging in there and overcoming the adversity we had created for ourselves. We just needed to finish the deal."
"They were just stupid throws and stupid decisions that should not have been made," Cumbie said. "I should have thrown the ball out-of-bounds and lived to play another play." Lewis opened the overtime in outstanding fashion for Texas A&M (7-3, 5-2 Big 12 South) with a 25-yard run down the right sideline for the score. The sophomore, who finished with 115 yards on 19 carries, had a 28-yard romp in the third quarter, lifting the Aggies to a 12-7 lead.
With a chance to answer back, Cumbie completed a two-yard pass to Trey Haverly before coming up short on his next three attempts, forcing the Red Raiders (6-4, 4-3 South) to absorb their first loss in four meetings with their intra-state rival.
"We just wanted to see if we could get something on them," Cumbie said about the final play. "We had fourth-and-long and we didn't execute it very well."
After three quarters of sluggish offense from both teams, Texas A&M grabbed a 25-18 lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Keith Joseph with 6:52 remaining.
Texas Tech struck back with a 13-play drive that was capped by a nine-yard TD catch by Jarret Hicks on a 4th-down-and-goal with 15 seconds left, forcing the Aggies into their third overtime in their last four contests.
Texas A&M, which has played in eight overtime games in school history, improved to 2-0 in the overtime at home this season.
Losing its last overtime matchup in heartbreaking fashion to Baylor two weeks ago, Texas A&M delighted the 82,278 faithful by clinching third place in the Big 12 South and improving its bowl position.
Junior Reggie McNeal sparked the Aggies with 254 passing yards, including a 48-yard touchdown to Kerry Franks in the fourth.
He also rushed for 77 yards on 13 carries to become the top running quarterback in school history. His 693 career yards surpassed the total of 670, set by Bucky Richardson in 1990.
Defensive back Jonte Buhl recorded an interception, forced a fumble and broke up two pass attempts for Texas A&M, which held Cumbie to a career-low 294 passing yards.
"We're fortunate that Coach (Carl) Torbush and the defensive staff did a tremendous job this week preparing us to go up against a top offense like that," Aggie defensive back Jaxson Appel said. "Give them all the credit. They coached their butts off and we did what we were told."
Cumbie, who went 31-of-50, had a pair of interceptions in the first half, but engineered a 13-play, 97-yard drive late in the second quarter that was capped by a 10-yard TD pass to Taurean Henderson. It marked the longest touchdown drive of the season for the Red Raiders.
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