Baylor
Texas A&M
Baylor Falls To Texas A&M
10/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct 12, 2002
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
WACO, Texas - Dustin Long and Reggie McNeal each threw two touchdown passes and the Aggies' defense got back on track as Texas A&M beat Baylor 41-0 Saturday.
Texas A&M (4-2, 1-1 Big 12) bounced back from its highest-scoring loss ever, a 48-47 overtime loss to Texas Tech in which Long set a Big 12 record with seven TD passes and the defense allowed 544 yards.
The Aggies had five interceptions that led to 17 points and held Baylor (3-3, 1-1) to just 229 yards in A&M's first shutout since a 24-0 win against the Bears two years ago.
Baylor's second shutout loss this season came a week after the Bears ended their 29-game Big 12 losing streak with a 35-32 win over Kansas.
Long, who has 10 TD passes in four games since replacing 27-year-old senior Mark Farris as the starter, was 13-of-31 passing for 169 yards. He had 117 of his yards in the first quarter, including a 12-yard TD to Bethel Johnson, who made an over-the-shoulder catch with a defender on his back.
Johnson also caught a 59-yard pass from McNeal, who took over in the fourth quarter with Texas A&M ahead 24-0. The freshman quarterback was 5-of-6 passing for 88 yards and ran three times for 25 yards in his most extensive playing time.
Baylor drove to the A&M 1 on its opening drive, but Jonathan Golden was hit in the backfield by Jared Morris on fourth down.
The Bears had only one other realistic scoring chance, after Derrick Cash intercepted a pass from Long in the third quarter. But Daniel Andino missed a 27-yard field goal attempt.
Andino's kick was wide right of the new goalpost that had replaced the one torn down in the celebration a week earlier when Andino hit a last-second 33-yarder against Kansas.
Texas A&M has won 12 straight in the 98-game series, and hasn't lost to the Bears since 1985.
The Aggies took a 10-0 lead when Todd Pegram kicked a 26-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. That score was set up when Sammy Davis intercepted a pass by Aaron Karas and returned it to the Baylor 9 with just 20 seconds left.
Karas finished 12-of-27 for 89 yards with four interceptions. Greg Cicero, the sixth-year senior he replaced as the starter, was 3-for-10 for 33 yards and an interception in the fourth quarter.
Texas A&M scored on its first two drives after halftime, on Long's 4-yard TD pass to Thomas Carriger and Derek Farmer's 1-yard TD run four plays after Byron Jones' 55-yard interception return.
The Aggies scored on the first three drives after McNeal took over, including Pegram's 30-yard field goal and a 5-yard TD pass to Tydrick Riley with just 1:03 left.
