Henderson runs for four TDs as Texas Tech rolls

 

 

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... the Red Raiders' high-octane attack got rolling in the third quarter and outscored the Aggies 21-0. Gameball goes to... Texas Tech's Taurean Henderson, who ran for 109 yards and 4 TDs and caught 6 passes for 69 more. Stat of the game... 408: Henderson's 408 career points ranks third in NCAA history for non-kickers. Complete Top 25 Overview

The Fan Pick
	96.2% of College Pick'em players picked Texas Tech to win the game.

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	18	32
Total Yards	353	627
Passing	131	433
Rushing	222	194
Penalties	4-40	6-59
3rd Down Conversions	2-11	9-14
4th Down Conversions	2-3	2-3
Turnovers	3	1
Possession	28:34	31:26

Individual Leaders

Texas A&M Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT McNeal 15/24 131 1 1 McGee 0/1 0 0 0	Texas Tech Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Hodges 29/44 408 2 1 Harrell 3/4 25 1 0
Texas A&M Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Lewis 10 95 1 48 Lane 19 88 0 17 McNeal 8 26 0 11	Texas Tech Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Henderson 20 109 4 19 Hodges 12 41 1 13 Woods 4 33 0 19
Texas A&M Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Carter 6 53 0 16 Mobley 3 29 0 10 Franks 1 12 0 12 Brown 1 9 0 9	Texas Tech Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Hicks 8 147 2 47 Henderson 6 69 0 23 Johnson 5 72 0 23 Woods 4 27 0 12

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				TA&M	TTU
	TD	12:22	JARRETT HICKS 17 YD PASS FROM CODY HODGES (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 11 plays, 80 yards.	0	7
	TD	9:42	TAUREAN HENDERSON 19 YD RUN (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 4 plays, 39 yards.	0	14
	FG	2:48	TODD PEGRAM 25 YD FG Drive info: 14 plays, 64 yards.	3	14
SECOND QUARTER				TA&M	TTU
	TD	14:45	COURTNEY LEWIS 48 YD RUN (TODD PEGRAM KICK) Drive info: 3 plays, 64 yards.	10	14
THIRD QUARTER				TA&M	TTU
	TD	10:24	CODY HODGES 1 YD RUN (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 37 yards.	10	21
	TD	6:54	TAUREAN HENDERSON 4 YD RUN (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 7 plays, 62 yards.	10	28
	TD	1:54	TAUREAN HENDERSON 4 YD RUN (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 62 yards.	10	35
FOURTH QUARTER				TA&M	TTU
	TD	12:43	MARTELLUS BENNETT 1 YD PASS FROM REGGIE MCNEAL (TODD PEGRAM KICK) Drive info: 13 plays, 80 yards.	17	35
	TD	10:05	JARRETT HICKS 3 YD PASS FROM CODY HODGES (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 7 plays, 80 yards.	17	42
	TD	7:54	TAUREAN HENDERSON 3 YD RUN (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 15 yards.	17	49
	TD	2:27	SLADE HODGES 10 YD PASS FROM GRAHAM HARRELL (ALEX TRLICA KICK) Drive info: 8 plays, 50 yards.	17	56

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) --Taurean Henderson provided the boost Texas Tech needed after a slow start against rival Texas A&M.

Henderson rushed for 109 yards and four touchdowns Saturday night as the Red Raiders beat Texas A&M 56-17 for their sixth straight home win over the Aggies.

"He's really solid," Tech coach Mike Leach said. "He rushed the ball well, and I thought he was the guy that got us started. He can do so much that he can factor into so many different things."

It took a half for Tech's passing game to click and, surprisingly, the Red Raiders rushed as many times as they passed (19), sputtering through the first two quarters.

Quarterback Cody Hodges, who likes to spread his passes around to as many as seven receivers, threw to only three for just 82 yards in the first half.

When the Red Raiders (8-1,5-1 Big 12) did begin to click in the third quarter, they used the pass to get close and scored touchdowns on six of their seven possessions in the second half -- four on rushes.

They also started throwing to more receivers. By the end, nine Red Raiders had caught balls, including Hodges' twin brother, Slade Hodges, who scored the final TD on a pass from backup quarterback Graham Harrell.

"At times they were dropping nine guys," Cody Hodges said of the Aggies' defensive schemes. "Any time you drop nine guys, it's tough to find some passing lanes. When they do that, it gives us the chance to run the football."

The margin of victory was the largest for Tech in the history of the series. In 1954, Paul "Bear" Bryant's first year at the helm of the Aggies, Tech beat A&M 41-9.

This year, the difference was lack of execution, Aggies coach Dennis Franchione said.

"In the third quarter, we just couldn't get anything going on either side of the ball," he said. "When their offense gets going, it's difficult. We just didn't have any answers, and it's my job to get them."

Henderson carried the ball 20 times, and ran for TDs of 19, 4, 4 and 1 yards. With his last touchdown, he tied for third place on the NCAA career list for points (408) by non-kickers with Brock Forsey of Boise State.

Only Ricky Williams of Texas (452 points) and Travis Prentice of Miami of Ohio (468) are ahead of Henderson.

Last week against Baylor, Henderson got 136 yards, and Saturday's 100-plus yards brought him his first career back-to-back 100-yard performances.

Hodges was 29-of-44 for 408 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another score. He threw one interception.

"I think he settled down and bounced back really well," Leach said. "I feel like that's one of the qualities that he does a good job at."

Tech's trouble in the second quarter came from its failure to score after driving deep into Aggie territory twice.

Henderson's second and third TDs put Tech up 35-10 as the third quarter ended. Hodges got his rushing TD, a 1-yarder, earlier in the period.

A&M (5-4, 3-3) appeared to be in contention until the start of the second half. On the Aggies' first possession, Tech safety Dwayne Slay hit running back Jorvorskie Lane and forced a fumble at the A&M 37. Antonio Huffman recovered the ball, and nine plays later, Hodges ran it in to put Tech up 21-10.

Slay said there's no secret to him forcing fumbles. Saturday's was his eighth of the season.

It's "running full speed, not slowing down and putting the hat on the ball carrier," he said.

On their next possession, the Red Raiders marched 58 yards before Henderson got his first TD to extend Tech's lead to 28-10.

The game could have been out of reach for the Aggies early. Twice in the first half, Tech squandered scoring opportunities after driving inside the Aggies 10. After Texas A&M failed to convert on a fake punt from the Tech 48, the Red Raiders took over and drove from the 50-yard line to A&M's 27.

A 27-yard touchdown pass from Hodges to Jarrett Hicks was called back on a holding penalty on Robert Johnson in the end zone. A&M held firm -- thanks in part to a second holding penalty -- and forced the Red Raiders to go for a field goal.

But Robert Trlica, whose career record from inside the 40 was unblemished, missed it wide to the right from 38 yards, though Tech remained ahead 14-10.

On their next possession, Tech drove 68 yards to the Aggie 5 before Hodges threw a pass that was interception by Melvin Bullitt at the goal line.

Aggie quarterback Reggie McNeal's performance was less than stellar. He went 15-of-24 for 131 yards and one touchdown and an interception. He carried eight times for 26 yards.

A record crowd of 55,755 watched Tech beat the Aggies for the sixth straight time in Lubbock. The last time Texas A&M won at Jones SBC Stadium was 1993.