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Updated 7:22 AM on Sunday, October 21, 2007

Aggies run all over Huskers

By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Staff Writer

LINCOLN, Neb. - On Tom Osborne's first Saturday as Nebraska's interim athletic director, he saw the kind of gritty quarterback play that helped him win three national championships during a legendary coaching career with the Cornhuskers.

Osborne's problem was that the quarterback was running through his Huskers instead of leading them.

Texas A&M's Stephen McGee had a career-high 167 yards rushing to lead the Aggies to a 36-14 Big 12 Conference victory at Memorial Stadium before 84,473 red-clad fans.

A&M (6-2 overall, 3-1 Big 12) remained tied for first place in the Big 12 South with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State by winning on the road for the first time this season. The Aggies became bowl-eligible for the third time in head coach Dennis Franchione's five years, shaking off a 28-point loss at Texas Tech last week.

"I thought we played very well and very physical," Franchione said.

No one punished the Huskers more than the 6-foot-3, 220-pound McGee, whose 35 carries were nine more than Nebraska had.

"Oh, my gosh," Franchione said. "No wonder he was sore."

A grimacing McGee hobbled off the field with help after the game, then got an IV.

"It's going to be a nice plane ride home for me," said McGee, who set school records for carries and yards by a quarterback. "There's no better feeling than you give it your all and come off that field victorious."

Osborne, who came out of retirement to replace Steve Pederson after he was fired Monday, said at the start of the second half that Nebraska needed to get a handle on McGee.

The Huskers never did.

Each time McGee ran the zone-option read, it painfully reminded the partisan crowd of Tommie Frazier and Scott Frost, who both quarterbacked the Huskers to national titles.

Like them, McGee got better with each carry as A&M's offensive line pounded a Nebraska defense that entered the game 106th in the country.

"Our offensive line deserves all the credit for the running game today," said tailback Jorvorskie Lane, who added 130 yards rushing on 15 carries with four scores.

The 277-pound Lane had his three longest runs of the season - 22, 27 and 31 yards.

"I could have driven my car through those holes I was given," Lane said.

McGee's longest run was only 19 yards, and he didn't score, but he was the constant force in A&M scoring on all six trips inside Nebraska's 20.

"We had a tough time containing the quarterback," Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. "They played a little bit more read option than they have in the past, but I thought they had a good blend of everything."

McGee had 10 carries for 82 yards on A&M's first two drives of the second half to help break open a close game.

"We had planned for that [zone read] all week long," McGee said. "We had some success doing it, so we kept doing it. Really, I don't think they had an answer for it all day. It gave them some trouble, so we kept riding it hard."

The back-to-back 80-yard drives into a 17-mph wind led to touchdowns and gave A&M a 30-14 lead.

"Stephen did a masterful job of reading it and that really was the story," Franchione said.

A&M's defense put the game away at the start of the fourth quarter with a goal-line stand, highlighted by a jarring tackle by linebacker Misi Tupe on Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller on third down.

"I thought [defensive coordinator Gary Darnell] made some great calls down there to keep them out of the end zone," Franchione said.

The Aggies were without offensive guard Chris Yoder, tight end Martellus Bennett and defensive back-punt returner Jordan Peterson, who missed the game due to injury.

A&M had success with the zone option in the first half, but managed only a 16-14 lead because Nebraska rolled up 284 yards, 74 more than the Aggies amassed.

McGee ran for 8 yards on the Aggies' first play from scrimmage, jump-starting a nine-play, 72-yard touchdown drive for a 6-0 lead. The extra-point attempt was blocked.

McGee carried the ball only once more on that drive, which ended with a 2-yard touchdown to Earvin Taylor.

Nebraska (4-4, 1-3), which lost its third home game in a season for the first time since 1968, bounced back for a 7-6 lead.

The Huskers needed only seven plays to go 70 yards, never facing a third down.

A&M took a 9-7 lead on Matt Szymanski's 39-yard field goal.

A&M extended its lead to 16-7 on Lane's first touchdown run. That came after Nebraska's Nate Swift fumbled a punt return at his 28, one of three turnovers the Cornhuskers had to the Aggies' none.

"I thought that really made a difference," Callahan said. "It really hurt us, and it hurt our opportunities to sustain momentum at crucial times."

Nebraska cut the lead to 16-14 on a 10-yard pass to Maurice Purify with 2:26 left in the half.

It was reminiscent of Purify's 9-yard touchdown catch last year with 21 seconds left that gave Nebraska a 28-27 victory at Kyle Field.