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LUBBOCK, Texas (Ticker) -- Cornerback Antwan Alexander intercepted Randy McCown at the 20-yard line with 76 seconds left as Texas Tech continued the Lubbock nightmare for sixth-ranked Texas A&M. The Red Raiders, who had been unimpressive in their first three games, knocked off Texas A&M, 21-19, for the third straight time in Lubbock. Texas Tech (2-2, 1-2 Big 12 South) was playing without standout running back Ricky Williams, who was on the sidelines on crutches with a season-ending knee injury, and coming off a disappointing 21-14 loss to lightly regarded North Texas. "It is great to win this game," Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes said. "They have been through a lot the last two weeks and I am glad about how they played the game. We did it against a great football team." Texas Tech had a chance to force the Aggies to the end zone with 4:16 left but Chris Birkholz was short on a 49-yard field goal attempt. Texas A&M got the ball at its own 32 and drove to the Tech 27 on McCown's 19-yard pass to Chris Taylor. But Dante' Hall was dropped for a three-yard loss and a holding penalty on 2nd-and-13 pushed back the ball to the 40. McCown was sacked for a five-yard loss and the Aggies burned their final timeout with 1:27 left. After an incompletion, McCown was picked off by Alexander on 4th-and-28 from the 45. "We got in a situation at the end when we were hoping that we would at least have a chance to kick the field goal to win the ballgame but we got a holding penalty," said Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum. "And we didn't have the opportunity to kick a field goal." "We needed to make a big play," Tech free safety John Norman said. "It was kind of ironic in that I told Antwan that they were going to come his way and they did." The Red Raiders did all their scoring in a span of less than 12 minutes in the second quarter, as Rob Peters hit Dee Jackson with a 15-yard scoring pass, fullback Sammy Morris scored on a two-yard run and Darrell Jones found the end zone from nine yards for a 21-10 halftime lead. Morris shredded what had been the nation's top rushing defense for 170 yards on 33 carries. "Coach told me to be prepared to get a lot of carries," Morris said. "I was getting a lot of reps in practice but I didn't think I would get that many carries. You always have to be ready. No, I didn't get tired. You get winded, but you get that in any game." He had missed the previous two games with a shoulder bruise and saw his first extensive action since the 1996 game against Texas A&M, which he won with an 81-yard touchdown reception. Morris became the third different back to run for 100 or more yards in the last three games for the Red Raiders, joining James Easterling and true freshman Shaud Williams. "Not to say Easterling, Shaud and Rickey Hunter didn't play well; they did, but Sammy really turned it up," Jackson said. "It's great to have him back." Morris is a highly regarded fullback prospect for the 2000 NFL draft. "Sammy is a great guy and I can't say enough about him," Dykes said. "We talk about him a lot. He is a great player and I think he proved tonight that he could play football. We have problems with our backs being banged up and I thought Sammy would carry about 15 times tonight. I guess our addition wasn't very good. It is hard to do what he did, to carry 33 times and block. He did a great job." Terence Kitchens booted four field goals as the offense stalled for the defending Big 12 Conference champion Aggies (3-1, 0-1 Big 12 South). It was the sixth straight game in the series to be decided by a touchdown or less. "It definitely hurts but it won't affect us a bit," said McCown, who completed 20-of-38 passes for 273 yards with two interceptions. "It really gives us a reality check. A few years ago we lost this game and still won the Big 12 South. We're not out of it. We just got to bounce back and play really well with the rest of this conference." McCown also led the Aggies with just 33 yards rushing. They were outgained on the ground, 185-52. "We didn't feel they could move the ball the length of the field," Tech middle linebacker Kyle Shipley said. "You can throw all day but if you are not going to run the ball, you aren't going to win. Their forte is running the ball but I guess they thought the three-step drop was the way to go." "When they put eight, nine men up there, it makes it hard to run the ball," McCown said. "When you get in the red zone, that is what we like to do." Texas A&M took a 3-0 lead 10 minutes into the game when Kitchens booted a 36-yard field goal. With 3:52 left in the first quarter, Brandon Jennings blocked Eric Rosiles' punt and Jay Brooks picked up the ball and ran nine yards for a touchdown to make it 10-0. Peters' 15-yard scoring pass to Jackson got the Red Raiders within 10-7 with 12:18 left in the second quarter and capped a six-play, 46-yard drive. It was set up on the previous possession, when the Aggies had to punt from their 2. Shane Lechler, who averaged 57.2 yards on his six punts, boomed a 68-yarder after Texas A&M stalled on its ensuing possession. But Norman brought it back 22 yards to his own 40 and Morris ran 29 yards on the third play of the drive to set up his two-yard scoring plunge that gave Tech the lead for good, 14-10, with 9:48 left in the half. Kitchens' 55-yard field goal try came up short -- he hit a 62-yarder last weekend -- and the teams traded punts before Peters capped an eight-play, 69-yard march with a nine-yard scoring pass to Jones 25 seconds before the half. Kitchens booted a 27-yard field goal with 12:44 left in the third quarter and nailed a 51-yarder with 6:15 remaining in the period after the Aggies stopped Morris on a 4th-and-1 from the Texas A&M 43 to make it 21-16. Birkholz missed a 52-yard field goal try with 10:10 remaining in the game and it took just 2:01 for Kitchens to convert from 27 yards and cut the deficit to 21-19. Texas A&M forced a three-and-out and got the ball back on its own 26, but Shipley stripped McCown of the ball and linebacker Tim Duffie recovered, leading to Birkholz's 49-yard miss.
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