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COLUMBIA, Missouri (Ticker) -- Big 12 Conference rival Missouri proved to be the perfect remedy for No. 23 Texas A&M's slide out of the national rankings. Fullback Ja'Mar Toombs rushed for three touchdowns and the "Wrecking Crew" defense did the rest as the Aggies snapped a four-game road losing streak with a 51-14 rout of the Tigers. Texas A&M (7-3, 4-3 Big 12 South) suffered a 37-0 loss at Nebraska last weekend, marking the first time in 142 games since 1988 that it had been shut out. But Toombs' two-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter capped a 70-yard drive and ended the Aggies' scoring drought. His two scores during a 24-0 third-quarter outburst helped Texas A&M improve to a perfect 6-0 all-time against Missouri. "We knew that playing on the road against a challenging opponent, we needed to get off to a good start," said Aggies coach R.C Slocum. "I thought our offense came out and set the tempo by getting points on the opening drive. The offense took the opening drive of the second half and got points, and we were able to take control of the game in the third quarter." Toombs carried 21 times for 71 yards, scoring on TD jaunts of seven and nine yards, respectively, in the third quarter. The Aggies posted their first road win since a 17-6 triumph on October 31, 1998 at Oklahoma State. "We knew we could run the ball on them," Toombs said. "We wanted to come our and show everyone that the running game the last couple of weeks was not us. We are better than that. I really came out pumped up, expecially since Coach Slocum put the load on me to run. Our offensive line was good and Tiki (Hardeman) blocked great." The Texas A&M defense, which had been shredded for 88 points in back-to-back road losses to Oklahoma and Nebraska, rebounded by smothering the Tigers all afternoon before surrendering two meaningless fourth-quarter TDs. "This week on defense we came out and executed our plays right," said linebacker Jason Glenn. "We made fewer mistakes than we had the last couple of weeks. Our offense gave us a boost with that great opening drive. We were able to come out and feel good because we weren't going to play catch-up this game. They gave us points. This game, our offense scored and our defense held." Junior safety Michael Jameson capped the defense's dominant performance when he returned an interception 70 yards with 4:48 remaining to give Texas A&M a 51-7 bulge. Randy McCown completed 12-of-21 passes for 201 yards and hit Bethel Johnson with a 39-yard scoring strike with 12:10 remaining in the third period that increased a 7-0 lead and sparked the Aggies' big period. Freshman Joe Weber helped fill the void left by running back Dante Hall, who was dismissed from the team earlier this week. Weber needed only eight carries for 121 yards and helped set up short TD runs by Hardeman and backup quarterback Mark Farris. Freshman Justin Gage was 11-for-24 for 111 yards with two touchdowns and an interception after replacing Missouri starter Jim Dougherty. Gage got the Tigers (4-6, 1-6 North) on the board when he found tight end Dwayne Blakley on a one-yard TD pass midway through the fourth period, and capped the scoring with a 14-yard bullet to Eric Spencer with 1:36 to play. Dougherty went a woeful 3-for-15 for 22 yards with an interception before being pulled. The Aggies took the opening kickoff and took control of the contest, marching 70 yards on 17 plays and eating up more than seven minutes. Toombs carried nine times for 32 yards during the drive and capped it with a two-yard run up the middle to make it 7-0 with 7:44 left. Missouri toughened up and although it was unable to put together any offense of its own, it did keep Texas A&M scoreless for the remainder of the first half. But the Aggies scored on six of their first eight possessions in the second half. After forcing the Tigers to punt on the first drive of the third quarter, Texas A&M wasted just two plays before McCown found Bethel with a 39-yard bomb to make it 14-0 with 12:07 left in the period. The Aggies never looked back, scoring 17 more points in the third quarter, including Shane Lechler's 32-yard field goal with 19 seconds remaining. Justin engineered a seven-play, 46-yard drive to pull Missouri within 37-7 wit 8:01 to play, but the Aggies answered with a 70-yard drive highlighted by Weber's career-best 77-yard dash down the left sideline that set up Farris' one-yard keeper. The Aggies outgained the Tigers, 455-248.
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