LUBBOCK -- Everything Texas A&M's did wrong last week, it did right to a T on Saturday night -- or, in this case, a TT.
It just wasn't that A&M handed Texas Tech a 52-30 loss at Jones AT&T Stadium for the program's first victory on the South Plains since 1993, it was that the Aggies dominated.
The blocking, tackling and focus that were missing in a 48-point loss at Kansas State last week were team strengths Saturday. The Aggies blinked a few times, but never wavered from executing the basics and believing in what they were doing.
There were no questionable calls by officials. No gusts of wind that changed a pass or kick. A record-setting, black-out crowd of 57,733 that came for their biannual torment of anyone wearing maroon just sat in stunned silence much of the time until exiting early -- way early.
The Aggies just beat the Red Raiders play after play. It was so simple, it was shocking.
A&M ran the ball like it was 1990, when A&M set the school record for rushing at 319.1 yards per game with Mike Sherman as its offensive line coach. Sherman, making his first trip to Lubbock as A&M's head coach, watched his Aggies run around, through and over the nation's 24th-best run defense for 321 yards.
Sophomore running back Cyrus Gray and true freshman Christine Michael combined for 252 yards on 47 carries. They were caught behind the line of scrimmage only once.
Last week, Gray and Michael could barely get to the line as A&M rushed for minus-13 yards.
"I really challenged those linemen," Sherman said. "I was on them during practice and really backed them into a corner and they came out swinging."
The defense got in plenty of good licks as well.
A&M gave up 520 yards, but forced three fumbles, intercepted two passes and held on fourth down twice. Tech also had a pair of three-and-outs, so that's 10 empty possessions against a defense that allowed KSU to score nine of the first 10 times it touched the ball.
"We played our heart out, and it showed," A&M defensive end Matt Moss said. "[Tech] is a good team, but we played hard and wanted it more and it showed at the end."
A&M had plenty to show by game's end.
It snapped a four-game losing streak against Tech. It was the first victory over a ranked opponent since beating Texas in the 2007 finale, and was also the most points scored against a ranked team since a 65-14 victory over Brigham Young in the 1990 Holiday Bowl.
No wonder the team ran around and high-fived fans after the Aggie War Hymn.
"This was the players' game," Sherman said. "It was all about the players and their performance and how they handled themselves and the adversity."
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