By ROBERT CESSNA
The Texas A&M football team missed a chance to upset the 15th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys, who didn't let a missing Dez Bryant become a distraction.
Oklahoma State rode the powerful legs of Keith Toston and the right arm and will of Zac Robinson to a 36-31 victory Saturday in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
Toston had 26 carries for 130 yards. He didn't score, but more importantly, he didn't get caught behind the line of scrimmage. The 212-pounder capped his first 100-yard game in more than a year with three runs that allowed OSU (4-1) to run out the game's last 3 minutes, 35 seconds, gradually silencing the crowd of 76,153 and sending it to the exits.
Robinson was at his best on the three previous drives that ended in touchdowns. He was 8-of-10 passing for 157 yards, including 4 of 4 on third downs for 80 yards.
Oklahoma State's scoring drives were 4 plays, 63 yards; 6 plays, 48 yards; and 16 plays, 93 yards. The last one covered 7:41 and made things a little darker at overcast Kyle Field, where the game-time temperature was 61 degrees.
"We just struggled getting off the field," A&M head coach Mike Sherman said. "Someone had to step up and make a play during that time, particularly on third down. We didn't do it, and they did."
Robinson and Toston picked up the slack for Bryant, who was suspended by OSU earlier in the week for lying about his contact with former NFL star Deion Sanders.
Bryant had four scores in OSU's 56-28 victory over A&M last year.
"Hopefully, our program is far enough along that when we have an All-American out for a game or two, that our younger players will set up," OSU head coach Mike Gundy said.
Cowboy sophomore receivers Hubert Anyiam and Dameron Fooks each had three catches, but it was the team's seniors who made the biggest plays.
Robinson, the overlooked quarterback in the Big 12 South behind Texas' Colt McCoy and Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, shook off a sub-par first half. He was 6-of-14 passing with an interception and had gained only 12 yards rushing on five carries, but he was dealing with a heavy heart after saying goodbye to his 87-year-old grandfather on Monday, who died Tuesday.
"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Robinson said. "I felt his spirit with us the whole second half."
Two years ago, Robinson was knocked out of the game at Kyle Field early in the fourth quarter and A&M rallied for a 24-23 victory.
This time, OSU's offensive line, which starts four seniors, didn't allow him to be sacked against a defense ranked fourth in the country in getting to the quarterback. Those senior linemen also paved the way for Toston to have a season-high in carries because all-conference running back Kendall Hunter missed his second game with an injury.
The Cowboys' best plays on defense kept A&M (3-2) from padding a 15-14 halftime lead. A&M turned the ball over on downs at the 1-yard line, missing back-to-back passes.
A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson couldn't get the ball to wide receiver Howard Morrow on third down, then senior tight end Jamie McCoy dropped a fourth-down pass with senior linebacker Andre Sexton right there.
"I thought it was a great throw [and] I thought it was a good call," Sherman said. "We should've caught the ball."
Oklahoma State receivers had a few drops as well, but made two big catches at the expense of A&M's young defenders.
Anyiam caught a 27-yard touchdown pass that went off the hands of freshman cornerback Dustin Harris, cutting A&M's lead to 15-14 with 4:52 left in the half. The Cowboys took a 22-15 advantage when Tracy Moore caught a 51-yard pass as A&M freshman free safety Steven Campbell fell on the play. Campbell was taking the place of senior Jordan Pugh, who had started a team-best 29 straight games.
Harris and Campbell were among seven true freshmen who started against OSU, which started 17 seniors.
A&M true freshman Uzoma Nwachukwu had eight catches for 141 yards, both personal bests in his young career. He had a 28-yard touchdown catch that helped A&M to an 8-7 lead with 10:51 left in the first half.
Nwachukwu also drew a 15-yard pass interference penalty that set up McCoy's 15-yard touchdown catch that made it 15-7.
Johnson threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-42 passing, but for the second straight week he did a lot of his throwing on the run. He also was sacked a season-high four times.
He led A&M to 382 yards, but it was well below its season average of 545.3, which was second in the country.
Johnson extended his string of passes without an interception to 228, breaking the Big 12 record of 213 set by A&M's Reggie McNeal in 2003-04 and matched by Kansas' Todd Reesing in 2007. Johnson's streak dates back to the Baylor game last year
A streak that was halted was 22 straight starts by A&M senior guard Michael Shumard (right foot). A&M started a pair of true freshmen -- tackle Stephen Barrera and guard Patrick Lewis -- in the offensive line, but they gave way to sophomores Danny Baker and Evan Eike.
"That was a challenge today with the offensive line," Sherman said. "I think it effected our running game early, we struggled with the running game at the onset. I kinda drifted away from it and then kinda got back to it. I don't want to say we're back to square one, but we're not at the square we need to be right now."
A&M, also missing sophomore wide receiver Jeff Fuller (broken right fibula) for the third straight game, was trying to avenge last year's loss at OSU, part of a 2-6 league record with the closest loss 14 points.
"There are no moral victories for playing a close game against a top team," Sherman said.
A&M, one of the nation's most penalized teams, had only four flags for 30. Oklahoma State, ranked two spots ahead of A&M at 117th in the country, overcame 11 penalties for 118 yards.
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