Texas A&M 14, Pittsburgh 12

9/7/2002

Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Derek Farmer ran for two touchdowns as the 20th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies held on to down the Pittsburgh Panthers, 14-12, in a defensive battle at Heinz Field. Farmer ran the ball 21 times for 91 yards in the win.

Backup quarterback Dustin Long completed 9-of-18 passes for 119 yards for the Aggies (2-0), who downed Louisiana-Lafayette, 31-7, to kick off the season last week. Starter Mark Farris connected on just 5-of-13 passes for 80 yards before being taken out.

Rod Rutherford picked up 169 yards on 20-of-32 passing for the Panthers (1-1), who came back from a 14-0 deficit but still saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end. Pittsburgh knocked off Ohio in its season-opener.

Down 14-0 after three quarters, the Panthers finally got on the board in the fourth when Rutherford capped a 13-play, 86-yard drive with a one-yard TD run. After two flags for illegal formations, J.B. Gibboney missed the extra point to set the score at 14-6 with 13:49 to play.

After forcing the Aggies to punt, Pittsburgh marched down the field on a 13- play, 74-yard drive which ended with Rutherford hitting Kris Wilson for a two- yard TD to make it 14-12 with 2:02 to go. Rutherford found Larry Fitzgerald on 4th-and-5 to sustain the drive.

The two-point conversion attempt failed when Rutherford's pass for Fitzgerald was broken up.

The Panthers got the ball back on their own 17 with 52 seconds to go, but Rutherford was sacked and coughed up the ball and Texas A&M recovered to seal the win.

The first half featured a defensive battle with 12 punts and only one touchdown. After a scoreless first quarter, Texas A&M finally got on the board when Farmer ran in a one-yard TD with 9:51 left in the second stanza. The Aggies took advantage of some great field position courtesy of their defense and mustered a three-play, 49-yard drive to take the 7-0 lead.

At the start of the second half, the Panthers drove downfield to the Texas A&M 36-yard line, but were denied on 4th-and-1 and turned the ball over.

The Aggies responded with an eight-play, 64-yard drive, capped by Farmer's three-yard TD run to make it 14-0 with 8:42 to go in the third. Long connected with Terrance Murphy for back-to-back completions of 16 and 36 yards on the drive.

Pittsburgh drove down to the Texas A&M 18, but was denied by the "Wrecking Crew" once again and turned the ball over on downs.

Game Notes: Andy Lee had a 79-yard punt for the Panthers...Fitzgerald, a true freshman, caught 10 passes for 103 yards...Farris now needs just 51 yards to become the fourth Aggie in history to reach 5,000 career passing yards...Jammar Taylor caught five passes for 51 yards for the Aggies...The all-time series is now even at one game apiece as these two teams had met just one time previously, with Pittsburgh claiming a 31-28 triumph in the 1989 John Hancock Bowl.


NCAA I-A Football Boxscore - Texas A&amp;M at Pittsburgh


&nbsp; &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 2 &nbsp; 3 &nbsp; 4 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Final &nbsp;
Texas A&amp;M &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 7 &nbsp; 7 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; - &nbsp; 14 &nbsp;
Pittsburgh &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 12 &nbsp; - &nbsp; 12 &nbsp;


1st Quarter
&nbsp; &nbsp; No Scoring.
&nbsp;
2nd Quarter
9:51 &nbsp; Texas A&amp;M Touchdown - 1-yard run by Derek Farmer. (Todd Pegram kick).
&nbsp;
3rd Quarter
8:42 &nbsp; Texas A&amp;M Touchdown - 3-yard run by Derek Farmer. (Todd Pegram kick).
&nbsp;
4th Quarter
13:49 &nbsp; Pittsburgh Touchdown - 1-yard run by Rod Rutherford. (kick failed).
2:02 &nbsp; Pittsburgh Touchdown - 2-yard pass from Rod Rutherford to Kris Wilson. (pass failed).
&nbsp;


Team Statistics
&nbsp; &nbsp; Texas A&amp;M &nbsp; Pittsburgh &nbsp;
First Downs &nbsp; 14 &nbsp; 18 &nbsp;
Rushes-Yards &nbsp; 32-82 &nbsp; 39-56 &nbsp;
Pass Comp-Att-Yards-Int &nbsp; 14-31-199-0 &nbsp; 21-33-176-1 &nbsp;
Return Yards &nbsp; 37 &nbsp; 20 &nbsp;
Punts-Avg &nbsp; 9-41.7 &nbsp; 7-46.4 &nbsp;
Fumbles-Lost &nbsp; 1-1 &nbsp; 1-1 &nbsp;
Penalties-Yards &nbsp; 13-99 &nbsp; 6-128 &nbsp;
Time of Possession &nbsp; 27:29 &nbsp; 32:31 &nbsp;


Rushing Statistics
Texas A&amp;M &nbsp; Att &nbsp; Yds &nbsp; TD &nbsp; Avg &nbsp;
Derek Farmer &nbsp; 21 &nbsp; 91 &nbsp; 2 &nbsp; 4.333 &nbsp;
Dwain Goynes &nbsp; 4 &nbsp; 9 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 2.250 &nbsp;
Oschlor Flemming &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 1.000 &nbsp;
Joe Weber &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; .000 &nbsp;
Dustin Long &nbsp; 3 &nbsp; -2 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; -.667 &nbsp;
Mark Farris &nbsp; 2 &nbsp; -17 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; -8.500 &nbsp;
&nbsp;
Pittsburgh &nbsp; Att &nbsp; Yds &nbsp; TD &nbsp; Avg &nbsp;
Brandon Miree &nbsp; 14 &nbsp; 63 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 4.500 &nbsp;
Lousaka Polite &nbsp; 4 &nbsp; 10 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 2.500 &nbsp;
Marcus Furman &nbsp; 2 &nbsp; 2 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 1.000 &nbsp;
Tyler Palko &nbsp; 2 &nbsp; -9 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; -4.500 &nbsp;
Rod Rutherford &nbsp; 17 &nbsp; -10 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; -.588 &nbsp;
&nbsp;


Passing Statistics
Texas A&amp;M &nbsp; Comp &nbsp; Att &nbsp; Yds &nbsp; TD &nbsp; Int &nbsp;
Dustin Long &nbsp; 9 &nbsp; 18 &nbsp; 119 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp;
Mark Farris &nbsp; 5 &nbsp; 13 &nbsp; 80 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp;
&nbsp;
Pittsburgh &nbsp; Comp &nbsp; Att &nbsp; Yds &nbsp; TD &nbsp; Int &nbsp;
Rod Rutherford &nbsp; 20 &nbsp; 32 &nbsp; 169 &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 1 &nbsp;
Tyler Palko &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 10 &nbsp; 7 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp;
&nbsp;


Receiving Statistics
Texas A&amp;M &nbsp; Rec &nbsp; Yds &nbsp; TD &nbsp; Avg &nbsp;
Jamaar Taylor &nbsp; 5 &nbsp; 51 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 10.200 &nbsp;
Greg Porter &nbsp; 4 &nbsp; 31 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 7.750 &nbsp;
Terrence Murphy &nbsp; 3 &nbsp; 88 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 29.333 &nbsp;
Bethel Johnson &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 19 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 19.000 &nbsp;
Terrence Thomas &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 10 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 10.000 &nbsp;
&nbsp;
Pittsburgh &nbsp; Rec &nbsp; Yds &nbsp; TD &nbsp; Avg &nbsp;
Larry Fitzgerald &nbsp; 10 &nbsp; 103 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 10.300 &nbsp;
Lamar Slade &nbsp; 6 &nbsp; 45 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 7.500 &nbsp;
Lousaka Polite &nbsp; 2 &nbsp; 10 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 5.000 &nbsp;
Roosevelt Bynes &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 8 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 8.000 &nbsp;
Erik Gill &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 8 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 8.000 &nbsp;
Kris Wilson &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 2 &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 2.000 &nbsp;
&nbsp;


Kicking Statistics
Texas A&amp;M &nbsp; XPM &nbsp; XPA &nbsp; FGM &nbsp; FGA &nbsp; Long &nbsp;
Todd Pegram &nbsp; 2 &nbsp; 2 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp;
&nbsp;
Pittsburgh &nbsp; XPM &nbsp; XPA &nbsp; FGM &nbsp; FGA &nbsp; Long &nbsp;
J.B. Gibboney &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 1 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp; 0 &nbsp;
&nbsp;


Attendance: 45489

1st Quarter
		No Scoring.

2nd Quarter
9:51		Texas A&M Touchdown - 1-yard run by Derek Farmer. (Todd Pegram kick).

3rd Quarter
8:42		Texas A&M Touchdown - 3-yard run by Derek Farmer. (Todd Pegram kick).

4th Quarter
13:49		Pittsburgh Touchdown - 1-yard run by Rod Rutherford. (kick failed).
2:02		Pittsburgh Touchdown - 2-yard pass from Rod Rutherford to Kris Wilson. (pass failed).

University of Pittsburgh Athletics

Texas A&M 14, Pittsburgh 12

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