Mustangs wrangled

A&M defeats SMU in 46-14 blowout

By Austin Meek  Courtesy of The Battalion

Published: Monday, September 5, 2011

photo by Samantha Virnau

Senior running back Cyrus Gray rushed for more

than 100 yards for the eighth consecutive game

dating to last season.

photo by Tyler Hosea

Junior running back Christine Michael scored

two touchdowns in Sunday's contest

SMU head coach June Jones used his third and final timeout with 0:01 left in the 4th quarter, hoping that quarterback J.J. McDermott just might be able to toss a 32-point touchdown pass as time expired.

His plan didn't work. The Aggie secondary batted down McDermott's pass amid raucous applause from the 86,951 fans in attendance as the home team celebrated a 46-14 route of the SMU Mustangs.
"For an opening game like that, to have almost 90,000 people in the stands cheering and yelling and screaming for you, that was a special atmosphere today and our fans really stepped up to the plate," said Mike Sherman, head football coach.
The Aggie Express, the talented duo of running backs Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael, rumbled for over 200 yards and 4 touchdowns and quarterback Ryan Tannehill played mistake-free football as the No. 8 Texas A&M football team stifled critics and gave further credence to its top-ten billing.
Gray sounded excited to have Michael back on the field for the first time since breaking his leg in a game last October. "I'm glad to have my brother out there toting the rock and doing what he do best," Gray said.  "Hopefully during these next games we can continue to feed off one another.

The Aggie defense made the first big plays of the game, intercepting SMU passes on its first two possessions forcing Jones to pull starter Kyle Padron in favor of McDermott.   Michael made the first TD plunge from 4 yards out and Gray punched one in from the 5-yard line, giving the Aggies the 14-0 edge.  After a second Gray touchdown, the Aggies closed out the first quarter with a 20-7 lead, the most points scored in a first period since 2005. The Mustangs struck early in the second with a 27-yard McDermott touchdown pass to Arrius Holleman, narrowing the margin to 20-14, which would be the last time the Ponies put a dent in the scoreboard as the Aggies proceeded to score 26 unanswered points. "[On defense in the first half] I didn't think we were communicating very well," Sherman said.  "We were kinda just letting things happen instead of making things happen… We did better in the second half getting off the blocks and making tackles. Tannehill played the part of efficient technician, eviscerating the SMU secondary for 246 yards and two scores while completing a remarkable 81% (21/26) of his passes without an interception.
"Ryan had a great game tonight," wide receiver Ryan Swope said.  "He was just having fun out there. I could just see him coming off the field every play with a huge smile on his face."
Swope earned a nice stat line of his own, leading the team with 8 receptions for 109 yards and a touch.  Tight end Hutson Prioleau reeled in Tannehill's other touchdown pass, a gorgeous 32-yard lob in the teeth of the SMU secondary.
"Ryan really played a stellar game today and he's just scratched the surface," Sherman said.  "He's got a long way to go, a lot more improvement to make, but I thought he really played well today within himself.  He didn't try to force anything and I'm proud of him for that.  I couldn't be any prouder of Ryan Tannehill today."
Another star that caught Sherman's eye was defensive tackle Tony Jerod-Eddie, who recorded three sacks and looked very explosive all evening.
"He really played on the other side of the line of scrimmage and showed great effort," Sherman said.