Missouri beats No. 16 Texas A&M 38-31 in OT
No. 16 Texas A&M fell apart in the second half. Again.
The Aggies led by 11 at halftime, but James Franklin's 11-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Lucas in overtime completed Missouri's rally in a 38-31 win.
Texas A&M got the ball after the score, but Ryan Tannehill's pass on fourth down was deflected.
Tannehill threw for three touchdowns in the first half, but the Aggies managed only a field goal after that to lose their third game this season after leading by double digits at halftime.
''Sometimes it's a lack of focus,'' running back Christine Michael said. ''We have to be on one page. We all have to do our part at the same time.''
Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman isn't sure why his team keeps having the same problems.
''I just think that we didn't make the plays we needed to make when we needed to make them,'' Sherman said. ''It's definitely something we've got to talk about and get fixed.''
The Tigers had a chance to win it in regulation, but a 46-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right as time expired.
Missouri (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) got the ball when Jacquies Smith caused a fumble by Tannehill, which was recovered by Dominique Hamilton.
Missouri took a 31-28 lead on an 11-yard run by Henry Josey with about eight minutes left. Texas A&M (5-3, 3-2) tied it on a 35-yard field goal about four minutes later.
The loss is devastating for a team that entered the season ranked in the top 10 with a goal of winning the Big 12 title.
''We're a team that had high expectations coming into the year,'' Texas A&M linebacker Sean Porter said. ''It's bad. It's not what we expected at all and we need to play a lot better as a team.''
Franklin threw for 198 yards and two scores and ran for 97 yards and two more touchdowns. Josey, the Big 12's leading rusher, had 20 carries for 162 yards.
It was the fifth 100-yard game for Josey and his second in a row.
Missouri has won two straight over the Aggies and unlike the rest of the Big 12 schools, the Tigers could face them again next year. Missouri is expected to soon join Texas A&M in a move to the Southeastern Conference.
Missouri took its first lead of the second half on the 11-yard touchdown run by Josey. To get that drive going, Josey bounced to the outside and dashed down the sideline for 43 yards before being dragged down from behind.
The Tigers went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Texas A&M 43 early in the fourth quarter and Franklin's run was short. Missouri made up for it when Tannehill was hit as he threw a pass which was intercepted by Randy Ponder.
Ponder returned it 45 yards and Franklin cut A&M's lead to 28-24 when he scored on an 8-yard run three plays later.
Tannehill thought that was one key to the game.
''It was a huge play that turned the field position and took points off the board for us,'' Tannehill said.
Both teams lost fumbles in the third quarter. Texas A&M's Ryan Swope fumbled after a catch, but Missouri gave it back three plays later when Josey coughed it up. The Aggies didn't capitalize on that error and neither team scored in the quarter.
Tannehill hit Cyrus Gray on a short pass and he ran into the corner of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14 early in the second quarter. Missouri's offense stalled on the next drive and they had to punt. The punt was shanked and it went just 22 yards, giving A&M the ball at the Missouri 41.
The Aggies took advantage of the short field when Tannehill found Swope for a 6-yard touchdown pass take a 21-14 lead in the second quarter.
Texas A&M pushed its advantage to 28-14 when Tannehill scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with about three minutes left in the second quarter.
The Tigers had a first down from the Texas A&M 11 late in the second quarter, but the offense stalled and they settled for a 26-yard field goal to make it 28-17 at halftime.
Franklin broke four tackles on a nifty 20-yard run on third-and-1 to give Missouri a 7-0 lead on the team's second drive of the game.
Tannehill's first touchdown pass was a 2-yard strike to Michael Lamothe that tied it at 7-all later in the first quarter.
Eric Waters caught a pass from Franklin and two Texas A&M defenders missed tackles as he dashed 42 yards for a touchdown to put Missouri back on top 14-7 with two seconds left in the first quarter.
Michael had 21 carries for 104 yards and Gray added 58 yards rushing.