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  Saturday, Sep. 25 3:30pm ET
Aggies pick off four passes, return two for TDs
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) --- Southern Mississippi's defense was very good. Texas A&M's was better.

The fifth-ranked Aggies intercepted four passes, returning two of them for their only touchdowns of the game, to take a 23-6 victory Saturday.

"We knew Southern Mississippi would be a very tough task and they have a great defense," A&M coach R.C. Slocum said. "We needed a great defensive effort today."

Raymond Walls and Chris Cole
Raymond Walls of Southern Miss rises to break up a pass intended for Texas A&M's Chris Cole.

They got it.

Jay Brooks and Michael Jameson each picked off passes from Cable Davis and returned them for scores to break open a tight game in the second half. Terence Kitchens kicked three field goals, including one from 62 yards, for the Aggies (3-0).

It was the second straight week Southern Mississippi (2-2) fell to a ranked opponent due to turnovers. Last week, then-No. 5 Nebraska used a touchdown on an interception return to win 20-13.

"It's frustrating when the offense gives up touchdowns two weeks in a row," coach Jeff Bower said.

Brooks' 41-yard return for a score midway through the third period staked the Aggies to a 16-0 lead before Southern Mississippi (2-2) scored the only offensive touchdown of the game, a 54-yard pass play from Davis to Todd Pinkston on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Jameson sealed the outcome when he picked off Davis' pass at the Golden Eagle 26 -- the fourth A&M interception -- and sprinted untouched into the end zone with 8:32 left in the game.

Davis, in relief of Jeff Kelly, was off-target to Sherrod Gideon and Brooks intercepted, returning it 41 yards down the right sideline.

"We needed a spark to try to change things up," Bower said, explaining the quarterback switch midway through the third quarter. "We didn't play particularly well on offense. We couldn't move the ball. We never got into a rhythm."

Southern Mississippi held the nation's second-ranked offense, averaging 538 yards a game, to 299 yards and no offensive touchdowns.

But the Aggies' defense, which was limiting opponents to a nation-leading 25 yards a game, surrendered only 129 yards, including just 18 on the ground. Southern Mississippi had only seven first downs.

Texas A&M scored the first time it got the ball, getting a break on the opening series of downs when punter Shane Lechler, on 4th-and-6 at his own 24, mishandled a snap and took off running around left end for 22 yards and a first down to the Golden Eagles 46. Fourteen plays later, his 20-yard field goal gave A&M a 3-0 lead.

Southern Mississippi, which gained only 24 yards in the first half, including minus-12 yards rushing, failed to take advantage of an early scoring opportunity when linebacker T.J. Slaughter forced a fumble by Aggie quarterback Randy McCown. Ty Trahan recovered for the Golden Eagles at the A&M 13, but Brant Hanna's 27-yard field goal attempt sailed wide.

Texas A&M drove to the Southern Mississippi 6 when McCown ran for 10 yards on a 4th-and-1 from the 16. They settled for another field goal from Kitchens, this one from 28 yards out, to make it 6-0.

Kitchens' third field goal came after Webster intercepted Kelly's pass at the A&M 15 and returned it to the 36, where the Aggies took over with 33 seconds remaining in the first half. A&M drove to the Southern Mississippi 27 before a holding penalty pushed them back to the 44.

Then with six seconds left, Kitchens' 62-yard, line-drive field goal attempt with a 14 mph wind at his back cleared the crossbar easily as time ran out, giving A&M a 9-0 halftime lead. It was the third-longest field goal in A&M history and only three yards shy of Tony Franklin's 65-yard record set in 1976.
 


ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard

Southern Mississippi Clubhouse

Texas A&M Clubhouse

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AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Jay Brooks snags an interception and returns it 41 yards for a TD.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN

 Cable Davis hooks up with Todd Pinkston for a 54-yard TD.
avi: 738 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN