COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Southwest Roundup : Lewis Gets Bounce and Runs 80 Yards; Texas A&M; Bounces TCU

Darren Lewis added an unplanned wrinkle to Texas A&M;’s option pitch Saturday.

Lewis fumbled the pitch, picked up the ball, broke a tackle and ran 80 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to power the Aggies to a 42-24 Southwest Conference victory over Texas Christian at Fort Worth.

“I can play a little basketball, too--maybe (Texas A&M; basketball Coach) Shelby Metcalf can use me,” joked Lewis, a freshman who had 194 yards rushing. “I missed the ball, but it just came right back up to me.”

Texas A&M; (8-2 overall, 5-1 in the conference) set up a Thanksgiving night showdown against Texas for the SWC title and a berth in the Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame.

“This is what we’ve worked for,” Texas A&M; Coach Jackie Sherrill said. “It should be a tremendous game. We’ll have to quit our mistakes. I thought we were going to give this one away.”

TCU (5-6, 3-4) had taken a 24-23 lead with 7:54 left on a field goal by Lee Newman before Lewis turned it around for the Aggies.

“We collapsed on the ball when he fumbled it, and boom, he goes 80 yards,” TCU Coach Jim Wacker said. “You can’t get a play much more bizarre than that.”

TCU played without star running back Tony Jeffery.

Jeffery, the third-leading rusher in the nation, was declared ineligible for his final college game by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. for an “improper relationship” with a professional agent.

Lewis had a 70-yard scoring run called back by a penalty in the fourth period. After his 80-yard scoring run, Gary Jones returned an intercepted pass 54 yards for a touchdown, clinching the victory.

Scott Slater kicked four field goals for the Aggies, who have beaten TCU 15 consecutive times.

Tony Darthard gave TCU a 14-10 halftime lead with scoring runs of 4 and 56 yards.

Texas A&M; scored on Lewis’ 35-yard run and Slater’s 37-yard field goal.

Texas 34, Baylor 16--Eric Metcalf scored three times, once on a 59-yard punt return, and surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark this season as the Longhorns downed the Bears at Austin, Tex.

The Longhorns (6-4, 5-1) have won 36 straight against Baylor (6-5, 3-4) at Austin.

Metcalf carried 27 times for 131 yards. He scored on runs of 7 and 3 yards, and caught a pass for a two-point conversion. Metcalf is the first Longhorn to surpass 1,000 yards rushing since Darryl Clark in 1982.

Texas also scored on Bret Stafford’s 2-yard run and Gabriel Johnson’s 18-yard pass from Stafford.

Baylor, penalized 12 times for 133 yards, fell behind, 21-0, early in the third quarter before scoring 16 straight points.

The Bears’ points came on a 44-yard field goal by Mark Mahler, a recovery of a blocked punt in the end zone and Eric Gilstrap’s 3-yard scoring run.

Texas regained control in the final quarter as Stafford hit Johnson for one touchdown and Metcalf ran three yards for another.

Houston 10, Texas Tech 10--The Cougars scored twice in the final 6:21 on a 23-yard touchdown run by Kimble Anders and a 24-yard field goal by Chip Browndyke to tie the Red Raiders at Houston.

Texas Tech (6-4-1, 3-3-1) took a 10-0 lead on Isaac Garnett’s 2-yard touchdown run and a 39-yard field goal by Scott Segrist before Houston (2-6-1, 1-4-1) rallied.