SOUTHWEST ROUNDUP : Aggies Win Thanks to Air Attack

Corey Pullig threw three touchdown passes as No. 10 Texas A&M;, best known for its menacing ground game, defeated Houston, 38-7, in a Southwest Conference game Saturday at Houston.

“They came in to prove that they could throw the football,” Houston Coach Kim Helton said. “They wanted to work on their passing game and they were successful. Some of their receivers made more plays than I’d have wanted them to.”

The Aggies (5-0, 2-0) put aside their running game and went ahead, 17-0, on Pullig’s touchdown passes of 36 yards to Ryan Mathews and five yards to Chris Sanders and a 37-yard field goal by Kyle Bryant.

Texas A&M; won its 24th consecutive SWC game, the longest conference streak in the nation. The Aggies also have the longest home streak in the nation at 23 victories in a row. The Aggies’ defense, ranked seventh nationally, didn’t allow Houston (0-5, 0-1) across midfield until midway in the third quarter.

Baylor 44, Southern Methodist 10--Brandell Jackson and Clifton Rubin led an overpowering rushing attack and Scotty Lewis led a stingy defense for the Bears at Waco, Texas.

Baylor (5-1, 2-0) didn’t do anything flashy, mostly running off tackle as the Bears rushed for 331 yards to defeat SMU (1-5, 0-2).

Lewis, a senior defensive end, finished with eight tackles, including seven unassisted stops, and 14 yards in losses.

Rice 24, Texas Tech 21--Josh LaRocca threw two touchdown passes to Ed Howard, the latter an 11-yarder that completed a 10-point fourth quarter comeback and rallied the Owls (2-2, 1-0) over the Red Raiders (2-4, 1-2) at Houston.

Tech capitalized on four Rice turnovers to take a 21-14 lead in the fourth quarter before Rice battled back in the final 5:34.

Aaron Stanley returned an interception 23 yards to the Tech 25 to set up a 22-yard field goal by Matt Huelsman, then Tech fumbled the ensuing kickoff with Rice’s Mike Jones recovering at the 15, setting up the winning touchdown pass to Howard.