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McGee runs and passes Texas A&M past Montana State

Sep 2, 2007 - 5:17 AM COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ticker) -- Stephen McGee continued to do what he does best.

McGee passed for 112 yards and ran for another 121 as No. 25 Texas A&M cruised past Montana State, 38-7, on Saturday in the opener for both schools.

A junior, McGee completed 10-of-20 attempts, and his 65-yard touchdown run wiped out the only deficit for Texas A&M (1-0), which has won 21 straight home openers.

McGee was one of just four quarterbacks to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 500 yards last season.

The backfield duo of Jorvorskie Lane and Mike Goodson also scored touchdowns for the Aggies, who outgained the Bobcats on the ground, 261-99.

"We're not Michigan tonight," said Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione, referring to Appalachian State's 34-32 win over No. 5 Michigan earlier in the day. "Keep this in perspective. 38-7 and we're 1-0 and I'm going to take a positive out of it."

After Montana State scored on a 13-play, 83-yard drive to start the game, McGee and the Texas A&M offense took control.

After Matt Szymanski kicked a 34-yard field goal midway through the first quarter to cut the Aggies' deficit to 7-3, McGee used his legs to put the Aggies out front.

The 6-3, 220-pound McGee threw a six-yard pass to Goodson before breaking off a 65-yard scramble to give Texas A&M a 10-7 advantage with 2:54 left in the period.

"Early on, we had some typical communication mistakes and some stupid penalties that kind of set us back," McGee said. "However after that we started moving the ball real good."

After taking the lead, McGee and the ground attack took over the game.

Lane, who scored a school record 19 touchdowns in 2006, burst into the end zone from two yards out midway through the second quarter to give the Aggies a 17-7 halftime lead. The 268-pound Lane gained 40 yards on 10 carries.

"McGee with his speed, Jorvorskie is huge and all their weapons made it very difficult," Montana State coach Rob Ash said. "When they spread those guys out, it makes it very difficult."

Goodson became the third member of the backfield to score when he ran for an 18-yard TD at the 13:20 mark of the third period to push the lead to 24-7.

"When Mike is on fire, we want to get the ball in his hands because he can make good things happen," McGee said.

Goodson also had 10 carries for 65 yards.

After McGee widened the lead on a two-yard TD scamper 13 seconds in the final period to make it 31-7, backup quarterback Jerrod Johnson tossed a 17-yard TD to Terrance McCoy with 1:20 remaining to finish the scoring.

"Heaven knows we've got plenty to work on," Franchione said. "But we did a lot of good things tonight. I don't feel bad."

Rolovich was 21-of-39 for 267 yards and a TD for Montana State (0-1), which outgained the Aggies, 403-390, and controlled the clock for 35:43.

"We didn't come here to play close," Ash said. "We lost by 31 points, so we didn't accomplish what we wanted to. I told the team after the game that we don't believe in moral victories. We came here with the intention of winning and fell short."

The Bobcats missed three field goals and lost a fumble deep in Aggies territory.

"I went out there and tried to do my best," Rolovich said. "We lost and the score doesn't reflect how we played today. We have to point the finger at ourselves because of all the points we left on the field."