No. 4 Texas A&M; Adds an Air Force : College football: Freshman Pullig passes for 272 yards, leads a comeback victory over Houston, 38-30.
HOUSTON — Greg Hill ran for three touchdowns in the third quarter, all set up by the passing of freshman Corey Pullig, as fourth-ranked Texas A&M; rallied for a 38-30 Southwest Conference victory over Houston on Thursday night.
Pullig, who played high school football last season, completed 17 of 28 passes for 272 yards in his second college start as Texas A&M; (10-0) remained one of three unbeaten and untied teams in Division I along with top-ranked Miami (8-0) and second-ranked Alabama (9-0).
But the Cougars (3-6, 1-4) didn’t go down easily. They rallied for two touchdowns in the final minutes before cornerback Ray Mickens’ interception with 4:08 halted Houston’s final scoring attempt.
“Since they were picking on me, I was glad to get that final interception,†Mickens said. “I’ve got three more years and I don’t want to go through that for three more years.
“Their offense was more up-tempo than our practices. At the half, coach told us to play smart and not let our guard down and we did that.â€
The Aggies, (5-0 in the SWC) won their 19th consecutive regular-season game.
Texas A&M; didn’t get its first lead, 24-17, until 3:41 remained in the third quarter when Hill ran nine yards for a touchdown to cap a drive keyed by a 32-yard pass play from Pullig to Tony Harrison.
A&M;’s improved passing game helped put the Aggies in control when Pullig hit Brian Mitchell on a 39-yard pass play to the Houston four. Hill scored his third touchdown on the next play to make it 31-17.
Houston’s Jimmy Klingler completed a 73-yard touchdown pass play to Ron Peters with 7:02 to play. After a 95-yard kickoff return by Texas A&M;’s Billy Mitchell set up a one-yard touchdown run by Rodney Thomas, Klingler found Peters again for a 42-yard touchdown with 4:09 remaining.
“Houston puts a lot of pressure on you with that offense,†Texas A&M; cornerback Derrick Frazier said. “Any mistake can result in a big play. We were a little worried at the half, but we made adjustments and took over.â€
Klingler completed 28 of 57 passes for 488 yards, the most passing yards ever given up by the Aggies.
A final threat by the Cougars drive ended on downs near midfield with 30 seconds left.
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