SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 9, 2013
No. 13 Texas A&M 51, Mississippi State 41: Johnny Manziel passed for 446 yards and matched a career high with five touchdowns to offset three interceptions and power the host Aggies past the Bulldogs in an SEC shootout.
Mike Evans caught five passes for 116 yards - breaking Ryan Swope's single-season school record of 1,207 receiving yards in 2011 - and Travis Labhart had six receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns for Texas A&M (8-2, 4-2 SEC). Malcome Kennedy added eight catches for 96 yards and two scores for the Aggies, who have put up 40 or more points in 13 consecutive games and topped 500 total yards in nine straight.
Dak Prescott rushed for 154 yards and went 14-for-26 for 149 yards and two touchdowns for Mississippi State (4-5, 1-4). De'Runnya Wilson caught seven passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns, and LaDarius Perkins added rushing and receiving scores for the Bulldogs.
The Aggies opened up a 16-7 lead after a blocked punt for a safety set up Manziel's 33-yard TD pass to Labhart with six seconds left in the first quarter, and they led 23-14 at halftime. The second of Manziel's touchdown passes to Kennedy made it 30-14 before Prescott capped a 96-yard drive with a 12-yard toss to Perkins.
The potent offenses traded punches all evening, but a big kick return and an interception set up Manziel's 2-yard touchdown pass to Nehemiah Hicks and Ben Malena's 2-yard touchdown run to make it 51-27. Perkins' 1-yard run and Tyler Russell's 9-yard touchdown pass to Wilson pulled the Bulldogs within 51-41 with 2:19 left, but they couldn't corral an onside kick and the Aggies ran out the clock.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Texas A&M became the 17th school in FBS history with 700 wins. … Manziel has 31 touchdown passes, breaking Jerrod Johnson's school record of 30 in 2009, and became the second A&M quarterback with 2,000 career rushing yards and the first Aggie to record two seasons with 3,000 passing yards. … Russell started at quarterback for the Bulldogs but played just two scoreless series before giving way to Prescott, who lost his mother to colon cancer this week. He re-entered on the final series when Prescott went off with an apparent arm injury.