COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael ran for two touchdowns apiece and Ryan Tannehill threw for two more scores to help No. 8 Texas A&M beat SMU 46-14 on Sunday night.
The Aggies were anxious to get on the field and bring the focus back to football instead of the school's decision to leave the Big 12. They got things going early, intercepting quarterback Kyle Padron's passes on SMU's first two possessions to jump out to a 14-0 lead.
SMU coach June Jones replaced Padron with backup J.J. McDermott after the early miscues and he helped the Mustangs cut it to 20-14 in the second quarter. But the Mustangs couldn't do much offensively after that and the Aggies scored 26 straight points the rest of the way to secure the win.
Gray finished with 132 yards rushing. Michael, in his first game since breaking his leg last October, added 85. Tannehill was 21 of 26 for 246 yards. Ryan Swope led Texas A&M's receivers with eight receptions for 109 yards and a score and Jeff Fuller added six catches for 52 yards.
Texas A&M had eight sacks, led by three by Tony Jerod-Eddie, the Aggies most since 2002.
McDermott finished with 254 yards passing and a touchdown, but was sacked seven times. Zach Line ran for 128 yards and a score and 6-foot-8 defensive end Margus Hunt blocked two extra points for the Mustangs. Line had 101 yards rushing with 10 minutes left in the second quarter, but managed just 27 the rest of the way.
No. 24 West Virginia 34, Marshall 13
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Geno Smith threw two first-half touchdown passes, Tavon Austin returned a kickoff for a score and West Virginia beat Marshall in a game stopped early in the fourth quarter because of lightning.
Smith completed 26 of 35 passes for 249 yards. Despite difficulty running the ball, West Virginia improved to 11-0 against its cross-state foe, including six wins since the series resumed in 2006.
Marshall was limited to 13 first downs, 187 total yards and no offensive touchdowns.
The game was first halted with 5 minutes left in the third quarter due to severe storms and play didn't resume for three hours. Play was stopped again with 14:36 left. But another hour went by before the game was called off, giving new West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen a soggy, successful debut.
The game was delayed a total of 4 hours, 22 minutes.