Texas A&M 21, Oklahoma St. 16 -- Final

<b>Texas A&M (7-2) at Oklahoma State (2-6)</b><br>STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) _ Mark Farris threw for 246 yards and a touchdown, and No. 24 Texas A&M stopped Oklahoma State at the 15 in the final minute to

Saturday, November 4th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Texas A&M (7-2) at Oklahoma State (2-6)
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) _ Mark Farris threw for 246 yards and a touchdown, and No. 24 Texas A&M stopped Oklahoma State at the 15 in the final minute to win 21-16 Saturday.

The Aggies (7-2, 5-1 Big 12) won their fourth straight to stay in the thick of the Big 12 South Division race. They play top-ranked Oklahoma, the division leader, at home next week.

Oklahoma State (2-6, 0-5) has lost six in a row, heightening speculation about the future of coach Bob Simmons. The Cowboys are assured of their third straight losing season under Simmons, who has finished above .500 once in six years.

The Aggies scored on their first two drives of the second half to take a 21-7 lead and then had to hold on.

A 57-yard punt return for a touchdown by Gabe Lindsay _ the first allowed by A&M in 12 years _ and a failed 2-point conversion try made the score 21-16 with 8:41 left in the game.

After forcing a punt, the Cowboys got the ball at their 29 with 5:53 to play. Completions by Aso Pogi on third-and-12 and fourth-and-8 allowed the Cowboys to drive to the 15 with under a minute to go.

But four straight incompletions, the last one a disputed out-of-bounds call on a pass to tight end Marcellus Rivers in the end zone, ended the drive with 37 seconds remaining.

Texas A&M went 80 yards on the first drive of the second half, mixing the run and the pass and never reaching third down. Richard Whitaker had runs of 14, 25 and 9 yards before scoring from 10 yards out for a 14-7 lead.

Texas A&M drove 77 yards on its next possession, with Ja'Mar Toombs scoring on a 2-yard run. Farris was 5-of-5 for 59 yards on the drive, including a 10-yard completion to Robert Ferguson on a third-and-9 play to keep the drive going near midfield.

Ferguson, the Big 12's leading receiver, had 11 catches for 119 yards but sprained his left knee and didn't play in the fourth quarter.

Texas A&M's only first-half score came on a 40-yard pass from Farris to Ferguson five minutes into the second quarter.

The Aggies had moved to the Oklahoma State 35 on their first possession before the drive stalled and they had punted. Another first-quarter drive ended with a fumble by Ferguson at the 2-yard line.

Oklahoma State, after starting three first-half drives inside its 10, finally got decent field position after the A&M touchdown. The Cowboys drove 68 yards in 11 plays, with Pogi scoring on a 4-yard keeper.

Quarter	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
OSU	0	7	3	6	16
Texas A&M	0	7	14	0	21
Final

Team	Score Time	Summary	Running Score
Texas A&M	9:51 2ndQ	Robert Ferguson 40 yd rec from Mark Farris (kick good)	Texas A&M 7-0
Oklahoma St.	5:27 2ndQ	Aso Pogi 4 yd run (kick good)	Tied 7-7
Texas A&M	11:43 3rdQ	Richard Whitaker 10 yd run(kick good)	Texas A&M 14-7
Oklahoma St.	10:29 3rdQ	Seth Condley 42 yd FG	Texas A&M 14-10
Texas A&M.	5:26 3rdQ	Jamar Toombs 2 yd run (kick good)	Texas A&M 21-10
Oklahoma St.	8:41 4thQ	Gabe Lindsay 57 yd punt ret (two-pointer failed)	Texas A&M 21-16

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Texas A&M, Whitaker 10-76, Weber 9-48, Toombs 12-41, Goynes 1-19, Johnson 1-6, Farris 3-0, team 1-0. Oklahoma St., White 19-112, Pogi 12-26, Bell 1-15, Bivin 1-13, Burrough 1-3, Davis-Bryant 1-(minus 2).

PASSING_Texas A&M, Farris 24-37-1-246. Oklahoma St., Pogi 15-29-2-146, White 0-1-0-0, Rivers 1-1-0-9, Bivin 0-1-0-0, team 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING_Texas A&M, Ferguson 11-119, Johnson 5-50, Porter 4-51, Taylor 3-19, Jones 1-7. Oklahoma St., Woods 4-40, White 3-54, Fobbs 2-16, Davis-Bryant 2-14, Blackwood 2-5, Lindsay 1-16, Pogi 1-9, Jackson 1-1.