No. 17 Texas A&M 29, Colorado 26, OT

Saturday, October 23rd 2004, 7:11 pm

By: News On 6

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) _ Eric Pegram kicked a 19-yard field goal in overtime and Lee Foliaki recovered a fumble on the next possession, giving No. 17 Texas A&M a 29-26 victory over Colorado on Saturday.

After Pegram made his fourth field goal of the game, Foliaki poked the ball away from Bobby Purify on the second play of Colorado's possession.

Foliaki came out of a pile with the ball, ending the game and setting off a wild celebration at Kyle Field. A&M's players stormed the field, while Purify and some of his teammates laid on the turf in disbelief.

Reggie McNeal finished with 382 yards of offense and Courtney Lewis scored two touchdowns, leading the Aggies to their sixth consecutive win. It's A&M's longest win streak since 1998, when the Aggies won their only Big 12 championship.

The Aggies (6-1, 4-0 Big 12) now have enough wins to be eligible for their first bowl berth since going to the 2001 Galleryfurniture.com bowl. With lowly Baylor up next week, A&M appears to be headed toward a showdown for first place in the Big 12 South against No. 2 Oklahoma on Nov. 6.

That would give the Aggies a chance to avenge a school and Big 12-record 77-point loss to the Sooners last season.

Colorado (4-3, 1-3) came very close to thwarting A&M's big plans.

The Buffs led for much of the game, taking a 19-7 lead early in the third quarter on Joel Klatt's 24-yard touchdown pass to Evan Judge.

But Colorado coach Gary Barnett made a questionable decision to go for a 2-point conversion instead of an extra-point attempt. The pass failed, and Barnett's call came back to haunt the Buffs later.

Lewis scored on a 2-yard dive with just over 11 minutes left to give the Aggies their first lead of the game, 20-19, and Pegram's 34-yard field goal about seven minutes later increased the lead to four points.

Colorado responded with a 13-play, 82-yard drive, highlighted by Dusty Sprague's leaping 34-yard catch. Purify capped the drive with a 1-yard dive to give the Buffs a 26-23 lead.

McNeal had one more chance to rescue the Aggies, and he delivered.

He led A&M on an 80-yard drive to set up Pegram's 20-yard field goal as the clock expired, sending the game into overtime.

McNeal rushed for 139 yards on 22 carries, and completed 23 of 38 passes for 243 yards.

The 6-foot-2 junior quarterback also set a Big 12 record with 195 consecutive pass attempts without an interception. That streak breaks Kliff Kingsbury's mark of 179 in 2002 for Texas Tech.

Purify led Colorado with 130 yards on 20 carries with one touchdown. Klatt went 25-of-42 for 346 yards and two touchdowns, both to Evan Judge. Sprague added 101 yards on eight receptions.

Colorado has now lost six straight to Big 12 South teams.