Marcel Reed tossed three touchdown passes, while Marco Jones and Julio Humphrey returned interceptions for touchdowns, to help No. 10 Texas A&M beat Arizona State 48-20 on Saturday afternoon at College Station, Texas.
Isaiah Horton caught two touchdown passes, Mario Craver also grabbed one and Rueben Owens II scored on the ground for Texas A&M (2-0), which forced four turnovers. Reed completed 15 of 25 passes for 163 yards and was intercepted once for the Aggies.
Cutter Boley was 21-of-34 passing for 254 yards, two touchdowns and the two costly interceptions for Arizona State (1-1). Boley threw for six touchdowns against Morgan State in Week 1 in his Sun Devils’ debut after transferring from Kentucky.
Arizona State’s Reed Harris established new career bests in receptions (nine) and receiving yards (189), while hauling in two touchdown passes for the second straight week.
The Aggies led 24-20 entering the fourth quarter before three takeaways helped them score 24 more points to pull away.
First, Texas A&M struck on offense as Reed tossed a 33-yard scoring pass to Craver to make it 31-20 with 14:20 remaining in the game.
Later in the quarter, Boley dropped back to pass, and his throw was deflected by T.J. Searcy and caromed high in the air. Jones grabbed the ball and raced 55 yards for a score to make it an 18-point margin with 8:50 left in the contest.
On Arizona State’s ensuing possession, the Aggies’ Sam M’Pemba forced Kyson Brooks to fumble, and Dalton Brooks recovered at the Sun Devils’ 26-yard line. That set up David Olano’s 39-yard field goal with 5:58 remaining.
Things got worse for Arizona State when Boley threw a pass into the left flat, and Humphrey grabbed it and raced 45 yards for a score to make it 48-20 with 4:25 left.
Earlier, Carson Smith kicked a 35-yard field goal with 10:19 left in the third quarter to move Arizona State within four.
Reed and Horton connected for the second time — this time on a 13-yarder — as Texas A&M held a 24-13 lead with 5:53 left in the period.
The Sun Devils answered when Boley teamed up with Harris on a 58-yard pass play with 3:39 left in the third quarter.
The Aggies led 17-10 at halftime.
Owens scored from the 2-yard line to get Texas A&M on the board with 4:55 left in the first quarter.
The Sun Devils knotted the score on Boley’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Harris with 21 seconds left in the quarter.
Reed tossed a 4-yard scoring pass to Horton to give the Aggies a 14-7 lead with 9:15 left in the first half.
Smith kicked a 30-yard field goal for the Sun Devils three minutes later before Texas A&M restored the seven-point advantage on Olano’s 22-yard field goal with three seconds to play.
