LUBBOCK, Texas -Taurean Henderson ran for 109 yards and four touchdowns and No. 16 Texas Tech beat Texas A&M 56-17 Saturday night for its sixth straight home win over the Aggies.

It took a half for Tech’s passing game to click, and surprisingly, the Red Raiders rushed as many times as they passed (19), sputtering through the first two quarters.

Quarterback Cody Hodges, who likes to spread his passes around to as many as seven receivers, threw to only three for just 82 yards in the first half.

When the Red Raiders (8-1,5-1 Big 12) did begin to click in the third quarter, they used the pass to get close and scored touchdowns on six of their seven possessions in the second half – four on rushes.

They also started throwing to more receivers. By the end, nine receivers Red Raiders had caught balls, including Hodges’ twin brother, Slade Hodges, who caught the final TD from backup quarterback Graham Harrell.

The margin of victory was the largest for Tech in the history of the series. In 1954, Paul “Bear” Bryant’s first year at the helm of the Aggies, Tech beat A&M 41-9.

Henderson carried the ball 20 times, and ran for TDs of 19, 4, 4 and 1 yards. With his last touchdown, he tied for third place on the NCAA career list for points (408) by non-kickers with Brock Forsey of Boise State.

Only Ricky Williams of Texas (452 points) and Travis Prentice of Miami of Ohio (468) are ahead of Henderson.

Hodges was 29-of-44 for 408 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another score. He threw one interception.

Tech’s trouble in the second quarter came from its failure to score after driving deep into Aggie territory twice.

Henderson’s second and third TDs put Tech up 35-10 as the third quarter ended. Hodges got his rushing TD, a 1-yarder, earlier in the period.

A&M (5-4, 3-3) appeared to be in contention until the start of the second half. On the Aggies’ first possession, Tech safety Dwayne Slay hit running back Jorvorskie Lane and forced a fumble at the A&M 37. Antonio Huffman recovered the ball, and nine plays later, Hodges ran it in to put Tech up 21-10.

On their next possession, the Red Raiders marched 58 yards before Henderson got his first TD to extend Tech’s lead to 28-10.

The game could have been out of reach for the Aggies early. Twice in the first half, Tech squandered scoring opportunities after driving inside the Aggies 10. After Texas A&M failed to convert on a fake punt from the Tech 48, the Red Raiders took over and drove from the 50-yard line to A&M’s 27.

A 27-yard touchdown pass from Hodges to Jarrett Hicks was called back on a holding penalty on Robert Johnson in the end zone. A&M held firm – thanks in part to a second holding penalty – and forced the Red Raiders to go for a field goal.

But Robert Trlica, whose career record from inside the 40 was unblemished, missed it wide to the right from 38 yards, though Tech remained ahead 14-10.

On their next possession, Tech drove 68 yards to the Aggie 5 before Hodges threw a pass that was interception by Melvin Bullitt at the goal line.

A record crowd of 55,755 watched Tech beat the Aggies for the sixth straight time in Lubbock. The last time Texas A&M won at Jones SBC Stadium was 1993.

AP-ES-11-05-05 2315EST

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