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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) -- Not until he was crushed under a pile of
teammates in the snow did Wayne Madkin know he had won the game.
|  | | Ja'Mar Toombs rumbles for three touchdowns, but the Aggies lose a wild one. |
Madkin scored on a 6-yard scramble to give Mississippi State a
43-41 overtime victory over Texas A&M on Sunday night in the
Independence Bowl.
"I broke contain ... I had a guy coming at me and I was trying
to stretch it as far as I could," said the junior quarterback from
Huntsville, Ala., who said he had never played in snow before.
"I knew when all these guys jumped up on me and I couldn't
breath that I got in the end zone."
It was the first meeting between Texas A&M and Mississippi State
since former Aggies coach Jackie Sherrill took over the Bulldogs in
1991.
"Considering everything, it's a big, big win," said Sherrill,
who dodged questions about his history at Texas A&M.
Ja'Mar Toombs had a 25-yard touchdown run on the Aggies' first
play of overtime to give Texas A&M a 41-35 lead, but Terence
Kitchen's extra-point attempt was blocked by Willie Blade.
Eugene Clinton scooped the blocked kick out of the snow and
before he could be pulled down at midfield, he flipped the ball
back to Julius Griffith, who raced to the end zone for a 2-point
defensive conversion. That made the score 41-37 and gave the
Bulldogs a chance to win it with a TD.
"I've been coming close all year," Blade said of his key
block.
The pregame hype revolved around Sherrill, who coached the
Aggies from 1982-88, and Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum, a former
assistant who took over for Sherrill in 1989.
But the game was dominated by the running of Toombs and
Mississippi State's Dontae Walker and the rare Southern snowfall
that covered the field.
Toombs ran for 193 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries.
"The trekking was real hard," said the 255-pound fullback.
"It was hard to really burst with the ball. I had to slow down
before I could get going."
But once he got going he plowed through the snow and Mississippi
State.
"For a big guy like me it's fun," he said.
Walker matched Toombs with three touchdowns, along with 143
yards on 16 carries.
Mississippi State rallied from 14 points down with two
touchdowns in the final 8:16 of the fourth quarter.
An interception by Marco Minor deep in Texas A&M territory gave
the Bulldogs a first-and-goal at the Aggies' 4 with 2:50 left in
the game trailing 35-28.
On third down, Madkin faked a handoff and found Donald Lee all
alone in the snow-covered end zone for a 3-yard touchdown pass to
tie it with 1:30 left.
Madkin's game-winning TD came on a similar play-action pass on
second-and-goal at the 6.
Toombs was especially effective early, running for 73 yards and
a touchdown on Texas A&M's first two series, and helping the Aggies
grab a 14-0 lead.
Mississippi State managed to slow Toombs in the second and third
quarters, but he got rumbling again in the fourth quarter. His
13-yard TD run with 9:20 left gave the Aggies a 35-21 lead.
Walker scored his third touchdown on a 32-yard run on the
ensuing Mississippi State drive to cut the lead to 35-28 at 8:17.
Sherrill guided the Aggies to three straight Southwestern
Conference championships (1985-87). But the success was
overshadowed by NCAA violations.
While he downplayed the significance of facing his former
employer, Sherrill had publicly stated he was hoping to face the
Aggies when the bowl pairings were being sorted out.
"You guys make a lot of this game that isn't there," Sherrill
said. "I didn't play a down, these guys did."
After the game he was carried off the field by his players.
Sherrill, the winningest coach in Mississippi State history,
improved to 2-4 in bowl games with the Bulldogs and 8-6 overall.
Slocum, who has won 78 percent of his games at Texas A&M, fell to
2-8 in bowls.
About 30 minutes before kickoff snow blew into Shreveport with
strong wind whipping from one end zone to the other.
The game started with the synthetic grass field a mix of green
and white. By the second quarter, the turf was blanketed by snow.
Plows were used during timeouts to make the goal lines, end lines
and hash marks visible.
Snow fell throughout the game, at times coming down so hard it
made watching the game like looking through television static. Many
of the 36,974 fans at Independence Stadium left at halftime.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Mississippi State Clubhouse
Texas A&M Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Julius Griffith returns a blocked PAT to bring the Bulldogs within 4 points of the Aggies in OT.
avi: 1291 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Marco Minor picks off Texas A&M QB Mark Farris to set up a game-tying TD for the Bulldogs.
avi: 1332 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Richard Whitaker keeps his feet and sneaks into the end zone for a 9-yard A&M touchdown.
avi: 771 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Ja'Mar Toombs finishes an Aggie drive with a 4-yard plunge into the end zone.
avi: 458 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
The Bulldogs' Dontae Walker breaks loose for a 40-yard touchdown run.
avi: 897 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Robert Ferguson goes up to haul in the Mark Farris pass for a 43-yard Aggie score.
avi: 767 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Mississippi State's Dontae Walker skates 32 yards for his third touchdown of the night.
avi: 958 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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