Cyrus Gray scored four touchdowns to lead Texas A&M past No. 21 Texas Tech 52-30, snapping a three-game losing streak for the Aggies.
Texas A&M (4-3 overall, 1-2 Big 12 Conference) hadn't won in Lubbock since 1993 and was coming off an awful performance against Kansas State, losing 62-14 last week.
Sherman, in his second season with A&M, told his players this game would show how they responded to tough times.
Then Tech score in six plays on its first possession, and the Aggies lost a fumble on their first play.
Here we go again, A&M fans must have thought. Instead, the Aggies held the Raiders after the fumble and put together a nine-play drive that ended in a touchdown.
"We were at a crossroads," Sherman said. "That was a turning point in the game."
The Aggies had 334 total yards in the first half against the Red Raiders a week after they had 301 against K-State.
"I told the guys during this week that this game was more about them as a man than it was about them as a football club and how they needed to respond to play this ballgame," Sherman said.
"I'm proud of them as a man and as a football club tonight."
Jerrod Johnson completed 19 of 28 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown and added 71 yards and a score on 10 carries.
Gray, who finished with 131 yards on 25 carries, rushed for three touchdowns and caught a 12-yard pass for another.
The Red Raiders (5-3, 2-2) went to Seth Doege at quarterback after Taylor Potts fumbled in the third quarter.
When Gray didn't have the ball teammate Christine Michael chewed up his share of yards. Michael gained 121 yards and two touchdowns - including a 44-yarder on the Aggies first possession of the second half - on 22 carries.
The Red Raiders' offense was flat in Potts' first start since his concussion Oct. 3 against New Mexico. He was 25-of-36 for 310 yards and two touchdowns before he was pulled from the game midway through the third quarter.
