The Aggies rolled past Arkansas 45-24 on Saturday in the Southwest Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. They played defense when they had to, and they produced enough offense to merit a top 10 ranking.
Texas A&M is now 4-0 for the season and 2-0 in SEC play. Here is an analysis of Texas A&M’s victory:
5 TAKEAWAYS
- The Aggies play physical defense: Whether it was pounding running backs and seperating them from the football, putting up goal-line stands or harrassing Arkansas QB Austin Allen, the Texas A&M defense laid the leather on the Razorbacks all night long and made them earn every yard.
- This is truly a balanced offense: Aggies quarterback Trevor Knight didn’t have a great day throwing the football, but he had a good day, and that’s good enough to balance out what is becoming a very solid running game. And that now includes Knight, who led all rushers with 157 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 10 carries. Running back Trayveon Williams added 153 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 carries.
- Bumps and bruises: As is always the case with Arkansas, an extremely physical game is expected. Both teams felt it. Aggies sack leader Myles Garrett left with an ankle injury. There were others including Justin Evans and Richard Moore.
- The Aggies have established themselves as the biggest threat to Alabama’s throne: We’ve heard it all before this early in the season, but it must be acknowledged once again that Texas A&M has put itself in position to challenge Alabama for supremacy in the SEC West.
- The Aggies have vastly improved their run defense: An area in which Texas A&M had to clean up in order to compete in the SEC seems to be happening. Arkansas was held to 120 rushing yards on 40 carries. The Aggies gave up only one explosive play on the ground, a 55-yard run by Rawleigh Williams. Take away that one big run and the Aggies limited Arkansas to 1.7 yards per carry (65 yards, 39 carries).
REPORT CARD
Offense: A – The Aggies piled up 591 yards of offense against an SEC defense. Enough said. They converted 8-of-12 third down opportunities. Two lost fumbles are the only drawback to an otherwise very impressive showing, especially in the second half.
Defense: B – – In this day and age of high-powered offenses, holding an opponent to 24 points can be considered successful. The Aggies gave up much too much in total yards (491 yards) but helped make up for it by forcing three turnovers.
Special teams: B – Punter Shane Tripucka did his part, averaging 47.5 yards on two punts. But the Aggies missed a field goal and averaged just 14 yards on four kick returns and one punt return. However, kick coverage was very impressive, limiting the Razorbacks to an average of 7 yards on two returns (1 kickoff, 1 punt).
Coaching: A – The coaching staff stayed within the game plan and kept the team in position to succeed.
Overall: A- – It was an overall impressive performace, especially in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.
GAME PLAN
On offense, the Aggies were able to move the ball with consistency by pounding the run game as is the design in Noel Mazzone’s offense. As far as defense goes, the Aggies were able to plug up Arkansas’ run game as planned, forcing the Razorbacks to try to win the game through the air.
GAME BALLS
- QB Trevor Knight: Accounting for 382 yards of offense and 4 touchdowns, Knight did it through the air (225 yards) and ground (157 yards).
- Offense line: The Aggies’ offensive line was able to open holes for the run game as well as protect Knight so that he could operate. The Aggies rolled up 366 yards on the ground to win going away.
- S Armani Watts: As he did last season, Watts led the Aggies on Saturday in tackles. He totaled 9 stops, including 3 solo tackles, 2.5 of those were for loss. He also forced a fumble.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
