Here are some quick thoughts on Texas A&M’s 25-0 win against Vanderbilt in Nashville on Saturday evening:
What it means: Texas A&M improves to 8-3, keeping the dream of a 10-win season alive. The Aggies also have to feel good about the direction of their offense with Kyle Allen back at quarterback and playing some of his best ball against a tough Vanderbilt defense. As for Vanderbilt, the team’s dreams of a bowl game this season are relegated to a long shot. The Commodores will have to beat Tennessee and hope there are not enough 6-6 teams to fill the bowls, giving the Commodores an outside chance at a 5-7 bowl invitation.
What I liked:
- Texas A&M’s defense has taken its share of criticism this season, but the Aggies were on point in a shutout against Vanderbilt. For a stretch through the second and third quarters, Texas A&M forced five three-and-outs and had an interception during a six-series stretch.
- Texas A&M stayed committed to throwing the ball down the field in spite of cold and windy conditions in Nashville, and it paid off with a 95-yard touchdown connection between QB Kyle Allen and WR Josh Reynolds late in the first half.
- Aggies K Taylor Bertolet kept busy in this one, making six of his seven field goal attempts.
- Vanderbilt’s defense continued its strong work in the red zone. The Commodores were probably left defending it more than they would’ve liked on Saturday, but they held the Aggies to field goal attempts all night.
- Texas A&M’s designated 12th man on the field, which is a former walk-on that wears the No. 12 jersey for exhibiting the spirit of the Aggies football tradition, made a huge play in the first quarter. Sam Moeller blocked a Vanderbilt punt, setting up Texas A&M with a red zone attempt that ended in a field goal to put the Aggies ahead 6-0.
What I didn’t like:
- Vanderbilt’s passing game is just awful. The Commodores have been pushed into using a true freshman quarterback, and putting him behind a questionable offensive line against one of the nation’s best pass rushes is a recipe for trouble, but there needed to be enough production to keep drives moving. And with just 23 yards through the air, that didn’t happen.
- Though they were able to win the game comfortably, Texas A&M did not establish a particularly strong effort on the ground. The push in short yardage attempts was not great, so much so that the Aggies opted to try to throw a deep pass on their fourth down attempt in Vanderbilt territory in the first half.
- Vanderbilt punter Tommy Openshaw had a tough go of it in the first half. Not only did he have a punt blocked deep in his own territory, but he also had a 14-yard punt in the second quarter that was so bad that he was able to get down the field and down it himself on the second bounce.
- Late in the game, Vanderbilt decided to give the bulk of its quarterback reps to Johnny McCrary. If freshman Kyle Shurmur is healthy, he was the guy that needed to be taking those reps. If they’re going to burn a redshirt season, the Commodores should get a return on that investment with developmental reps.
- The uniform selections. At the risk of sounding like an old, cranky guy… they’re out of control. Vanderbilt’s colors are black and gold, and Texas A&M is maroon and white. Vanderbilt was wearing grey uniforms which were hard enough to differentiate from the Aggies’ road white jersey, but they were both wearing metallic colored helmets which complicated things even further. When looking cool gets in the way of being able to tell teams apart, we have a problem.
Who’s the man: Texas A&M QB Kyle Allen. He wasn’t perfect, but it was a pretty strong comeback performance for the sophomore after being benched for the better part of the previous three games. He threw for 336 yards and a touchdown on 18 of 36 passing.
Key play: Facing a 3rd-and-9 on his own 5-yard line late in the first half, Texas A&M QB Kyle Allen connected with WR Josh Reynolds for a 95-yard touchdown pass. It was the first touchdown of the game, and it pushed the Aggies lead to 13-0.
What’s next: The Commodores will finish their season in Knoxville playing against rival Tennessee in Week 13. Vanderbilt has won two of the last three meetings with the Volunteers. Meanwhile, Texas A&M will travel to LSU to play the Tigers in Death Valley. LSU has lost its last three games after starting the season 7-0.
Nick Cole is a former print journalist with several years of experience covering the SEC. Born and raised in SEC country, he has taken in the game-day experience at all 14 stadiums.
