Texas A&M celebrated the return of starting quarterback Haynes King with a 31-0 victory over Sam Houston in the 2022 season opener on Saturday afternoon at soggy Kyle Field. The game was weather delayed at halftime for nearly 3 hours.

The No. 6 Aggies moved to 13-0 all-time against the Bearkats. Texas A&M has now won 16 straight against in-state opponents. In addition, head coach Jimbo Fisher is now 9-0 all-time in home openers.

It was almost a full year ago that King suffered a season-ending injury early in just the 2nd game of the 2021 season, after winning a tight quarterback battle with Zach Calzada, now at Auburn.

King threw for 364 yards and 3 touchdowns, though he also tossed 2 interceptions. Max Johnson made his A&M debut late in the 4th quarter. He completed 3-of-4 passes for 23 yards.

King was inconsistent early but did connect on 2 big plays to help the Aggies to a comfortable 17-0 lead at halftime. His initial touchdown pass of 2022 came late in the 1st quarter.

On the Aggies’ 3rd possession of the game, King hit Yulkeith Brown in stride for a 66-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead after one quarter. The Aggies have now won 25 straight games when leading after the 1st quarter and 27 of their last 31 games when scoring first.

Texas A&M kicker Caden Davis drilled his 1st collegiate field goal, a 40-yarder at the 5:03 mark of the 2nd quarter to extend the lead to 10-0 before King struck again. Another perfect pass, this one to Ainias Smith for a 62-yard touchdown and a 17-0 lead at halftime.

Smith, who had 101 receiving yards in just the first 2 quarters, extended his streak to 24 consecutive games of at least one reception, a mark that dates back to 2019. He hauled in a 43-yard TD pass from King early in the 4th quarter as the Aggies piled on late.

But it wasn’t until after the lengthy delay at halftime that the Aggies offense was able to assert itself. When play finally resumed, Texas A&M received the second-half kickoff and methodically drove 71 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown. Running back Devon Achane, who led the Aggies last season with 11 touchdowns, scored on a 1-yard run and the rout was on.

The game was never in doubt because of an Aggies’ defense that shut down Sam Houston at every turn.