Texas A&M took care of business to start the season, whippin’ Northwestern State 59-7 in the 2018 opener.

Much of the talk in training camp and leading up to the first game of the Jimbo Fisher era centered on the Texas A&M quarterbacks. While Kellen Mond won the quarterback competition over Nick Starkel exiting camp and entering game week, many thought the opener against Northwestern State would be used as a continuation of the competition leading up to Clemson’s upcoming trip to Kyle Field.

That turned out not to be the case in this one.

While the majority of the discussion entering this game centered on the young quarterbacks, it was the familiar and reliable junior Aggie running back that stole the show on Thursday. Like he’s done in the past, Trayveon Williams showed just how explosive he is when he’s given the rock.

Anyone curious to see how Williams would adjust to running behind a fullback, he should be just fine.

His first carry of the season went for 11 yards, he powered his way through multiple defenders and kept his legs churning for the last three yards — which ensured an A&M first down. Williams’ next carry went 73 yards for a score, thanks to some terrific downfield blocking from Jhamon Ausmon.

If you missed the first big play of Texas A&M’s season, here it is:

That wasn’t the only big run on the night by Williams, he also added a 40-yard touchdown later in the game. His final stat line was pretty gaudy: 20 carries, 240 yards and three touchdowns. His total represents the second most rushing yards in a single game in A&M history. Bob Smith holds the all-time single-game Aggie rushing record with 297 yards back in the 1950 game against SMU.

Another note of interest, Fisher’s offense made good use of its tight ends. Yes A&M fans, it is legal to throw the ball to the tight end. Kevin Sumlin’s offense completed nine total passes to the tight end position from over the previous two seasons. Fisher’s offense completed six passes to the tight ends on Thursday, with five coming from the offense’s breakout performer, Jace Sternberger.

Kellen Mond’s first completion of the year was to Sternberger. Mond’s first touchdown of the year was also to Sternberger. If you are sensing a theme here, the Aggies will use tight ends early and often in this offense.

Speaking of Mond, he finished the game with an impressive stat line, too. The sophomore completed 17 of 25 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He also added a touchdown on the ground. His stats may not jump off the page but his performance was solid after taking nearly a quarter to get going. The Aggies had only seven points after the first quarter (which came courtesy of Williams’ long run) but scored 28 points in the second quarter to essentially seal this one.

Starkel came in early into the second half but he wasn’t asked to do much through the air. Starkel completed five of eight for 63 yards and a touchdown in the game. During his drives, the Aggies were focused on running the ball and killing the clock.

Hard to accurately grade Mike Elko’s defense considering the opponent faced in the opener but credit the Aggie defense for only allowing Northwestern State 38 yards of offense and two first downs in the first quarter. That’s impressive no matter who you are playing. Perhaps the most promising defensive stat of the game, Northwestern State had only 21 rushing yards in this game.

Elko’s unit also held strong on third downs, giving up only one first down on 12 third-down attempts by Northwestern State. The pass defense did give up 230 yards and registered only three tackles for loss and two sacks. Those numbers will obviously need to improve heading into conference play if the Aggies are going to make any noise in Fisher’s first season.