
Numbers that defined the 27-10 Aggie win
Texas A&M wasn’t perfect on Saturday, but they did more than enough to cruise to a comfortable win to begin SEC play. Let’s take a look at the numbers that defined this game.
- 0: Defensive penalties for the Aggies. One of the best ways to keep a team from beating you is to not beat yourself. While the offense killed several drives with penalties, the A&M defense played a clean game, and was insanely close to getting a scoop-and-score touchdown that was overturned when it was ruled an incompletion after review.
- 2: Third quarter TD passes for Max Johnson. After a sluggish first half, leading only 6-3 with Conner Weigman injured, Aggies could be forgiven for being concerned. But backup QB Max Johnson stepped up in a big way, leading two touchdown drives in begin the second half to take control of this game. A big sign, because there’s a possibility that Weigman’s injury could keep him out for a while (tbd).
- 3: QBs for Auburn. If the other team plays three different QBs and none of them got hurt, it means things either went very well for them or very badly. Luckily for us, it was badly.
- 7: Sacks today. This team struggled to generate any kind of consistent pass rush in the first three games, even against New Mexico and Monroe, but they were in the Auburn backfield early and often today. In fact, they more than doubled their sack total on the season, going from 6 to 13.
- 7.5: Second half yards per carry for A&M. Granted, half of those yards came on one 79-yard run by Amari Daniels, but hey, they all count. While the A&M line struggled early, they got more and more push as the game wore on, which is exactly what you’d hope to see.
- 10: Second half pass yards for Auburn. This Texas A&M secondary took a lot of flak after their performance against Miami two weeks ago (deservedly so). And while Auburn’s passing attack is far from prolific, keeping a team to measley 10 passing yards in a half is a feat. Especially after they didn’t allow any second half passing yards a week ago.
- 15: Carries for Leveon Moss. After missing the Miami game and playing somewhat limited snaps agains Monroe, Moss more than doubled any other running back in carries, led the team in rushing yards with 95 and added a game-sealing touchdown for good measure. While all three of the Ags’ primary backs have looked good, Moss appears to be the most physical runner, which is important for a team that is not opening up huge holes at the line of scrimmage.
- 200: Total yards for Auburn. Keep in mind that the Tigers averaged more than 215 RUSHING yards per game coming into today, so holding their total yards under that is impressive.