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Texas A&M Football: 3 takeaways from Aggies’ bounce-back win over Miami

By Graham Harmon

Sep 17, 2022; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Max Johnson (14) talks with Miami Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke (9) after the game at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2022; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Max Johnson (14) talks with Miami Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke (9) after the game at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 17, 2022; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Shemar Turner (5) and defensive back Bryce Anderson (1) tackle Miami Hurricanes running back Jaylan Knighton (4) during the second half at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2022; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Shemar Turner (5) and defensive back Bryce Anderson (1) tackle Miami Hurricanes running back Jaylan Knighton (4) during the second half at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

Texas A&M football’s defense bends, but doesn’t break

The Aggie defense showed out last night, limiting a Miami offense that boasts a projected 1st-round QB in Tyler Van Dyke to only 9 points, and not allowing a single touchdown. Van Dyke finished the day with 5.3 YPA and never looked comfortable, with the A&M pass rush bearing down on him time and time again. They never registered a sack, but they did enough to force some ill-advised throws from Van Dyke.

However, some fans were less than pleased with the defensive performance, complaining of too many 3-down sets, long drives given up, and the aforementioned lack of sacks. Many felt that the Aggie D wasn’t getting off the field when they should, pointing to 27 first downs gained by Miami.

Penalties extended several Miami drives. However, the Canes were only 5-14 on 3rd down, and were largely held without any explosive plays. The A&M defense forced the Hurricanes to be methodical in their drives, daring them to convert time and time again— and Miami faltered.

In my opinion, the difference in scoring efficiency is really the biggest explicative factor in the result, along with red zone conversion. Miami and A&M had extremely similar yards per play— Miami at 5.09, A&M at 5.08— and weren’t even all that far off on points per drive, with 1.00 and 1.55 respectively. However, on a points-per-play basis (a measure of scoring efficiency) you can see the disparity clearly: the Aggies nearly tripled the Canes here, 0.327 for the Ags to 0.117 for Miami.

I should mention that all this was accomplished by a quite depleted defensive unit. A&M was missing Walter Nolen, Denver Harris, Smoke Bouie, Tunmise Adeleye, Andre White, and Myles Jones coming into the game, and lost both Demani Richardson and Brian George to 1st-quarter targeting calls. Due to this, the Aggie depth had to step up, with guys like Bryce Anderson answering the bell in a big way.

The exciting thing here is that this defense can still yet improve, despite their current lofty ranking by SP+. First of all, some of the injured players returning will obviously bolster not only the depth, but the quality of play. Second, as I’ve mentioned, the A&M defense failed to register not only a single sack, but a turnover, despite several chances at a pick. If you see those numbers start to tick upwards, as I believe they will with the maturation of a young front line, watch out.