Texas A&M Football: Breaking Down Conner Weigman’s Performance Against New Mexico

If you didn’t know, now you do: the new QB for Texas A&M football, Conner Weigman, has got something special. He showed off and showed out in the first game of the 2023 season against New Mexico, racking up some huge numbers en route to a 50-burger for this Aggie offense. But just how great was his performance? Let’s dive into some of the numbers he put up.

Let’s begin with some top-line stats. Here were Conner’s numbers in the three quarters he saw against the Lobos.

• 18-23 passing for 78.2% completion
• 236 yards
• 5 touchdown passes
• 3 carries for 22 yards

Those are extremely impressive numbers. Historic, in fact. As it happens, Weigman is the first quarterback in the history of Texas A&M football to throw for five touchdowns in a season opener.

Let’s look a little harder at these numbers. Weigman notched 10.26 yards per attempt (13.1 yards per completion), better than every game last year save SHSU, but had a markedly better completion percentage than the Aggie QBs did in that game (78.2% vs 65.7%). His passer rating was off the charts, notching an eye-popping 236.2 on that scale. QBR—ESPN’s in-house passer rating that runs from a 0 to a 99–also thinks highly of Weigman’s performance, giving him a 97.2 for the game. That is good for the top spot in the country through the first (or second, depending on your team) week of college football.

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The advanced metrics show a similar stellar quality to Weigman’s play. According to collegefootballdata.com, Conner’s total Predicted Points Added per play was 0.984; in other words, according to the model that they have developed, every single pass/rush by Weigman added an average of almost one point to the Aggies total. That’s a high-value performance if I’ve ever seen one.

Texas A&M football fans—and, indeed, college football fans around the nation—are starting to see why Weigman was rated where he was coming out of high school. He seems poised for a breakout year—let’s hope he can keep this growth up throughout the season. If he does, who knows what the limit can be for the Aggies?