3 Takeaways From Texas A&M Football’s Dominating Win over ULM

Texas A&M Football Had an Efficient Day

The Aggies, more than anything, showcased their efficiency on both sides of the ball today. They made it tough on their opponent to gain yards or turn their opportunities into points, while they picked up yardage in chunks and converted almost every opportunity they had. To be specific, per collegefootballdata.com, the Aggies had 4.7 points per opportunity (an opportunity being defined as a trip across the opponents’ 40-yardline), while they held the Warhawks to only 1 point per opportunity. That’s quite the gap in efficiency.

It also helps that the Aggies scored every single time they went down the field. So this wasn’t just a fluke due to a low sample size as far as one game goes—the Aggies were consistently converting drives into points. That’s a recipe for a sustainably successful offense.

That’s scoring, but how about down-in and down-out? Well, the Aggies excelled there as well. They notched a 57% success rate (defined as the percentage of total plays that gain 50% of required yardage on first down, 70% of required yardage on second down, and those that convert on third or fourth down) on the day, with a whopping 71% of their non-garbage time third quarter plays marked as successful. Helping demonstrate this, the Aggies were 9 for 14 on third down conversions for the day. Conversely, they held the Warhawks to a pitiful 19% success rate outside of garbage time, including 8% in the second quarter and 0% in the third quarter. To illustrate the disparity here, too, the Warhawks didn’t convert a single third down until late in the fourth quarter.

There’s a lot to question about this Aggie team after what we saw last week. But there’s a lot to be excited about as well. With how wide-open the SEC West looks right now… I’m choosing to be optimistic. Let’s reload, get ready for conference play, and BTHOauburn.