Texas A&M Football Demolishes ULM in Impressive Fashion
Many Texas A&M football fans expected to coast to a pretty easy win against an opponent like ULM, and the Aggies did just that. There was a lot to like on both sides of the ball, but a couple of concerns I had coming in were containing the Warhawk rushing attack (which was remarkably efficient up to that point in the year) and being able to move the ball consistently against an experienced front that was looking to punch above their weight.
It looks like that the Aggies managed to both stifle ULM down in and down out as well as operate very efficiently themselves. This isn’t just the eye test, however—the Aggies had the largest success rate margin in all of week 3’s FBS vs FBS games.
Did We Really Get Beat That Bad?
— parker fleming (@statsowar) September 18, 2023
Net Success Rates in Week 3 pic.twitter.com/6na3EYkrnI
If you’re unaware, success rate is an advanced metric that measures what percentage of your plays in a given game were “successful”. A “successful” play is defined as a play that gains 50% of the yardage needed to convert on first down, 70% of the yardage required on second down, or converts on 3rd/4th down. It shows your ability to stay ahead of the chains and make positive gains as you move down the field, giving no credit for short/no gains or yardage losses.
This is notable for several reasons: I’m not sure I’ve seen Texas A&M football ever top this chart in a given week before. In addition, it’s not like the Aggies were the only team playing a cupcake this week: Clemson hosted FAU, Michigan played Bowling Green, and Oregon faced off against Hawaii.
Let me be clear: this is not everything. I’m not declaring the Aggies division champs or anything based off of this measure. But it’s an encouraging sign; one that shows Texas A&M football is pointed in the right direction. They will face a much tougher test this week in the Auburn Tigers—let’s hope they continue being this efficient against competition like that.