Texas A&M is coming off of a big 48-20 win over the Arizona State Sun Devils in Kyle Field today, marking the completion of their big non-conference matchup of the year. There are certainly things to worry about after the way this win unfolded, but at the end of the day, it’s a near-30-point victory, so there can’t be too much to complain about.
So what did we actually learn from this game? What can we carry forward about the Aggies? Let’s dive in and take a look.
Three takeaways from Texas A&M’s blowout of Arizona State
Lack of penalties goes a long way
Texas A&M closed the day with only one penalty on the day, registering a false start near the end of the game. Other than that one incident, the Aggies were unblemished throughout the afternoon— a far cry from what we saw out of them last week.
Penalties have been a consistent issue for the Aggies in the Mike Elko era, so exiting today with essentially a clean sheet was an auspicious sign. Elko’s desire to instill discipline in this program has been obvious and it has permeated many areas, but this is one where it hasn’t quite shown up yet.
In a game where ASU kept shooting themselves in the foot, the Aggies avoided doing so (at least in this respect). If the Aggies want to be successful this year, they are going to need to keep that up going into the upcoming games— especially on the road in environments like Death Valley.
Winning the turnover battle goes even further
Texas A&M won the turnover battle 4-1 in this game, with two of those turnovers getting run back for touchdowns by the defense. The Aggies did not get a lot of turnovers last season— especially interceptions— and given that Marcel Reed threw 12 INTs, that meant that they were playing from behind in this respect more often than not.
The turnovers really were the story of this game, when it’s all said and done. The Aggies scored 48 points and kneeled the game out in the Sun Devil red zone, but only gained 255 yards for the day— that seems impossible until you consider how significantly the turnovers played in.
If the more physical, aggressive style of defense the Aggies are going to play this year leads to more turnovers, then it can help things a lot this year. This was one area where the defense was lacking quite a bit last season— and this game is exhibit A as to why it can swing a game in a massive way.
KJ Edwards needs way more snaps
The run game for the Aggies was not exactly popping off early on in this game with the numbers that Arizona State was throwing at the line of scrimmage. As things wore on, the offensive line began to lean on the Sun Devils a bit, wearing them out, but the Aggies definitely needed more juice early on.
The man who can do that for them in spades wears no. 0. It’s always easy to pump the tires of the backup, but the explosiveness that we’ve seen out of KJ Edwards is not something you can fake. Giving him one carry at the end of the game is less than he needs— now that we know that Morrow has been battling a minor injury, putting Edwards in to get some more carries will do a lot for the A&M rush offense.
There’s time yet this season to finish figuring out the rotation at running back, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the freshman needs to figure in more prominently. A&M is a bit spoiled for choice in the backfield, but Edwards is forcing his way into a starring role.
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