COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas A&M Aggies (2-1, 0-0 SEC) defeated the Miami Hurricanes (2-1, 0-0 ACC), 17-9, at Kyle Field on Saturday.
Here are five takeaways from the win:
—Change in QB1 made little difference
After the first half of Saturday’s matchup, there doesn’t seem to be too much of a difference between quarterbacks Max Johnson and Haynes King’s impact on the offense.
Johnson’s performance in the first half looked troublesome. This was partially because of bad passes as well the excellent coverage from Miami’s defense. When it comes to deep passes down the field or using their legs, King takes the cake. During the game, Johnson’s longest throw was a 25-yard touchdown pass to Devon Achane. Meanwhile between the first two games, King’s long was 66 yards.
This isn’t to discredit Johnson whatsoever. While he was a decent quarterback while at LSU, the mark he’ll make on A&M is still unknown in just one appearance. However for his first game as an Aggie, putting up only 140 total passing yards and a single touchdown wasn’t too good of a performance and isn’t going to cut it against SEC opponents.
—Offensive line still needs to improve
After two weeks of struggling, the offensive line seemed to improve a bit against Miami. The unit started off the first quarter strong before collapsing and allowing two sacks in the first half.
Sophomore center Bryce Foster finally made his first appearance after dealing with an illness since the beginning of the season. With him back on the field, there was a clear difference in the offensive line as a whole. Johnson had a lot more time to survey the defense and throw down the field compared to his counterpart during the first two games.
While the offensive line did make minor adjustments, more needs to be done in order for the unit to be as successful as possible. Being able to give time to the quarterback and defend him from the defense go hand in hand. One should not be happening without the other and if so, time is running out for the line to get into top shape as SEC play starts next weekend.
—Special teams and defense came through
Both the special teams and defense units had a great night against Miami despite losing two key players due to targeting. During the first quarter, defensive backs Brian George and Demani Richardson were both ejected after their tackles were ruled targeting. This was a huge blow to the defense as Richardson is one of the team’s leaders in tackles, however, the defense didn’t seem phased.
After a three-and-out for the Aggies and a punt from Nik Constantinou, defensive back Demani Richardson forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Chris Russell Jr. A few short minutes later into the second quarter, the secondary refused a 3rd-and-16 conversion for the Hurricanes, leading to a field goal attempt that was blocked by defensive lineman Albert Regis.
These huge plays really paved the way for the Aggies and were a huge improvement from last weekend’s performance. Defensive back Jaylon Jones was hungry in his first game of the season due to his injury and tied for a team-high 8 tackles, with 7 being solo.
—Third down conversions
The offense struggled throughout the first half at converting on key third downs. It wasn’t until the second quarter that the team finally managed to move the chains after a pass to wide receiver Ainias Smith. Before that, the Aggies were 0-for-3 on third down conversions. By the end of the matchup, A&M was 4-for-11 on third downs.
It is critical that the offense becomes much more efficient as defenses in the SEC aren’t interested in letting the Aggies off easy. Conversions matter and they should matter much more to A&M to ensure success. If the offense remains unproductive and continues with getting three-and-outs, it’ll become increasingly hard to outscore opponents as the season goes on.
—Run game is nearly reestablished
It seems that A&M’s coaching staff has finally figured out the rushing game for the offense. During the first two games, the Aggies only rushed for 193 yards as a team. A&M’s leader in rushing, running back Devon Achane, compiled 76 yards during the first half alone before finishing off the game with 88 yards. In comparison, Achane only managed to run for 108 yards between the first two games.
While Achane remains A&M’s primary rusher, the offensive line and other offense players did a great job allowing him to finally gain traction on the field. On a surprising note and as mentioned earlier, Johnson was somehow able to mirror King’s running ability. He finished with 23 rushing yards, the second-highest on the team. While this doesn’t make the rushing core look too good considering that the team’s quarterback is one of the leaders, it is still encouraging to possibly have two dual-style quarterbacks in A&M’s arsenal as tougher opponents and defense get increasingly closer.
