Aggies’ plan to stifle run game working
89-yard TD run by Williams sparks offense
AUBURN, Ala. — Texas A&M star defensive end Myles Garrett ran up a few steps into a crowd of Aggies in Jordan-Hare Stadium late Saturday night, impressive in that he owned enough energy to do so after chasing harried Auburn players for four quarters.
Garrett enjoyed both acts immensely, as the 17thranked Aggies defeated the Tigers 29-16 before 87,175 fans, a healthy cluster of them wearing maroon for the Southeastern Conference road trip.
A&M entered this season bent on better slowing the run. Signs are encouraging for the Aggies, and more importantly so are the scores to date. The Aggies (3-0, 1-0) held the Tigers (1-2, 0-1) to a firstquarter touchdown and a second-quarter field goal, and then scoreless until late in the fourth quarter.
“The defense is playing top-notch right now,” A&M senior quarterback Trevor Knight said.
A year ago A&M finished 107th nationally against the run, and allowed 311 rushing yards in a 26-10 loss to Auburn in Kyle Field. On Saturday and behind second-year defensive coordinator John Chavis, the Aggies held a frustrated Tigers offense to 399 total yards, including 236 rushing yards, many of those coming late with the game out of reach.
“Right now we can play the run and we can play the pass, now we go on to see what we can do,” said Garrett, who had two of the Aggies’ four sacks. “I feel like we can do it all this season.”
‘Big, explosive play’
The second half was highlighted by A&M freshman running back Trayveon Williams’ 89-yard touchdown run up the middle with 6:52 remaining in the game.
“That was a big, explosive play,” said Knight, who finished 20-of-40 for 247 yards and a touchdown pass. “That play sealed the game for us.”
It also was A&M’s longest rush as an SEC member (joined in 2012), and longest since Christine Michael’s school record 97-yarder in 2009. While A&M coach Kevin Sumlin was glad to see Williams’ dash, he wasn’t happy with the offense repeatedly stalling out deep in Auburn’s territory, resulting in five Daniel LaCamera field goals.
“We’ve got to get better and score touchdowns instead of so many field goals,” Sumlin said.
The victory keeps up the unusual tradition of the visiting team prevailing in this SEC West series, now spanning five games since 2012.
“We came over here to win a game and get started in SEC play,” Sumlin said when asked about any pressure on the two programs and their respective coaches leading into the game.
LaCamera kicked three field goals in the first half, with a long of 46, and Josh Reynolds caught a 5-yard touchdown pass on a slant to give A&M a 16-10 halftime lead.
A key moment in the game’s momentum occurred midway through the second quarter, when defensive lineman Reggie Chevis forced a fumble by receiver Ryan Davis and defensive end Daeshon Hall recovered. The Aggies’ following drive resulted in a 35-yard field goal by LaCamera and a 13-7 A&M lead.
In addition, A&M’s defense limited Auburn to short gains throughout — or at least when it mattered most.
“I thought our backend guys did a really good job of limiting the explosive plays,” Sumlin said of his secondary playing Auburn’s tricky offense snugly.
Another 3-0 start
The Aggies, who have defeated UCLA, Prairie View A&M and Auburn, next face Arkansas on Saturday in AT&T Stadium, the second of five consecutive SEC games, with the first three of that stretch away from Kyle Field.
“No matter what happened here, we’ve still got a lot of football to play,” Sumlin said. “We recognize there’s still a whole lot of football to play.”
The Aggies have started 3-0 for a third consecutive season, the first time that has happened since Homer Norton coached the “cadets” from 1939-41. Norton led the Aggies to their lone national title in 1939.
Meanwhile, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn is in trouble in his fourth year with the Tigers, who have lost nine of their last 11 games against SEC West opponents, and they’ve lost seven consecutive games on their home field to members of Power 5 conferences.
Auburn played in the national-title game in Malzahn’s first season of 2013, a narrow loss to Florida State. That seems like ages ago, after a packed house lost its fervor during the Tigers’ rugged second half.
“We didn’t get it done,” Malzahn said. “We have to figure out a way to fix that.”