Texas A&M 38, Arizona State 17: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_18303" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo by Tyler Herrin Photo by Tyler Herrin[/caption] Texas A&M kicked off its 2015 campaign with a rousing 38-17 win over Arizona State at NRG Stadium in Houston. What can be taken away from this game? DCTF's Mike Craven breaks it down. The first game of the John Chavis era was successful for Texas A&M. The Aggies struggled early on offense, but the new-look defense held on long enough for quarterback Kyle Allen and the offense to come around to beat Arizona State, 38-17. Chavis, in his first game as defensive coordinator for A&M after a long stint at LSU, had his group working early. Defensive end Myles Garret was tremendous and the secondary kept a very good Arizona State passing attack in check for most of the game. The Sun Devils made a push in the second half, but the Aggies took away the running game, allowing Garrett and fellow defensive end Daeshon Hall to pin their ears back on third down situations. The offense sputtered for long stretches, but true freshman Christian Kirk showed why he was a five-star recruit coming out of high school. The Arizona native had a crucial punt return for a touchdown to give A&M a halftime lead and essentially ended the game with a catch-and-run in the fourth quarter to give the Aggies a 14-point lead. Former Allen quarterback Kyler Murray made his college debut in the second quarter and played some in the third quarter, but it was clear that Allen, a sophomore who gained experience in 2014, is the better quarterback right now. Murray is one of the most decorated signal-callers in Texas high school history, but people forget Allen was just as highly recruited as a prep athlete. Not enough can be said about Garrett, however. The sophomore defensive end is one of the top defensive linemen in the nation and he dominated the game even when double-teamed by Arizona State. His dominance trickles down to everyone else on the defense. It allows linebackers to roam free, Hall to work on a single blocker and for the defensive tackles to hold the point of attack against the run. It also forced Arizona State to keep a tight end or a running back in on third down situations. It wasn’t the offensive explosion Aggie fans are used to under Kevin Sumlin, but it was one of the better performances since Texas A&M moved to the SEC because it was a complete team win. The Aggies didn’t need a shootout to win. All three phases contributed, and that is a good sign moving forward.