By The Numbers: Texas A&M 31, Sam Houston 0

Here’s a statistical look, by the numbers, at the Aggies’ 31-0 shutout victory over the Bearkats Saturday at Kyle Field in the 2022 season-opener.

0 - Points allowed by the A&M defense in D.J. Durkin’s debut as A&M’s defensive coordinator. It’s the second shutout for the Aggie defense in the Jimbo Fisher era and only the fourth shutout since 2004. In addition, it’s the first time since 1993 (24-0 win over LSU) that A&M has held an opponent scoreless in a season opener.

1 - Plays allowed by the A&M defense of 20-plus yards in game one. Even then, that one play did not officially count, as a holding call on Sam Houston allowed QB Jordan Yates enough time to hit Jax Sherrard downfield for a 30-yard gain.

On the official books, the longest play from scrimmage against Durkin’s defense was 18 yards. A&M is one of only six schools and the only program in the SEC that has yet to give up an official play of 20 or more yards.

2 - Turnovers forced by the A&M defense, both directly involving veteran linebacker Andre White. The senior tipped a pass early in the second quarter that safety Jardin Gilbert intercepted. Then in the fourth quarter, White forced a fumble that safety Jacoby Mathews recovered.

2.3 - Yards per carry for A&M running back Devon Achane. The explosive junior was bottled up for much of the opening game against SHSU, rushing for 42 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Achane ranked 11th nationally with a 7.0-yard average in ’21. He was sixth in college football as a freshman in ’20, rushing for 8.5 yards per rush.

#4 - Ainias Smith’s national ranking in receiving yards per game coming out of week one. Smith grabbed six passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns vs. Sam Houston. That is tops among all Power Five receivers so far.

4 - Categories in which Ainias Smith ranks in the top 10 nationally coming out of week one. In addition to ranking #4 in receiving yards per game with 164, Smith also sits at #6 in receiving touchdowns with two, #5 in total yards from scrimmage with 175 and #3 in all-purpose yards with 194.

7.2 - Average points allowed in season openers in five years under Fisher. The most points the Aggies have allowed since 2018 in an opening game was 12 (vs. Vanderbilt in ’20).

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Ainias Smith registered 164 yards and two touchdowns on six passes against the Bearkats. 

8.3% - Sam Houston’s third down conversion percentage on Saturday. The ‘Kats were 1-of-12 on third down against the Aggie defense. That’s the fifth time in the Fisher era and the first time since 2019 that A&M has held an opposing offense to under 10% on third down and the lowest since allowing Lamar to convert just 1-of-16 (6.25%) on third down in week three of the ’19 season.

The Ags rank #2 nationally behind only New Mexico (7.7%) in defensive third down percentage.

9 - Schools without a point allowed one week into the season. A&M and Alabama are the only SEC programs that have yet to give up a score. Interestingly, one of those nine schools is Duke, whose head coach is former A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko.

10 - Catches for true freshmen making their college debut on Saturday. The combination of first-year receivers Evan Stewart (five catches; 57 yards), Chris Marshall (four catches; 41 yards) and Jake Johnson (one catch; 2 yards) combined for 10 grabs and exactly 100 yards in their first games as Aggies.

21.8 - “Havoc rate” for the A&M defense in the game. Havoc rate is an advanced metric from longtime stat man Bill Connelly that is determined by calculating the total number of tackles-for-loss, passes defended (including INTs) and forced fumbles divided by the total number of plays. The Aggies had one interception, one forced fumble, four pass breakups and six TFLs (three sacks / three-run TFLs).

That’s 12 “Havoc points” divided by 55 defensive snaps for a game rating of 21.8, meaning that the Aggies created havoc on exactly 21.8% of the Bearkats’ offensive snaps. Last season, the Ags had a havoc rate of 17.8. It was 19.1 in ’20 and 18.6 in ’19. A&M ranked fifth in the nation in 2018 with a rate of 20.4.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Freshman Evan Stewart turned heads in his first game as an Aggie by recording five receptions and 57 yards. 

25-0 - A&M’s record under Jimbo Fisher when leading at the end of the first quarter. The Aggies held a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter on Saturday en route to a 31-point victory.

28 - Teams in college football that have not allowed a sack coming out of week one. A&M is one of those programs. The Aggies join Auburn, Florida, Georgia and Ole Miss as SEC teams who did not give up a sack on Saturday.

50% - Completion percentage for SHSU in the passing game. Quarterback Jordan Yates was 14-of-28 for just 91 yards with 0 touchdowns and one INT. It’s the 15th time in the Fisher era that the Aggie defense has held its opponent to 50% passing or lower, but just the fifth time since the start of 2018, they’ve limited an opposing passing game to under 100 yards through the air.

60+ - The Aggies connected on two pass plays over 60 yards on Saturday. Both came from Haynes King ... a 66-yard touchdown pass to Yulkeith Brown and a 63-yard TD strike to Ainias Smith.

To put that into perspective, the Aggies managed only one pass over 60-plus yards last season and no passes over 60 yards in 2020 or 2019. Coming into Saturday, the Aggies had only two passing plays over 60 yards in the entire Jimbo Fisher era. They matched that in one game. A&M and Louisiana Tech are the only programs with two plays of 60-plus yards after week one, and King is the only individual quarterback with multiple 60-plus-yard passes coming out of week one.

Additionally, King hit Smith on a 43-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, giving A&M three passes of 40-plus yards. That matches the number of passes over 40 yards throughout the ’21 campaign (A&M ranked #125 nationally in that category last year, and Wisconsin was the only Power Five school with fewer).

The Aggies had five plays over 20 yards in the contest, and all five were through the air.

91 - Passing yards allowed by the A&M defense on Saturday. That ranks #13 nationally coming out of week one and #2 behind only ‘Bama (57 yards) in the SEC.

110 - Rushing yards for the Aggies. A&M ran the ball 32 times but managed just 3.4 yards per carry against SHSU. You only have to go back one game to find a worse rushing performance by Fisher’s squad. A&M ran for only 54 yards and 1.9 yards per carry in the loss to LSU in the ’21 season finale. A&M has had 10 games under Jimbo where it managed fewer than 100 yards on the ground.

164 - Receiving yards for Ainias Smith ... a new single-game record for the senior. It was Smith’s fourth 100-yard receiving game and the most receiving yards by an A&M pass catcher in a single game since Christian Kirk’s 13-catch, 189-yard, three-touchdown performance in a 2017 Belk Bowl loss to Wake Forest (Kirk’s final college game).

198 - Total yards allowed by the A&M defense. It’s just the seventh time since Jimbo’s arrival in Aggieland that A&M has held an opponent to under 200 total yards. A&M sits at #16 nationally in total yards given up through week one. That trails only Alabama (136 yards) among SEC schools.

364 - Passing yards for A&M quarterback Haynes King vs. the Bearkats. The A&M signal-caller was 20-of-31 passing for 364 yards and three touchdowns to go along with two interceptions. It was the first time an Aggie quarterback has produced a 300-yard passing game since Kellen Mond threw for 338 yards in a 41-38 win over No. 10 Florida at Kyle Field in week three of the 2020 season.

A&M in national stat rankings

Team
• Time of Possession = #41 (32:23)
• Turnover Margin = #53 (0)
• Penalties = #52 with six penalties per game; #50 with 55 penalty yards per game

Offense
• Total O = #35 (391.6 YPG)
• Scoring O = #66 (31 PPG)
• Rushing O = #96 (110 YPG)
• Passing O = #10 (387 YPG)
• Yards Per Play = #26 (7.4 YPP)
• First Downs = #52 (23 PG)
• 3rd Down Conversions = #29 (53.85%)
• Red Zone TD% = #1 (100% - 1-of-1)
• Explosiveness = #58 (5 plays over 20 yards)
    - #28 with three plays over 30 yards
    - #6 with three plays over 40 yards
    - #5 with two plays over 50 yards
    - #2 with two plays over 60 yards
• Explosive Run Plays = #88 (0 plays over 20 yards)
• Explosive Pass Plays = #25 (5 plays over 20 yards)
    - #9 with three plays over 30 yards
    - #2 with three plays over 40 yards
    - #2 with two plays over 50 yards
    - #1 with two plays over 60 yards
• Sacks Allowed = #1 (0)
• Tackles For Loss Allowed = #73 (6)

Defense
• Total D = #16 (198 YPG)
• Scoring D = #1 (0 PPG)
• Rushing D = #46 (107 YPG)
• Passing D = #13 (91 YPG)
• Yards Per Play Allowed = #20 (3.6 YPP)
• First Downs Allowed = #11 (10 PG)
• Opponent 3rd Down Conversions = #2 (8.3%)
• Opponent Red Zone TD% = #1 (0% - 0-of-1)
• Explosiveness Against = #1 (0 plays allowed over 20 yards)
• Explosive Run Plays Against = #1 (0 plays allowed over 20 yards)
• Explosive Pass Plays Against = #1 (0 plays allowed over 20 yards)
• Sacks = #29 (3)
• Tackles For Loss = #58 (6)
• Interceptions = #33 (1)
• Fumble Recoveries = #18 (1)

Special Teams
• Field Goal % = #71 (50% - 1-of-2)
• Punting = #53 (42.5 Avg.)
• Kick Returns = #27 (24 Avg.)
• Explosive Kick Returns = #31 (0 returns over 30 yards)
• Opponent Kick Returns Average = N/A (0 returns allowed)
• Explosive Kick Returns Allowed = #1 (0 returns allowed over 30 yards)
• Punt Returns = #53 (4.75 yards per return)
• Explosive Punt Returns = #19 (0 returns over 20 yards)
• Opponent Punt Returns Average = N/A (0 returns allowed)
• Explosive Punt Returns Allowed = #1 (0 returns allowed over 20 yards)

Individual
• QB Haynes King = #9 in passing yards per game (364 YPG); #9 in passing yards per attempt (11.7 Avg.); #65 in completion % (64.5%); #24 in passing TDs (3); #7 in total offense (399 YPG); #82 in QBR (49.0 ... #10 among SEC QBs); #37 in passes over 10 yards (11); #21 in passes over 20 yards (5); #8 in passes over 30 yards (3); #2 in passes over 40 yards (3); #2 in passes over 50 yards (2); #1 in passes over 60 yards (2)

• RB/WR Ainias Smith = #68 in catches (6); #4 in receiving yards per game (164 Avg.); #19 in yards per catch (27.3 Avg.); #6 in receiving TDs (2); #5 in total yards from scrimmage (175 YPG); #3 in all-purpose yards (194 YPG); #38 in punt return average (4.75 Avg.)

• WR Yulkeith Brown = #6 in yards per catch (34.0 Avg.)

• DL LT Overton = #27 in sacks (1 PG)

• LB Andre White = #2 in forced fumbles (1); #11 in PBUs (2); #20 in passes defended [INTs + PBUs] (2)

• DB Antonio Johnson = #27 in sacks (1 PG)

• DB Jardin Gilbert = #9 in interceptions (1)

• PK Caden Davis = #71 in field goal % (50% - 1-of-2); #67 in kickoff average (63.0 Avg.); #13 in touchback % (83.3%)

• P Nik Constantinou = #40 in punting average (42.5 Avg.)