That was about as complete and dominating a half as you could have hoped for if you're A&M. With the exception of the first two plays on defense, everything went right.
First off, Kyle Allen was extremely impressive. He was 10-13 for 126 yards and 3 TDs, and not a single one of his passes was in a place where it could have been picked by BSU. His last pass, to Jeremy Tabuyo, was perfect. He led him precisely and put perfect touch on the pass. It looked like an NFL throw. A couple of his passes to RSJ, when he rolled out of the pocket and threw on the move, were great as well.
Tra Carson came in and did some quick damage. He averaged nearly 6 yards a carry, including that big 30-yarder to set up the first score. Then you get 62 yards out of Brice Dolezal and 25 out of Kwame Etwi and A&M is averaging 5.8 yards a carry. The offensive line, with the exception of one sack of Allen, has abused Ball State the whole game.
I don't know what you say about Christian Kirk. He's not human. He may not be 1st team freshman All-American, he may first team All-American period.
The defense had two lousy plays and gave up 74 yards out of the gate. Since then, they have given up 28. Their starting QB, Jack Milas, completed as many passes to A&M (Devante Harris' pick 6) as he did his own guys, going 1-8 for 5 yards. Riley Neal, the backup, has completed both of his passes -- for 5 more yards.
The Aggie defense hasn't sacked Ball State's QBs yet, but they haven't needed to. The pressure is enough to get their QBs to move, and they don't want to (or can't). Passes to the outside are being gobbled up by the linebackers or safeties. Runs up the gut are getting nowhere after play 2. Eliminate those two plays, and Ball State has a 18 yards on 24 offensive plays. That's absolute domination by the defense. You got to see Armani Watts make a big stop on the goal line and Brandon Williams use his speed to break up what looked like a touchdown pass. And Harris, before he had his pick 6, made a great pass breakup to force a punt.
A&M is 8 of 9 on 3rd downs. BSU is 0 of 8. That's how you win. Obviously, the Aggies won't do that against superior competition, but they're setting a tone.
First off, Kyle Allen was extremely impressive. He was 10-13 for 126 yards and 3 TDs, and not a single one of his passes was in a place where it could have been picked by BSU. His last pass, to Jeremy Tabuyo, was perfect. He led him precisely and put perfect touch on the pass. It looked like an NFL throw. A couple of his passes to RSJ, when he rolled out of the pocket and threw on the move, were great as well.
Tra Carson came in and did some quick damage. He averaged nearly 6 yards a carry, including that big 30-yarder to set up the first score. Then you get 62 yards out of Brice Dolezal and 25 out of Kwame Etwi and A&M is averaging 5.8 yards a carry. The offensive line, with the exception of one sack of Allen, has abused Ball State the whole game.
I don't know what you say about Christian Kirk. He's not human. He may not be 1st team freshman All-American, he may first team All-American period.
The defense had two lousy plays and gave up 74 yards out of the gate. Since then, they have given up 28. Their starting QB, Jack Milas, completed as many passes to A&M (Devante Harris' pick 6) as he did his own guys, going 1-8 for 5 yards. Riley Neal, the backup, has completed both of his passes -- for 5 more yards.
The Aggie defense hasn't sacked Ball State's QBs yet, but they haven't needed to. The pressure is enough to get their QBs to move, and they don't want to (or can't). Passes to the outside are being gobbled up by the linebackers or safeties. Runs up the gut are getting nowhere after play 2. Eliminate those two plays, and Ball State has a 18 yards on 24 offensive plays. That's absolute domination by the defense. You got to see Armani Watts make a big stop on the goal line and Brandon Williams use his speed to break up what looked like a touchdown pass. And Harris, before he had his pick 6, made a great pass breakup to force a punt.
A&M is 8 of 9 on 3rd downs. BSU is 0 of 8. That's how you win. Obviously, the Aggies won't do that against superior competition, but they're setting a tone.
