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Texas A&M Football

Make It So: How A&M's Christian Kirk is upending the SEC at will

September 30, 2015
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Field position is so overrated.

That sentence would be considered blasphemy by most college football coaches. But then, most college football coaches don’t have Christian Kirk.

You know Kirk, the one-man highlight show from Arizona who is boldly going where no freshman has gone before. He’s gone 79 yards for a touchdown. He’s gone 66 yards for a touchdown. He’s gone 44 yards for a touchdown.

His mere presence makes the entire field the red zone. Think that’s hyperbole? Think again.

Last week Kirk made a freshman mistake and stepped out of bounds at his own three-yard line when fielding a kickoff against Arkansas.

Four plays later, he caught a 44-yard touchdown pass. He’s so good he makes you forget his errors.

Later, the Aggies were backed up to their seven-yard line. Kirk turned a short pass into a 29-yard gain. On the next play, he caught a pass for a 57-yard gain. The Aggies eventually kicked a field goal ... presumably because they didn’t get the ball to Kirk the rest of that drive.

“The kid’s got home run talent,” said A&M Offensive Coordinator Jake Spavital, stating the obvious. “If you look at how we were backed up that one drive, we hit two plays and he took it (about) 90 yards. He’s got that ability that you can do that toss pass and it goes 45 yards.

Kirby Clarke, TexAgs In only four games in a Texas A&M uniform, Christian Kirk has scored and flipped the field on a diverse array of plays. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"In only four games in a Texas A\u0026M uniform, Christian Kirk has scored and flipped the field on a diverse array of plays.","MediaItemID":59384}
"The kid is very talented and very driven, and you’ll continue to see his role improve as well.”

That’s scary. Kirk has already recorded seven plays that have covered at least 40 yards. He leads the Southeastern Conference with 442 receiving yards.

He’s averaging 18.4 yards per catch. He’s averaging 37.3 yards on punt returns. He’s averaging 201.3 all-purpose yards per game.

Clearly, he’s way above average.

And Spavital expects him to improve.

Frankly, that doesn’t seem outlandish considering the youth of sophomore quarterback Kyle Allen, another import from Arizona. The Arizona Connection may be just getting started.

Imagine how frustrating that could be for the good people of the Grand Canyon State.

How traumatic it must have been for them to see Allen and Kirk connect for two touchdowns — including a game-winning 20-yarder in overtime — on the same day USC punked Arizona State, 42-14, and UCLA romped over Arizona, 56-30. That might be the worst day for Arizona since Goldwater lost to Johnson in ’64.

Jason Mohns, Kirk’s former coach in Scottsdale, Ariz., attended the A&M-Arkansas game. He might as well have been watching old Saguaro High School game tape.

“Knowing the kind of kid he is and his work ethic, I’m not surprised he’s doing well,” Mohns said via telephone on Wednesday. “But anybody would be lying if they said they knew he’d be doing as well as he’s done — leading the SEC in receiving.

“He made me a heck of an offensive playcaller when I had him here at Saguaro for four years. Any time our back was against the wall, I’d put the ball in his hands. He can turn a little screen pass into an 85-yard touchdown in a hurry.”

Of course, opposing defensive coordinators are learning that, too. No doubt, Mississippi State’s Manny Diaz has spent sleepless nights this week trying to figure out how to contain Kirk when the Bulldogs face A&M on Saturday night at Kyle Field.

If defenses get too preoccupied with Kirk, Allen figures to look more frequently to Josh Reynolds, Ricky Seals-Jones and Speedy Noil.

“It’s tough to really bracket anyone on our team,” Allen said. “We have so many good receivers from Josh to Christian to Ricky to Jeremy (Tabuyo) to Damion Ratley. We have so many people on our team that can make plays at any given time, you really can’t bracket anybody.”

Still, A&M coach Kevin Sumlin anticipates Kirk will find it more difficult to make big plays.

Kirby Clarke, TexAgs The talent the Aggies scatter across the field at the other receiver spots Josh Reynolds pictured) will force teams to defend Kirk honestly. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"The talent the Aggies scatter across the field at the other receiver spots Josh Reynolds pictured) will force teams to defend Kirk honestly.","MediaItemID":60276}
“It’s hard for a freshman to play at that level all year — you saw that with (safety) Armani Watts last year,” Sumlin said. “We need to have other guys step into these roles, and fortunately we have guys that can do it. Ricky has been solid, he hasn’t had the numbers people think he should have, but he’s blocking and playing as well as he’s ever played. Josh Reynolds has made touchdowns — that's his deal.

“We bring guys along in the intermediate phase and that’s where guys like Speedy, Ratley and Jeremy Tabuyo are. We’ve got guys who can help (Kirk) out. About game four or five, teams can see he has real talent and defenses will change.”

Mohns faced the same issue last season at Saguaro. He could turn to big-play threats in Byron Murphy, a four-star rated defensive back that A&M is now recruiting, and Kam’Ron Johnson, now a freshman safety at Northern Arizona, when opponents became too preoccupied with Kirk.

But Mohns always found ways to get the football to his most explosive player.

“We would line (Kirk) up in the slot, wide and in the backfield,” Mohns said. “Regardless of what (opposing) teams wanted to do, we put in the ball in his hands.”

A&M likely will, too, especially when the Aggies are in the red zone.

Which is anywhere on the field when Kirk’s in the game.
Discussion from...

Make It So: How A&M's Christian Kirk is upending the SEC at will

10,545 Views | 12 Replies | Last: 8 yr ago by Meximan
Olin Buchanan
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Staff
S
Make It So: How A&M's Christian Kirk is upending the SEC at will
Area51Ag
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AG
Great article!
G Hunny Ag
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Your last two sentences are a perfect summary of Kirk!
jbeaman88
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AG
To boldly go where no receiver has gone before!
Birdbear
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jpc08
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AG
Last week the jet sweep and releasing from the backfield were great ways to get more touches for Kirk. Definitely a play maker.
Midnight Rider
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AG
The kid is special!
rocky the dog
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AG
Really like everything about this young man. So glad he chose A&M.
AgOutsideAustin
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AG
Baller.
MicheIangeIo
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AG
dude he has played one SEC game
Womackster
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ShotOver
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AG
..such a good player.
Meximan
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Nine posts to our first potbanger. Is that average or above average for Texags?
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