Post-Game Review: Texas A&M 65, Sam Houston 28

Quarterback Johnny Manziel showed his Heisman Trophy-winning form in passing for 426 yards and three touchdowns in less than three quarters of play. Meanwhile, Mike Evans had seven catches for 155 yards as the Aggies accumulated more than 700 yards of offense in their dress rehearsal for next week’s showdown with Alabama.

Rising: WR Ja’Quay Williams. The freshman receiver was a non-factor in the season-opener, but he’ll be hard to ignore any longer after his performance Saturday night. He only had two catches, but on both he beat tight coverage to make eyebrow-raising grabs for big gains. His first collegiate catch went for a 20-yard touchdown in which he made a reaching grab of a Manziel pass with Sam Houston’s Deantrey Loche right behind. As impressive as that catch was, Williams topped it late in the third quarter with a one-handed grab of a Kenny Hill pass for 38 yards.

Falling: Optimism for the Aggies defense. A&M was looking for redemption after allowing 509 yards – including 306 rushing – in the season-opening win over Rice. The Aggies are still looking. Sam Houston rushed 74 yards on six plays for an opening touchdown. The drive was marked by runs of 36, 20 and 11 yards by Sam Houston’s Timothy Flanders. Flanders added a 68-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and finished with 170 yards and two touchdowns. A&M allowed 240 rushing yards and 390 yards of offense. Flanders is an excellent runner and became the Southland Conference’s all-time leading rusher. But still you can’t help but wonder if Flanders has that much success against the Aggies what will T.J. Yeldon do?

Best hit: Although there weren’t many defensive highlights, junior linebacker Tommy Sanders was a big hit. He had five tackles, including three for losses.

Best hands: Evans looked like an adept juggler in a circus to make a catch late in the first half. On the first play of the final drive, Manziel’s pass to Evans on the sideline came in about ankle high. Evans reached down for the pass, but then lost control as he pulled the ball in. The ball then deflected off a converging defensive back and back into Evans’ hands for an 18-yard gain.

Turning point: Sam Houston raced downfield in six plays for a touchdown on its first series, but facing third-and-eight on its next possession QB Brian Bell was sacked for a 5-yard loss by blitzing LB Nate Askew. That forced the first of four straight Sam Houston possessions that ended with punts. Meanwhile, A&M scored touchdowns on three of its next four series to take control with a 27-7 lead late in the second quarter.

Standing 'O': Evans had two catches in the opening drive, which gave him 90 in just 15 career games. That’s the fewest number of games for any Texas A&M player to reach 90 catches. Evans went on to notch seven catches for 155 yards for his fourth career 100-yard receiving performance.  … Texas A&M tied a school record with 38 first downs. … A&M set a school record with 500 passing yards.