By The Numbers: Texas A&M 41, Kent State 10

Here’s a statistical look, by the numbers, at the sixth-ranked Aggies’ 31-point win over Kent State in the season opener Saturday night at Kyle Field.

.871 - Jimbo Fisher’s winning percentage at Texas A&M against teams not ranked #1 or #2 nationally. He’s 27-4 in those games and 25-2 (.926) against teams ranked outside the top 8 at the time the Aggies played them.

2 - Sacks allowed on offense against the Golden Flashes. A&M’s offensive line gave up just 7 sacks total in 2020.

4 - Consecutive games in which A&M’s Mr. Do-It-All Ainias Smith has gained at least 98 total yards. On Saturday, Smith caught 8 passes for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns and added 16 yards rushing. It’s his third career 100-yard receiving game.

6 - Years since the last time the Aggies threw 4 interceptions in one game. Haynes King threw 3 INTs vs. Kent State and Zach Calzada tossed one. The last time A&M threw 4 INTs in a game was October 17, 2015 against Alabama (Kyle Allen’s 3 INTs were all returned for a TD and Kyler Murray added an INT in the game). The Aggies threw just 4 interceptions all of last season.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

King, Achane and the A&M offense produced 7 plays over 15 yards on Saturday.

7 - Offensive plays over 15 yards in the game. A&M ripped off long runs of 19 (Spiller), 30 (Achane) and 63 (Achane) yards. Meanwhile, Haynes King connected on explosive passes of 23 (Smith), 27 (Smith) and 53 (Chapman) yards. A&M already has 2 plays over 50 yards. It had 8 plays of 50-plus yards all of last year (which ranked 22nd nationally). The Aggies had 6 plays from scrimmage over 50 yards in each of Fisher’s first two seasons in Aggieland.

9 - Wins in a row for the Aggies, which is tied for the second-longest active winning streak in FBS. A&M’s last loss was at ‘Bama in week 2 last year. The last time the Aggies had a winning streak beyond 7 games before this current streak began was in 1998 when R.C. Slocum’s squad ripped off 10 consecutive victories en route to the Big 12 title (A&M’s last conference championship). Interestingly, each of the last 8 wins have come by double digits. The last time A&M won 7 or more games by 10-plus points prior to this current run was 1993 in the old SWC.

11.0 - Yards per carry for electric tailback Devon Achane in his last two games. The speedy sophomore carried the ball 12 times for 140 yards in the Orange Bowl and scored the game-tying and game-winning TDs to beat North Carolina. Achane carried his momentum into the start of the ’21 campaign with a 12-carry, 124-yard, 2-TD performance in a blowout of Kent State. That’s 264 yards and 4 touchdowns on 24 carries in his last two games with all 4 scores coming in the second half. A&M had one play over 60 yards all of last season, and it was Achane’s 76-yard TD run in the Orange Bowl. He already has another run over 60 yards this season.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

The Aggie defense was disruptive, creating ‘havoc’ on 20% of Kent State’s snaps.

20.0 - “Havoc Rate” for the A&M defense in the game. Havoc Rate is an advanced metric from renowned stat man Bill Connelly (now with ESPN) 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 2 interceptions, 0 forced fumbles, 4 pass breakups and 9 TFL (5 sacks / 4 run TFL) vs. Kent State. That’s 15 “havoc points” divided by 75 defensive snaps for a game rating of 20.0, meaning that the Aggies created havoc on exactly 20% of the Golden Flashes’ offensive snaps. Last season, the Ags had a Havoc Rate of 19.1 and it was 18.6 in ’19. A&M ranked 5th in the nation in 2018 with a Havoc Rate of 20.4.

35:10 - A&M’s time of possession on Saturday ... in the same ballpark as the 34:49 that the Aggies averaged in ToP last season (ranked third nationally in ’20 in that department). A&M was 11th in time of possession in ’19 and third in 2018 in Jimbo Fisher’s first season.

69.2% - A&M’s third down conversion rate in the opener. The Aggies were 9-of-13 offensively on third down. That’s the highest in the nation in week one.

85 - Yards accounted for by A&M senior safety Leon O’Neal, Jr. in his interception return for a touchdown. That’s the eighth-longest INT return in program history and the longest since 1992.

91.7% - Field goal percentage for A&M kicker Seth Small in his last 9 games. Dating back to his game-winning performance against Florida last year, Small is 11-of-12 on field goal attempts.

191 - Combined receiving yards for junior receivers Ainias Smith and Caleb Chapman. Complementing Smith’s outstanding 8-catch, 100-yard, 2-touchdown performance was Chapman, who returned from an ACL injury to haul in 4 catches for 91 yards including a 53-yard grab on a deep post from Haynes King.

595 - Yards of total offense vs. KSU, which ranks #4 nationally after week one. That’s the most total yards for the Aggies in a game since a win over Lamar two years ago.

2017 - The last time A&M had two 100-yard rushers and a 100-yard receiver in the same game. On Saturday, Devon Achane ran for 124 yards and Isaiah Spiller rushed for 113 yards, while Ainias Smith caught 8 balls for right at 100 yards. You have to go back to A&M’s win over Arkansas in 2017 to find the last time the Aggies accomplished that feat, when Kellen Mond ran for 109 yards, Keith Ford rushed for 102 yards and Christian Kirk racked up 110 receiving yards (and one really long TD return).

2,095 - Rushing yards to date for sensational running back Isaiah Spiller, just one game into his third season in Aggieland. The junior eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark during a 17-carry, 113-yard effort in Saturday’s win over the Golden Flashes. It was his 11th 100-yard rushing game as an Aggie. Spiller is one of 21 A&M players to rush for 2,000 yards or more in their career.
 

A&M in national stat rankings

Team
• Time of Possession: #13 (35:10)
• Turnover Margin: #116 (-3)
• Penalties: #59 with 6 penalties per game; #97 with 70 penalty yards per game

Offense
• Total O: #4 (595 YPG)
• Scoring O: #28 (41 PPG)
• Rushing O: #14 (303 YPG)
• Passing O: #34 (292 YPG)
• Yards Per Play: #16 (7.83 YPP)
• First Downs: #5 (29 PG)
• 3rd Down Conversions: #1 (69.2%)
• Red Zone TD%: #73 (50% - 3-of-6)
• Explosiveness: #45 (5 plays over 20 yards)
    - #31 with 3 plays over 30 yards
    - #20 with 2 plays over 40 yards
    - #7 with 2 plays over 50 yards
    - #8 with 1 play over 60 yards
• Explosive Run Plays: #29 (2 plays over 20 yards)
    - #7 with 2 plays over 30 yards
    - #6 with 1 play over 40 yards
    - #3 with 1 play over 50 yards
    - #1 with 1 play over 60 yards
• Explosive Pass Plays: #52 (3 plays over 20 yards)
    - #63 with 1 play over 30 yards
    - #24 with 1 play over 40 yards
    - #10 with 1 play over 50 yards
• Sacks Allowed Per Game: #53 (2)
• Tackles For Loss Allowed Per Game: #42 (5)

Defense
• Total D: #58 (336 YPG)
• Scoring D: #21 (10 PPG)
• Rushing D: #106 (226 YPG)
• Passing D: #16 (110 YPG)
• Yards Per Play Allowed: #41 (4.48 YPP)
• First Downs Allowed: #66 (19 PG)
• Opponent 3rd Down Conversions: #73 (38.89%)
• Opponent Red Zone TD%: #24 (25% - 1-of-4)
• Explosiveness Against: #14 (2 plays allowed over 20 yards)
    - #27 with 1 play allowed over 30 yards
    - #1 with 0 plays allowed over 40 yards
• Explosive Run Plays Against: #90 (2 plays allowed over 20 yards)
    - #75 with 1 play allowed over 30 yards
    - #1 with 0 plays allowed over 40 yards
• Explosive Pass Plays Against: #1 (0 plays allowed over 20 yards)
• Sacks: #10 (5)
• Tackles For Loss: #23 (9)
• Interceptions: #16 (2)
• Fumble Recoveries: #58 (0)

Special Teams
• Field Goal %: #1 (100% - 2-of-2)
• Punting: N/A (no punts)
• Kick Returns: N/A (no kick returns)
• Explosive Kick Returns: N/A (no kick returns)
• Opponent Kick Returns Average: #77 (22.5 yards per return)
• Explosive Kick Returns Allowed: #1 (0 returns allowed over 30 yards)
• Punt Returns: #69 (2.75 yards per return)
• Explosive Punt Returns: #22 (0 returns over 20 yards)
• Opponent Punt Returns Average: N/A (no punts)
• Explosive Punt Returns Allowed: N/A (no punts)

Individual
• QB Haynes King: #28 in passing yards per game (292 YPG); #29 in passing TDs (2); #21 in total offense (314 YPG); #58 in completion % (63.6%); #74 in QBR (48.5); #59 in passes over 30 yards (1); #23 in passes over 40 yards (1); #8 in passes over 50 yards (1)

• RB Isaiah Spiller: #35 in rushing yards per game (113 YPG); #81 in yards per carry (6.65 Avg.); #35 in yards from scrimmage (137 PG); #22 in runs over 10 yards (4)

• RB Devon Achane: #24 in rushing yards per game (124 YPG); #20 in yards per carry (10.33 Avg.); #10 in rushing TDs (2); #57 in yards from scrimmage (124 PG); #10 in runs over 20 yards (2); #3 in runs over 30 yards (2); #5 in runs over 40 yards (1); #3 in runs over 50 yards (1); #1 in runs over 60 yards (1)

• RB/WR Ainias Smith: #12 in catches (8 PG); #40 in receiving yards (100 YPG); #3 in receiving TDs (2); #68 in yards from scrimmage (116 PG); #19 in catches over 20 yards (2); #47 in punt return average (2.75 Avg.)

• WR Caleb Chapman: #56 in receiving yards (90 YPG); #30 in catches over 30 yards (1); #9 in catches over 40 yards (1); #3 in catches over 50 yards (1)

• DL Shemar Turner: #17 in sacks per game (1.5 PG); #81 in tackles for loss per game (1.5 PG)

• DL Jayden Peevy: #20 in passes defended (2)

• S Leon O’Neal: #1 in interceptions (2); #20 in passes defended (2)

• PK Seth Small: #1 in field goal % (100%% - 2-of-2)