By The Numbers: Mississippi State 26, Texas A&M 22

Here’s a statistical look, by the numbers, at the Aggies’ four-point loss to Mississippi State Saturday at Kyle Field...

1 - Turnovers forced on defense this season in 12 quarters vs. Power 5 opponents. That includes 0 defensive takeaways for the Aggies in their last 11 quarters. The last takeaway against a Power 5 team was the first drive of the Colorado game.

2 - Sacks in the game for DeMarvin Leal, who added half a run TFL and a batted pass. Leal leads the Aggies with 4.5 sacks and 6.5 TFL through 5 games and is on pace for 11 sacks and 16 TFL in a 12-game regular season.

2 - Losses in a row for Jimbo Fisher era to a team not ranked in the top 8 nationally after going 27-2 in his first 29 games at A&M against teams ranked outside the top 8 or unranked at the time that A&M played them. To date, Fisher is 27-4 (.871) against teams ranked outside the top 8 and 29-6 (.829) vs. teams not ranked #1 or #2.

#2 - A&M’s national ranking in runs over 40 yards offensively. The Aggies have ripped off 5 runs of 40+ yards this season. That’s 2 more than any team in the SEC (Auburn - 3). Georgia Southern is the only school in the country that has more runs of 40+ yards than A&M (7). A&M is 7th nationally in runs over 30 yards with 6.

3 - Sacks allowed on offense against the Bulldogs, running the season total for sacks allowed to 12. That number (2.40 sacks allowed per game) ranks #85 nationally through four games. A&M’s offensive line gave up just 7 sacks total in 2020. The Aggies also gave up 7 TFL in the game and currently rank #89 in TFL allowed per game (6.40 PG).

4 - Pass breakups for true freshman cornerback Tyreek Chappell. The Philadelphia product added 7 tackles in his first full-game action this season.

5 - Offensive plays over 20 yards against State. The included runs of 25 (Calzada), 41 (Achane) and 45 (Spiller) yards and passes of 29 (Achane) and 38 (Preston) yards.

5 - Pass plays allowed over 20 yards against Mississippi State. The A&M defense entered last Saturday’s game with Arkansas as is the only team in FBS that had not allowed a single pass play of 20+ yards but the Aggies have allowed 11 passes of 20-plus yards in their 2 SEC games.

6 - Touches on offense for Ainias Smith. The dynamic junior rushed once for 3 yards and caught 5 passes for 30 yards.

7.04 - Yards per carry combined for dynamic running backs Isaiah Spiller and Devon Achane vs. the Bulldogs. Spiller reached the century mark once again with 100 rushing yards on 16 carries, averaging 6.2 YPC. Achane ran for 69 yards on 8 carries, averaging 8.6 YPC.

10:04 - Time of possession disadvantage vs. MSU. Despite the Bulldogs gaining only 30 rushing yards, Mike Leach’s squad held the football for 34:36 (including 11:32 in the fourth quarter alone), compared to just 24:32 of possession time for the Aggies (and 3:02 in the final period).

11 - The number of teams in FBS that have not recovered a fumble this season. A&M is one of those teams, along with Kentucky and Vanderbilt in the SEC. The Aggies have forced just 4 turnovers through 5 games - all interceptions - and have just 2 takeaways in the last 4 games.

13 - Catches in the game for Cal transfer Makai Polk, working predominantly against A&M’s Jaylon Jones. Polk racked up a career-best 13 catches for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had 5 career TDs entering this game.

14.5 - “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 0 interceptions, 0 forced fumbles, 7 pass breakups and 4 TFL (3 sacks / 1 run TFL) vs. Mississippi State. That’s 11 “Havoc points” divided by 76 defensive snaps for a game rating of 14.5, meaning that the Aggies created havoc on exactly 14.5% of the Bulldogs’ offensive snaps. For the season, A&M’s Havoc Rate is 19.1 (65 havoc points in 341 defensive 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.

15 - Tackles in the game for Antonio Johnson. That’s the most in a single-game for the Aggies since Tyrel Dodson had 16 against Alabama in 2017. A&M’s leading tackler now has 41 tackles through 5 games. That ranks __ nationally.

56.3 - Net yards per punt in 3 attempts for A&M’s Nik Constantinou. That included 2 punts of 50-plus yards and 2 punts inside the MSU 20.

90% - Field goal percentage this season for kicker Seth Small after going a perfect 3-of-3 on Saturday with field goals of 37, 40 and 44 yards. Small is 9-of-10 on the season, including a perfect 9-of-9 on kicks inside of 50 yards.

#101 - A&M’s national ranking in scoring offense. The Aggies are averaging just 23.4points per game. Only South Carolina and Vanderbilt in the SEC average fewer points per contest.

#108 - A&M’s national ranking in passes over 30 yards. The Aggies have completed just 4 pass plays of 30+ yards through 5 games, including 1 vs. MSU. That’s tied with Vanderbilt for worst among SEC teams.

#111 - A&M’s national ranking in penalties per game. The Aggies average 7.6 penalties per game for an average yardage lost per game of 60.8 (#86).

#114 - A&M’s national ranking in turnover margin. The Aggies have turned the ball over 9 times through 5 games and have just 4 takeaways on defense, producing a margin of -5 in the turnover category. Only Vanderbilt and Kentucky rank lower in turnover margin among SEC teams.

#118 - A&M’s national rank in Red Zone TD Percentage offensively. A&M managed just one touchdown inside the MSU 20 in 4 red zone trips on Saturday. For the season, the Aggies are just 7-of-16 (43.75%) ... last in the SEC.

141 - Yardage differential in favor of Mississippi State in the game. State gained 438 yards on 76 plays while the Aggies managed just 297 yards on only 52 plays.

408 - Passing yards allowed by the A&M defense against Will Rogers and the Bulldogs. Rogers was 46-of-59 for 408 yards and 3 TDs. His 78% completion percentage bested Calzada’s 60% completion percentage by 18%.

A&M in national stat rankings

Offense
• Total O = #76 (381.2 YPG)
• Scoring O = #101 (23.4 PPG)
• Rushing O = #58 (167.6 YPG)
• Passing O = #81 (213.6 YPG)
• Yards Per Play = #63 (5.9 YPP)
• First Downs = #101 (18.8 PG)
• 3rd Down Conversions = #57 (41.67%)
• Red Zone TD% = #118 (43.75% - 7-of-16)
• Explosiveness = #85 (20 plays over 20 yards)
    - #61 with 10 plays over 30 yards
    - #34 with 7 plays over 40 yards
    - #24 with 4 plays over 50 yards
    - #13 with 3 play over 60 yards
    - #26 with 1 play over 70 yards
• Explosive Run Plays = #46 (7 plays over 20 yards)
    - #7 with 6 plays over 30 yards
    - #2 with 5 plays over 40 yards
    - #15 with 2 plays over 50 yards
    - #6 with 2 plays over 60 yards
• Explosive Pass Plays = #87 (13 plays over 20 yards)
    - #108 with 4 plays over 30 yards
    - #86 with 2 plays over 40 yards
    - #36 with 2 plays over 50 yards
    - #36 with 1 play over 60 yards
    - #16 with 1 play over 70 yards
• Sacks Allowed Per Game = #85 (2.40 PG ... 12 total)
• Tackles For Loss Allowed Per Game = #89 (6.40 PG ... 32 total)

Defense
• Total D = #41 (319.8 YPG)
• Scoring D = #5 (12.6 PPG)
• Rushing D = #71 (142.6 YPG)
• Passing D = #24 (177.2 YPG)
• Yards Per Play Allowed = #24 (4.69 YPP)
• First Downs Allowed = #42 (18.0 PG)
• Opponent 3rd Down Conversions = #27 (31.94%)
• Opponent Red Zone TD% = #12 (38.46% - 5-of-13)
• Explosiveness Against = #14 (14 plays allowed over 20 yards)
    - #4 with 4 plays allowed over 30 yards
    - #17 with 2 plays allowed over 40 yards
    - #20 with 1 play allowed over 50 yards
    - #49 with 1 play allowed over 60 yards
    - #75 with 1 play allowed over 70 yards
    - #103 with 1 play allowed over 80 yards
• Explosive Run Plays Against = #18 (3 plays allowed over 20 yards)
    - #42 with 2 plays allowed over 30 yards
    - #1 with 0 plays allowed over 40 yards
• Explosive Pass Plays Against = #19 (11 plays allowed over 20 yards)
    - #2 with 2 plays allowed over 30 yards
    - #26 with 2 plays allowed over 40 yards
    - #39 with 1 play allowed over 50 yards
    - #64 with 1 play allowed over 60 yards
    - #94 with 1 play allowed over 70 yards
    - #115 with 1 play allowed over 80 yards
• Sacks = #20 (3.0 PG ... 15 total)
• Tackles For Loss = #12 (8.25 PG ... 33 total)
• Interceptions = #49 (4)
• Fumble Recoveries = #120 (0)

Team
• Time of Possession = #52 (30:22)
• Turnover Margin = #114 (-5)
• Penalties = #111 with 7.6 penalties per game
    - #86 with 60.8 penalty yards per game

Special Teams
• Field Goal % = #51 (81.8% - 9-of-11)
• Punting = #10 (47.78 Avg.)
• Kick Returns = #13 (30.5 Avg.)
• Explosive Kick Returns = #8 (3 returns over 30 yards)
• Opponent Kick Returns Average = #108 (25.0 yards per return)
• Explosive Kick Returns Allowed = #46 (1 return allowed over 30 yards)
• Punt Returns = #48 (9.88 yards per return)
• Explosive Punt Returns = #15 (2 returns over 20 yards)
    - #5 with 2 returns over 30 yards
• Opponent Punt Returns Average = #31 (3.7 yards per return)
• Explosive Punt Returns Allowed = #1 (0 returns allowed over 20 yards)

Individual
• QB Zach Calzada = #98 in passing yards per game (153.6 YPG); #84 in passing TDs (5): #86 in QBR (46.8)
    - #61 in passes over 50 yards (1); #33 in passes over 60 yards (1); #12 in passes over 70 yards (1)

• RB Isaiah Spiller = #30 in rushing yards (445); #47 in yards per carry (6.5); #33 in yards from scrimmage (551)
    - #35 in runs over 10 yards (12); #59 in runs over 20 yards (3); #8 in runs over 30 yards (3); #3 in runs over 40 yards (3); #16 in runs over 50 yards (1)
    - #7 in runs over 60 yards (1)

• RB Devon Achane = #89 in rushing yards (296); #35 in yards per carry (6.9 Avg.); #98 in yards from scrimmage (414)
    - #59 in runs over 20 yards (3); #8 in runs over 30 yards (3); #9 in runs over 40 yards (2); #16 in runs over 50 yards (1); #7 in runs over 60 yards (1)
    - #12 in kick return average (30.5); #4 in kick returns over 30 yards (3)

• RB/WR Ainias Smith = #21 in punt return average (10.53 Avg.); #7 in punt returns over 20 yards (2); #4 in punt returns over 30 yards (2)

• WR Demond Demas = #29 in catches over 50 yards (1); #10 in catches over 60 yards (1); #5 in catches over 70 yards (1)
    - #9 in catches over 60 yards (1); #5 in catches over 70 yards (1)

• DL DeMarvin Leal = #16 in sacks (4.5); #23 in tackles-for-loss (6.5)

• DL Micheal Clemons = #75 in sacks per game (0.63 PG ... 2.5 total); #73 in tackles-for-loss per game (1.13 PG ... 4.5 total)

• LB Aaron Hansford = #72 in tackles-for-loss (4.5)

• CB Tyreek Chappell = #36 in pass breakups (4)

• S/N Antonio Johnson = #45 in tackles (41); #36 in pass breakups (4)

• S Leon O’Neal = #16 in interceptions (2); #16 in passes defended (6); #36 in pass breakups (4)

• PK Seth Small = #21 in field goal % (90% - 9-of-10)

• P Nik Constantinou = #10 in punting average (47.78 Avg.)