Here’s a statistical look, by the numbers, at the Aggies’ 27-24 loss at LSU on Saturday night...
2.5 - Yards per carry for RB Isaiah Spiller. The junior rushed for just 27 yards on 11 carries in the loss to the Bayou Bengals. That’s Spiller’s lowest rushing average in an SEC game since the loss at Alabama last season.
3.5 - Sacks on Saturday for DE Micheal Clemons ... spear-heading a D-line outburst down the stretch with 6 sacks over the final 22 minutes of the game. Clemons had 3.5 sacks on the season entering Saturday’s game and now sits 3rd on the team and 46th nationally with 7 sacks in ’21 (DeMarvin Leal and Tyree Johnson each rank #23 with 8.5 sacks).
4 - Sack allowed in the game by A&M on offense. The Aggies gave up 12 sacks through the first 5 games this season but had allowed just 3 sacks TOTAL in the previous 6 games entering Saturday night. The last 2 plays of the game were sacks for LSU to close out the 3-point win.
5 - Plays allowed over 20 yards on defense in the game. 4 of the 5 explosive plays were through the air ... 3 of the 4 went for 30-plus yards and 2 went for 40-plus yards. The Aggies entered the game having allowed just 6 passes all year of 30 or more yards and just 3 passes of 40 or more yards.
5 - Plays over 20 yards against the Tigers. That included an explosive run of 21 yards (Devon Achane) and passes of 21 yards (Achane), 23 yards (Achane), 32 yards (Jalen Preston) and 39 yards (Moose Muhammad).
6 - Sacks in the game defensively for the Aggies. The maroon and white sat with 0 sacks up until the 7:00 mark of the 3rd quarter 5 of the 6 came in the 4th quarter. The last time A&M had more than 6 sacks in a single game was a 7-sack effort against South Carolina in 2017. The Aggies rank #10 nationally with 39 sacks through 12 games. That’s the highest A&M has ranked in sacks since finishing 5th with 43 sacks in 2017 (the year AFTER Myles Garrett left for the NFL ... interestingly, the only other time in recent history that A&M finished in the top 5 in sacks was in 2011 when the Ags were #1 nationally with 51 sacks the year AFTER Von Miller left for the NFL).
7.1 - Yards per touch in the game for running back Devon Achane. The electric sophomore ran for 49 yards on 12 carries and hauled in 5 passes for 72 yards.
14 - Points scored by LSU in the final minute of each half. Both Tigers last-minute touchdown passes from Max Johnson ... a 61-yard catch and run to Trey Palmer with :32 on the clock prior to half time and a 28-yard pass to Jaray Jenkins with :20 remaining in the game. Palmer’s 61-yard race to the end zone was the second longest play the Aggies have allowed all season.
20.3 - “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 8 TFL (6 sacks / 2 run TFL) vs. LSU. That’s 15 “Havoc points” divided by 74 defensive snaps for a game rating of 20.3, meaning that the Aggies created havoc on exactly 20.3% of the Tigers’ offensive snaps. For the season, A&M’s Havoc Rate is 17.8 (150 havoc points in 844 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.
21.4% - Third down conversion percentage for the Aggie offense against the Tigers. A&M went just 3-of-14 on third down in the game, falling from #71 nationally entering the final week of the regular season to #81 after 12 games (38.1%).
29.4% - Third down conversion percentage for LSU offense. The Aggie defense held the Bayou Bengals to a 5-of-17 showing on third down. A&M ranks #18 nationally in opponent’s third down conversion percentage (32.97%).
47 - Games between touchdowns for WR Jalen Preston, who hauled in a pair of 4th quarter touchdown passes on Saturday. The fourth-year junior caught a touchdown pass in his collegiate debut against Northwestern State in the season opener in 2018 ... Jimbo Fisher’s first game as A&M’s head coach. Nearly 4 full seasons later, Preston finally found pay dirt once again in helping fuel A&M’s late-game comeback bid.
#50 - A&M’s national ranking in time of possession this season (30:14). That’s nearly 3 minutes fewer per game than at any point in the Jimbo Fisher era. The Aggies ranked 3rd, 11th and 3rd, respectively, in time of possession in Fisher’s first 3 seasons in Aggieland.
143.5 - Passer rating for A&M QB Zach Calzada on Saturday. The third-year sophomore went 20-35-0 for 242 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. The passer rating is Calzada’s 2nd highest of the season in SEC play, trailing only his 170.45 rating in the win over Alabama.
306 - Passing yards for LSU’s Max Johnson against the A&M defense. The sophomore lefty was 22-38-0 for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns. That’s just the 2nd 300-plus passing effort against Mike Elko’s unit this season (MSU’s Will Rogers threw for 408 yards and 3 TDs).
1,011 - Rushing yards this season for RB Isaiah Spiller ... making it 2 straight seasons with 1,000-plus yards on the ground for the junior tailback. Spiller is only the 4th Aggie ever to rush for 1,000 or more yards in back-to-back years, joining George Woodard, Greg Hill and Cyrus Gray on that list.
A&M in national stat rankings
Offense
• Total O = #74 (391.6 YPG)
• Scoring O = #61 (29.3 PPG)
• Rushing O = #44 (183.0 YPG)
• Passing O = #90 (208.6 YPG)
• Yards Per Play = #59 (5.96 YPP)
• First Downs = #70 (20.9 PG)
• 3rd Down Conversions = #81 (38.1%)
• Red Zone TD% = #114 (51.2% - 22-of-43)
• Explosiveness = #71 (56 plays over 20 yards)
- #85 with 22 plays over 30 yards
- #71 with 11 plays over 40 yards
- #75 with 5 plays over 50 yards
- #41 with 4 plays over 60 yards
- #67 with 1 play over 70 yards
• Explosive Run Plays = #23 (22 plays over 20 yards)
- #18 with 10 plays over 30 yards
- #7 with 8 plays over 40 yards
- #32 with 3 plays over 50 yards
- #10 with 3 plays over 60 yards
• Explosive Pass Plays = #84 (34 plays over 20 yards)
- #107 with 12 plays over 30 yards
- #125 with 3 plays over 40 yards
- #90 with 2 plays over 50 yards
- #74 with 1 play over 60 yards
- #38 with 1 play over 70 yards
• Sacks Allowed = #32 (19)
• Tackles For Loss Allowed = #17 (88)
Defense
• Total D = #20 (327.5 YPG)
• Scoring D = #4 (15.9 PPG)
• Rushing D = #40 (134.8 YPG)
• Passing D = #19 (192.7 YPG)
• Yards Per Play Allowed = #9 (4.7 YPP)
• First Downs Allowed = #45 (19.1 PG)
• Opponent 3rd Down Conversions = #18 (32.97%)
• Opponent Red Zone TD% = #5 (38.7% - 12-of-31)
• Explosiveness Against = #10 (40 plays allowed over 20 yards)
- #7 with 14 plays allowed over 30 yards
- #13 with 7 plays allowed over 40 yards
- #18 with 3 play allowed over 50 yards
- #33 with 2 plays allowed over 60 yards
- #28 with 1 play allowed over 70 yards
- #83 with 1 play allowed over 80 yards
• Explosive Run Plays Against = #46 (13 plays allowed over 20 yards)
- #36 with 5 plays allowed over 30 yards
- #24 with 2 plays allowed over 40 yards
- #22 with 1 play allowed over 50 yards
• Explosive Pass Plays Against = #6 (27 plays allowed over 20 yards)
- #5 with 9 plays allowed over 30 yards
- #14 with 5 plays allowed over 40 yards
- #19 with 2 plays allowed over 50 yards
- #53 with 2 plays allowed over 60 yards
- #48 with 1 play allowed over 70 yards
- #102 with 1 play allowed over 80 yards
• Sacks = #10 (39)
• Tackles For Loss = #17 (88)
• Interceptions = #51 (10)
• Fumble Recoveries = #84 (5)
Team
• Time of Possession = #50 (30:14)
• Turnover Margin = #75 (-1)
• Penalties = #69 with 6.3 penalties per game
- #69 with 54.7 penalty yards per game
Special Teams
• Field Goal % = #51 (78.6% - 22-of-28)
• Punting = #20 (45.7 Avg.)
• Kick Returns = #2 (30.6 Avg.)
• Explosive Kick Returns = #23 (5 returns over 30 yards)
• Opponent Kick Returns Average = #73 (21.2 yards per return)
• Explosive Kick Returns Allowed = #31 (2 returns allowed over 30 yards)
• Punt Returns = #35 (10.7 yards per return)
• Explosive Punt Returns = #12 (4 returns over 20 yards)
- #3 with 3 returns over 30 yards
• Opponent Punt Returns Average = #42 (6.1 yards per return)
• Explosive Punt Returns Allowed = #65 (2 returns allowed over 20 yards)
Individual
• QB Zach Calzada = #74 in passing yards (2,185); #96 in completion % (56.1%); #54 in passing TDs (17); #77 in QBR (56.8 ... #12 among SEC QBs)
- #58 in passes over 10 yards (92); #68 in passes over 20 yards (31); #89 in passes over 30 yards (11)
• RB Isaiah Spiller = #39 in rushing yards (1,011); #86 in yards per carry (5.65); #54 in yards from scrimmage (1,200)
- #24 in runs over 10 yards (31); #47 in runs over 20 yards (8); #34 in runs over 30 yards (4); #8 in runs over 40 yards (4); #67 in runs over 50 yards (1)
- #31 in runs over 60 yards (1)
• RB Devon Achane = #54 in rushing yards (910); #15 in yards per carry (7.0 Avg.); #60 in yards from scrimmage (1,171); #59 in rushing TDs (9)
- #49 in runs over 10 yards (27); #20 in runs over 20 yards (11); #21 in runs over 30 yards (5); #20 in runs over 40 yards (3); #24 in runs over 50 yards (2)
- #5 in runs over 60 yards (2); #4 in kick return average (33.4); #10 in kick returns over 30 yards (5)
• RB/WR Ainias Smith = #69 in receiving TDs (6)
- #10 in punt return average (11.26 Avg.); #13 in punt returns over 20 yards (3); #3 in punt returns over 30 yards (3)
• WR Demond Demas = #52 in catches over 60 yards (1); #22 in catches over 70 yards (1)
• DL DeMarvin Leal = #23 in sacks (8.5); #59 in tackles-for-loss (12.5)
• DL Tyree Johnson = #23 in sacks (8.5)
• DL Micheal Clemons = #46 in sacks (7); #92 in tackles-for-loss (11)
• LB Aaron Hansford = #77 in tackles (89)
• CB Tyreek Chappell = #47 in passes defended (10); #41 in pass breakups (9)
• PK Seth Small = #36 in field goal % (81.5% - 22-of-27)
• P Nik Constantinou = #10 in punting average (46.6 Avg.)
