Here’s a statistical look, by the numbers, at the Aggies’ 38-23 win over No. 5 LSU Saturday at Kyle Field...
0 - Interceptions for quarterback Conner Weigman in four starts and five games played this season. The true freshman threw the football 132 times, completing 55.3 percent of his passes for 896 yards and eight touchdowns without throwing a single interception. In fact, Weigman and Max Johnson combined for 203 passes thrown with 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Meanwhile, Haynes King was picked off six times in 187 pass attempts in 2022 while throwing seven touchdown passes. Only three quarterbacks in college football threw more than 70 passes this season without an interception... two of them were Weigman and Johnson. The other was Brett Gabbert of Miami (OH), with 115 passes and zero interceptions.
#1 - A&M’s national ranking in pass defense. The Aggies gave up just 189 yards through the air against LSU and finished the season allowing an average of 156.2 passing yards per game. That leads all FBS teams and is six spots better in the national rankings than #2 in the SEC (Kentucky is #7 at 173.4 YPG).
#1 - A&M’s national ranking in pass plays allowed over 30 yards. One week after allowing just one pass over 20 yards, the Aggies backed that up with just a single pass play allowed of 20-plus yards vs. LSU ... a 22-yard connection from Jayden Daniels to Kayshon Boutte. One of the true bright spots on defense is the lack of big plays given up this season through the air. The Aggies have allowed just five passes of 30-plus yards this season. That is tops nationally and leads Virginia by one play. The next best SEC team in this category is South Carolina, with 11 passes allowed over 30 yards (#11 nationally)... That’s double the big plays allowed through the air vs. what A&M gave up in 2022. Overall, the Aggies have allowed just 11 plays from scrimmage this season of 30-plus yards. That is third nationally behind Iowa and Virginia (9) and tops in the SEC. The next best team in the league in that category is Georgia, with 17 (#18).
+3 - A&M’s advantage in the big play category on Saturday. The Aggies produced five plays of 20-plus yards vs. LSU. Three of those came on the ground (Amari Daniels’ run of 23 yards; Devon Achane's runs of 24 and 29 yards), and two came through the air (Conner Weigman’s passes of 21 and 39 yards to Moose Muhammad). The Tigers had just two plays of 20 or more yards in the game (Jayden Daniels’ run of 24 yards; Daniels’ pass of 22 yards to Kayshon Boutte).
+3:22 - Time of possession advantage for the Aggies in the game. After three consecutive weeks of significant disadvantage in the TOP category, the Aggies held the football for 31:41, including 19:00 in quarters two and four. A&M was #3, #11 and #3, respectively, in time of possession during Jimbo Fisher’s first three seasons in Aggieland but have massively fallen back in that department the last two seasons (#53 in ’21; #114 in ’22).
10.3 - “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 zero interceptions, tqo forced fumbles, three pass breakups and two TFLs (1 sack/1 run TFL) vs. LSU. That’s seven “Havoc Points” divided by 68 defensive snaps for a game rating of 10.3, meaning that the Aggies created havoc on exactly 10.3 percent of the Tigers’ offensive snaps. On the season, A&M’s Havoc Rate is 15.4 (130 havoc plays/845 total plays). Last season, the Ags had a Havoc Rate of 17.8. It was 19.1 in ’20 and 18.6 in ’19. A&M ranked fifth in the nation in 2018 with a Havoc Rate of 20.4.
13 - Consecutive games streak snapped in failing to score more than 28 points against FBS teams. The Aggies exploded for 38 points against LSU. That was the first time that A&M scored more than 28 points in an FBS game since a 44-14 win over South Carolina last season at Kyle Field.
36.4% - LSU’s third-down conversion percentage on Saturday. That comes one week after A&M held UMass to just 18.8 percent on third down. The Aggies held the Tigers to just 4-of-11 on third down and 0-of-1 on fourth down. The effort over the last two weeks has improved A&M’s national ranking in opponent third-down rate from #59 (37.4%) to #43 (35.6%).
38 - Rushes in the game for Devon Achane. The junior speedster returned from missing the last two games with a foot injury, exploding for 215 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way in A&M’s win over the Tigers. It was Achane’s first career 200-yard rushing game. The 38 carries ranks #6 all-time in a single game at A&M and the most in a game by an individual since Darren Lewis rushed 38 times in a win over Texas in 1988 (Source: Brad Marquardt with Texas A&M Sports Information).
66.7% - Completion percentage for Conner Weigman in the game. The spectacular freshman managed the game incredibly well, completing 12-of-18 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball seven times for 21 yards — including three third-down conversions with his legs — and was not sacked in the game.
66.7% - A&M’s conversion rate on third down in the game. One week after the Aggies were a miserable 2-of-10 in third down conversions vs. lowly UMass, they rose to the occasion against a very salty LSU defense in converting 10-of-15 third down attempts in the win. In doing so, the Aggies went from #114 nationally (32.6%) in third-down percentage to #99 (35.95%).
84.9 - Average receiving yards per game for Moose Muhammad over his last seven games played. The sophomore hauled in five catches for 95 yards and a ridiculous one-handed touchdown grab vs. LSU on Saturday. Muhammad opened the year with just one catch for 16 yards total in the first four games of the season and did not play at all vs. Appalachian State and Miami. He came alive in the back half of the season and produced as well as any receiver in the SEC once he got on the field. He had at least five catches and at least 64 yards receiving in five of the last seven contests.
#101 - A&M’s national ranking in scoring offense. The Aggies managed 38 points vs. LSU... Seven more points scored than in any previous game in 2022. A&M closed the season averaging 22.8 points per game this season. That’s 13th in the SEC, ahead of only Kentucky (22.1).
#124 - A&M’s national ranking in run defense in 2022. The Aggies gave up 187 rushing yards to LSU on Saturday... a stark improvement over their effort in run D down the stretch in SEC games. A&M closed the season allowing an average of 209 rushing yards per game. That’s dead last in the SEC, and Arizona, Stanford and Colorado are the only Power 5 programs allowing more per game on the ground than A&M. In the previous four seasons under Mike Elko, the Aggies never ranked below 35th nationally against the run and were in the top three overall in two of those seasons. A&M is 114th nationally in yards per carry (4.76)... also at the very bottom among SEC teams.
1,102 - Rushing yards in 2022 for Devon Achane despite missing two games due to a foot injury. That puts him 22nd nationally this season and 14th all-time in a single season at Texas A&M. Through three seasons, Achane sits at 2,376 career rushing yards ... that’s 17th on the A&M career rushing list. Achane’s 1,610 all-purpose yards puts him at #4 nationally (161.0 YPG) and ranks ninth all-time in a single season in Aggieland. He’s 12th in the school record books in career all-purpose yards at 3,543 yards. Achane also finished #3 nationally in kick return average at 28.36 yards per return.
Team
• Time of Possession = #114 (27:52)
• Turnover Margin = #75 (-1)
• Penalties = #73 with 6.3 penalties per game
- #48 with 49.1 penalty yards per game
Offense
• Total O = #95 (361.2 YPG)
• Scoring O = #101 (22.8 PPG)
• Rushing O = #83 (141.75 YPG)
• Passing O = #83 (219.4 YPG)
• Yards Per Play = #63 (5.73 YPP)
• First Downs = #87 (19.5 PG)
• 3rd Down Conversions = #99 (35.95%)
• Red Zone TD% = #74 (60.5% - 23-of-38)
• Explosiveness = #67 (55 plays over 20 yards)
- #96 with 19 plays over 30 yards
- #108 with 7 plays over 40 yards
- #84 with 4 plays over 50 yards
- #33 with 4 plays over 60 yards
• Explosive Run Plays = #36 (19 plays over 20 yards)
- #54 with 7 plays over 30 yards
- #85 with 2 plays over 40 yards
- #44 with 2 plays over 50 yards
- #24 with 2 plays over 60 yards
• Explosive Pass Plays = #78 (36 plays over 20 yards)
- #108 with 12 plays over 30 yards
- #98 with 5 plays over 40 yards
- #91 with 2 plays over 50 yards
- #40 with 2 plays over 60 yards
• Sacks Allowed = #69 (25)
• Tackles For Loss Allowed = #63 (66)
Defense
• Total D = #53 (365.2 YPG)
• Scoring D = #29 (21.2 PPG)
• Rushing D = #124 (209 YPG)
• Passing D = #1 (156.2 YPG)
• Yards Per Play Allowed = #32 (5.17 YPP)
• First Downs Allowed = #73 (20.8 PG)
• Opponent 3rd Down Conversions = #43 (35.6%)
• Opponent Red Zone TD% = #20 (50% - 22-of-44)
- #8 in Opponent Red Zone Scoring % (72.7% - 32-of-44)
• Explosiveness Against = #42 (48 plays allowed over 20 yards)
- #3 with 11 plays allowed over 30 yards
- #10 with 6 plays allowed over 40 yards
- #52 with 5 plays allowed over 50 yards
- #58 with 3 plays allowed over 60 yards
- #30 with 1 play allowed over 70 yards
• Explosive Run Plays Against = #112 (22 plays allowed over 20 yards)
- #52 with 6 plays allowed over 30 yards
- #51 with 3 plays allowed over 40 yards
- #60 with 2 plays allowed over 50 yards
- #88 with 2 plays allowed over 40 yards
• Explosive Pass Plays Against = #12 (26 plays allowed over 20 yards)
- #1 with 5 plays allowed over 30 yards
- #6 with 3 plays allowed over 40 yards
- #35 with 3 plays allowed over 50 yards
- #23 with 1 play allowed over 60 yards
- #51 with 1 play allowed over 70 yards
• Sacks = #103 (19)
• Tackles For Loss = #62 (70)
• Interceptions = #126 (4)
• Fumble Recoveries = #10 (12)
Special Teams
• Field Goal % = #89 (70% - 14-of-20)
• Punting = #64 (41.7 Avg.)
• Kick Returns = #19 (22.2 Avg.)
- #2 in kick return TDs (1)
• Explosive Kick Returns = #31 (4 returns over 30 yards)
- #15 with 2 returns over 40 yards
• Opponent Kick Returns = #131 (33.3 Avg.)
• Explosive Kick Returns Allowed = #30 (2 return allowed over 30 yards)
• Punt Returns = #100 (5.5 yards per return)
• Explosive Punt Returns = #68 (1 return over 20 yards)
• Opponent Punt Returns = #24 (4.1 Avg.)
• Explosive Punt Returns Allowed = #35 (1 return allowed over 20 yards)
Individual
• RB Devon Achane = #16 in rushing yards (110.2 YPG); #86 in yards per carry (5.6 Avg.); #70 in rushing TDs (8)
- #14 in total yards from scrimmage (129.8 Avg.); #44 in total TDs from scrimmage (11); #21 in runs over 10 yards (35); #20 in runs over 20 yards (11)
- #4 in all-purpose yards (161 Avg.); #3 in kick return average (28.4 Avg.)
• WR Evan Stewart = #56 in receptions per game (5.3 Avg.); #81 in receiving yards per game (64.9 Avg.)
• WR Moose Muhammad = #68 in receiving yards per game (67.8)
• DL Fadil Diggs = #4 in forced fumbles (3)
• DL McKinnley Jackson = #15 in kicks/punts blocked (1)
• DL Albert Regis = #15 in kicks/punts blocked (1)
• DB Antonio Johnson = #81 in tackles per game (7.9); #4 in forced fumbles (3)
• DB Demani Richardson = #43 in forced fumbles (2)
• PK Randy Bond = #64 in field goal % (76.5% - 13-of-17)
• PK Caden Davis = #16 in kickoff average (63.9 Avg.); #3 in touchback % (83.9%)
• P Nik Constantinou = #57 in punting average (42.02 Avg.)
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#101 - A&M's national ranking in scoring offense. The Aggies managed 38 points vs. LSU... Seven more points scored than in any previous game in 2022. A&M closed the season averaging 22.8 points per game this season. That's 13th in the SEC, ahead of only Kentucky (22.1).
