A&M dismantles Louisiana Monroe behind highly-efficient Weigman, 47-3

Texas A&M did what it was supposed to do. Conner Weigman did what he wanted to do.

In A&M’s dominant 47-3 college football victory on Saturday night at Kyle Field, Weigman — the Aggies’ emerging sophomore quarterback — threw overmatched Louisiana Monroe for a loop.

He threw deep. Threw short. Threw down the seams. Threw to the sidelines. Threw under pressure. Threw under control.

Mostly, he threw with deadly accuracy. He also ran through ULM’s defense for one of five A&M touchdowns.

The lopsided win was not unexpected. Although the visitors from the Sun Belt Conference had won their previous two games, the Aggies were projected to dismantle them.

Of course, a year ago, the Aggies were expected to dismantle Sun Belt visitor Appalachian State but suffered a stunning upset loss.

There was never any danger of losing to ULM. Weigman led the Aggies to scores on all seven drives in which he played.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Weigman’s lone TD pass went to Jahdae Walker for the receiver’s first score as an Aggie.

He completed six passes that covered more than 20 yards. He threw a touchdown pass to Jahdae Walker. He scrambled 19 yards for another touchdown.

He misfired on his first pass then threw a dozen consecutive completions. By the time Weigman exited the game midway through the third quarter, he had completed 25 of 29 attempts for 337 yards.

His 86 percent completion rate is the highest for an A&M quarterback since the Aggies joined the Southeastern Conference in 2012. The previous best was 83.3 percent set by Heisman Trophy-winner Johnny Manziel, who was among the 93,009 at Kyle Field to witness Weigman work over the Warhawks.

He did so without starting center Bryce Foster, top receiver Evan Stewart and mostly without receiver Noah Thomas. Foster and Stewart sat out to nurse injuries, while Thomas got “nicked” up early and took a seat.

Yet, for all the gaudy numbers, A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher seemed more impressed with signs of growth that cannot be listed on a stat sheet.

“Protection calls and blitzes and getting your line slid to pick things up and different looks,” Fisher said in listing areas in which Weigman is making progress. “A lot of things that don’t show up in a box (score) like a completion or a touchdown or things like that.”

“Managing the game. Checks. Seeing coverages. Getting us in the right runs. Getting us in the right protections. A quarterback has a lot of responsibility in that regard.”

Of course, Weigman wasn’t solely responsible for the dominant win.

The Aggie defense limited ULM to 95 rushing yards and allowed no passing yards in the second half.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Texas A&M’s defense held ULM to just 222 yards on the night.

Still, there was reason for some uneasiness with Auburn coming to town next week to start SEC play.

The running game was inconsistent. The pass rush was erratic, although Shemar Stewart had a bone-crunching sack of ULM quarterback Jiya Wright.

But in what was essentially a glorified practice, the Aggies showed significant improvement in the areas that they failed in last week’s 48-33 loss to Miami.

They committed no turnovers. The pass protection was solid. Tackling in the secondary was sound.

On ULM’s first play, safety Jacoby Mathews blasted receiver Justin Kimber to jolt the football loose for an incompletion.

Kicker Randy Bond, who missed a field goal last week, hit all four he attempted, including a 52-yarder.

Fisher’s only disappointment with the Aggie performance was that Bond kicked four field goals.

“I think we could have scored a couple more touchdowns,” Fisher said. “(We) kicked a couple of field goals down there and got tied up in the red zone a little bit. I thought we had a couple of opportunities there that we should have scored one or two more than we did.”

So the Aggies weren’t perfect. Nobody is.

But in a performance that should provide encouragement heading into SEC play, Weigman came damn close.