No. 15 Aggies overpower non-conference foe

No. 15 Texas A&M made its matchup with New Mexico State Saturday night a one-sided affair as it prevailed 38-3 at Kyle Field. A&M picked up its eighth win of the season for the first time since 2021, while a number of backups saw playing time on Senior Night.

Here are five takeaways from A&M’s win:

No A match from attack

The Aggies looked poised to have a field day against Conference USA’s worst defense, but they cooled off quickly after a hot start. A&M found the end zone on three of its first four drives to build a 24-0 lead, but scored just once on its next five possessions.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Marcel Reed had a solid showing with a season-high 268 yards on 20-of-31 passing with two touchdowns, but left some meat on the leg with an interception in the New Mexico State red zone late in the first half with other missed targets.

Redshirt sophomore QB Conner Weigman returned to the field with 3:28 left in the third quarter to lead the charge, finishing with 37 yards and an interception on 2-of-5 passing. Even freshman QB Miles O’Neill showed up, completing five of six passes for 51 yards and a touchdown in his first action of the season.

Granted, coach Mike Elko and A&M inserted a number of backups into the game on Senior Night, so the team’s offensive mainstays didn’t get their usual playing time. A mere 14 A&M points in the second half is probably not how many saw the game unfold.

The defense looks more comfortable at home

It was a different story on the defensive side of the ball, where A&M held New Mexico State to just 214 yards while eliminating the passing attack. Junior QB Santino Marucci connected on just six of 19 passes for 80 yards, while junior QB Brandon Nunez was 1-of-4 for 12 yards.

Junior running back Seth McGowan gave A&M the most trouble with 75 yards on 14 carries to pace the New Mexico State offense. The Mesquite native began his career at Oklahoma in 2020. Junior RB Mike Washington added 37 yards on 12 rushes.

Junior defensive end Malick Sylla had his best game of the year with five tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss. He closed things out with a sack of Marucci as time expired.

Running back by committee in Moss’ absence

On Saturday night, A&M offered its first taste of life without junior RB Le’Veon Moss after he went down for the season with a leg injury. Junior RB Amari Daniels, Stanford graduate transfer RB (and son of Emmitt) EJ Smith and junior walk-on RB AJ DiNota split the backfield and combined for 165 yards on 27 rushes.

Smith received the bulk of the carries with 15 for 60 yards, but Daniels came up with 84 yards and the offense’s biggest play on a 71-yard dash to the end zone in the first quarter. He was No. 2 behind Moss this season and will likely be A&M’s leading back to finish the conference against Auburn and Texas.

The loss of Moss hurts an A&M team that needs to play its best football in its push for the College Football Playoff, but Daniels and Smith could be a capable duo in his place. It also helps to have Reed under center, who can use his legs to pick up yardage if the throws aren’t there. He picked up 41 yards on four carries with a five-yard score.

Reed makes use of his tight ends

Redshirt sophomore TE Theo Melin Öhrström and senior Fresno State transfer TE Tre Watson proved they can do more than just block as they led the A&M receiving corps. The duo combined for nine catches for 178 yards as both players had their most productive games of the season.

Öhrström hauled in each of his five targets for 111 yards, while Watson had 67 yards on four catches from seven targets. East Carolina graduate transfer TE Shane Calhoun had no receptions but was targeted three times with one drop.

Öhrström and Watson have three total touchdowns to their names this season, and the performances both had on Saturday prove they can be valuable pieces in the receiving game going forward.

A&M’s win was a true team effort

Senior night at Kyle Field allowed Elko to recognize members of the team whose impact often happens outside of game action. Many of those players had their number called against New Mexico State, where A&M reached into their depth chart to offer backups a shot at game action.

O’Neill caught the first touchdown of his career while connecting with freshman Ashton Bethel-Roman for the wide receiver’s first score at the college level. On point-after attempts, graduate kicker Drake Bhatia knocked in the extra point with junior Connor Able snapping the ball.

The subsequent kickoff team was comprised entirely of walk-ons who addressed the 12th man kickoff team instituted by coach Jackie Sherrill in 1983. In all, 12 players had a catch while 30 players had a defensive stat .

Find more Texas A&M coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.