By the Numbers: Texas A&M beats Tennessee 45-38 in double OT

ZERO.

That’s the biggest number here. This team is undefeated now halfway through the season, and has taken down a top-ten opponent at Kyle Field. The Aggies are also 4-0 in SEC play with that front-loaded schedule, with games against UTSA and New Mexico State at home later this year.

Saturday was an epic, draining, drag-out, knock-down, rollercoaster football game. The kind that leaves you exhausted even from watching it. It was crammed full of moments of sheer exaltation followed by onsets of pure dread. But this team did something that so many Aggie teams in the recent past haven’t done: they faced adversity on the biggest stage and found a way to overcome blunders and win in the end. Everyone was talking about how this 5-0 “felt different” before the game. Now we know why.

On to some numbers.

1 sack allowed. In 35+ pass plays facing the SEC’s second-best pass rusher. The OL continues to gel nicely this year.

2 overtimes. That was the first multi-OT game at Kyle Field since the 2007 Fresno State game. It also brings Kevin Sumlin’s record in overtime games at A&M to a perfect 4-0.

That trio of safeties. Armani Watts and Justin Evans combined for 20 tackles and each had an interception. Watts also had a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Donovan Wilson chipped in six tackles, including a huge sack for a 12-yard loss before he left the game with an injury. These guys are a raw force out there.

4 sacks by the defense. The front did a pretty good job getting after a great QB in Dobbs, and Chavis threw in some creative blitz packages. Daeshon Hall also finished with 4 QB hurries by himself.

5/16 on third downs. This continues to be a struggle. But at the same time, we’re not going for it on 4th and short anymore, even inside opposing territory. No fourth-down attempts this week.

6/7 red zone scoring chances. This is slightly better than our season average. Small victories.

7 Vol turnovers. That’s the most we’ve forced in over a decade. It was barely enough, and that seventh one was the sweetest, but they were hard-earned turnovers. They weren’t all gifts.

10 punts. Yeah yeah, there was at least one that should’ve been called for running into the kicker. Shit happens in football games. Tripucka didn’t have his best game, but he still went out there ten times and averaged over 40 yards a boot while getting knocked around some.

28 carries by Trayveon Williams. What a performance. The true freshman is now leading the SEC in rushing through six games after a 200+ yard effort.

283 minutes. Four hours and forty-three minutes of this. On the CBS prime stage. Verne and Gary were getting cranky by the end and the players from both teams were leaving it all out on the field. It was exhausting, thrilling, and we never want to go through that again. Until the next game.

353 yards rushing. For the second time in three games we rolled up over 350 yards rushing on a ranked SEC team. This is uncharted territory, and it’s fun to watch. Trayveon had 223 and Knight chipped in another 110.

684 yards allowed. Can’t leave this one out. Tennessee had their way on the field. Without all of the forced turnovers this would have been very ugly. Josh Dobbs is very, very good, but the defense has got to improve before heading into Tuscaloosa in two weeks. And there’s probably no one more pissed off and ready to fix it than John Chavis right now.

106,248: reported attendance. A crowd greater in size than the entire population of Tyler or San Angelo, TX got to witness this incredible thing live. Gig ‘Em.

(stats pulled from Aggie Athletics and ESPN)