By the Numbers: Texas A&M 41, Texas State 7

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days had passed since the LSU game last November. A transcendent and exhausting victory that laid to rest two decades of drought against the Tigers. We lost key playmakers on both sides of the ball. Few people knew what to expect, but what we hoped for was ultimately what we got: a grinding, methodical, five touchdown victory. Was it perfect? No. Was it so far from perfect that everyone should be mashing the panic button? Also no.

0. Sacks allowed. The offensive line was not perfect, but Mond did just enough to avoid the pressure thrown at him. This unit will need to gel pretty quickly to show improvement vs. Clemson.

2. Turnovers: both inside of the Texas State 5 yard line. That’s 6-14 points squandered in the dirt. This will need to be cleaned up pronto heading into Death Valley.

2. Hundred-yard rushers. Don’t know about y’all, but I’m pretty excited about 2-3 more seasons of the Corbin-Spiller 1-2 punch.

3. Penalties. Outstanding composure for a week one game.

4. Interceptions. The most the team has had in one game since 2006. The Aggies had seven interceptions in all of 2018. This is exciting!

8. Rushing yards by Texas State. The front seven looked terrific against an admittedly outmatched opponent. Know how many rushing yards Clemson had against Georgia Tech last night? You don’t want to know. You do? OK, it was 411. Should be fun to see what gives next Saturday.

9: Number of players who had a tackle for loss. Elko is rotating heavily on the defensive line, and it shows. This is going to be a huge asset facing this year’s schedule.

27. Shoutout to Roney Elam. Five tackles, one sack, an interception, and a couple of breakups. We needed someone to create havoc out of the secondary with Donovan Wilson gone.

35:46: Controlling the clock. A ten-minute advantage is great when you can roll up 240+ rushing yards.

956 miles to Clemson. This is gonna be fun.

1-0

The only numbers that matter right now.