Texas A&M vs. New Mexico, By The Numbers

For the first time in what feels like ages, Texas A&M dominated an inferior opponent just like we thought they would, and dare I say, overachieved? It felt good to just have a dominant, comfortable win again. But if you’re looking for a few stats that truly illustrate just how dominant the Aggies were.

• 0: Procedural penalties. This game was not completely error-free, but it was nice to not see it get bogged down by a litany of false stars, delay of games or illegal procedure penalties. That seemed to be a hallmark of the 2022 squad, and while this team still has some issues to clean up (everyone does), everything just seemed to run more smoothly than it did for the vast majority of the previous season.
• 1: The number of third downs New Mexico converted after the first drive of the game. They converted two on the first drive and, while they didn’t score, they used up almost half of the first quarter. A&M fans could be forgiven for having flashbacks to the Appalachian State gameplan of a year ago. But the defense tightened up after that, only allowing one third down conversion the rest of the way.
• 2: Punt coverage tackles by freshly minted 12th Man Sam Mathews. Good bull.
• 3: How many quarters the starters played. Good to have some success, keep your players healthy (we think) and then get the backups some reps.
• 5: TD passes for Conner Weigman. Not only was it more than any A&M QB threw last year, it’s the first time an A&M QB has EVER thrown five touchdowns in a season opener. Suffice to say, that’s a great start to the season.
• 10: Tackles for CB Josh DeBerry. The former Boston College transfer started at corner for the Ags and managed to lead the team in tackles and also notched a pass deflection, a sack and an interception (the game’s lone turnover).
• 52: Total points. While the average fan may not bat an eye at putting up that many points, it’s the first time A&M has eclipsed the 40 POINT MARK since they played Prairie View A&M in 2021. It’s also the first time the Aggies have put up 50+ points against an FBS opponent since the 2018 Gator Bowl vs NC State.
• 78.3%: Completion percentage for Conner Weigman. If you had to knock one aspect of his game in 2022, it was his 55.3% completion percentage. We all HOPED that we’d see an uptick with a better offensive line, a new playbook, and improvement from Weigman himself, and all three of those were on full display on Saturday night.
• 91: Rush yards for New Mexico. While they did let the Lobos have a couple chunk plays (the TD run being the most notable), the defensive line mostly held the run game in check, getting more and more penetration as the game wore on. And holding a team below 100 yards rushing is something they didn’t do a single time in 2022.
• 180: The degree turn that this offense has appeared to take.