Aggies go to 11-0

COLLEGE STATION — No. 3 Texas A&M played their annual game 11 cupcake on Saturday, and they squashed it for their 11th win in 11 tries.

For the Aggies, an 11-0 record was a foregone conclusion after escaping South Carolina’s upset bid last week, as the FCS Samford Bulldogs (1-11, 1-7 Southern Conference) were Saturday’s victim. The postmortem was predictable — a 48-0 Aggie win with backups and third-stringers playing most of the game.

“We capped off a home regular season 7-0 at home for the first time ever, and (I’m) so proud of that. And that’s something, obviously, that we want to continue,” coach Mike Elko said. “We have 11 wins in the regular season for the first time this century.”

The game was essentially over by the end of the first quarter after quarterback Marcel Reed (15-20, 120 yards) engineered three straight touchdown drives in less than 14 minutes of game time. Reed’s first touchdown was a perfectly placed lob from 3 yards out to receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman (2 catches, 61 yards, 2 TD); on the next drive, wideout KC Concepcion (5 catches, 42 yards, 1 TD) made a twisting catch in midair for a 6-yard score.

Reed’s final pass was his best, a 58-yard bomb to a crossing Bethel-Roman, who dodged one defender at the 3-yard line before trotting in for the score. From there, it was time for backups Miles O’Neill, Brady Hart and Jacob Zeno to get some reps.

The backups at running back were called on from the opening kickoff. Running backs Le’Veon Moss, EJ Smith and Rueben Owens were held out of this game, putting senior Amari Daniels in the lineup as the starter.

“I didn’t know (he was starting) until right before kickoff,” Daniels said. “But I was ready … I’m just ready when my name is called.”

Daniels responded in a big way, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown on just 9 carries. After scoring A&M’s fourth touchdown to give the Aggies a 28-0 lead, Daniels’ day was essentially done as well.

“That was really important to me (to make sure Daniels scored). It’s really important to our staff to get him in the end zone. It was great to see him go over 100 yards. He means a lot to Texas A&M football. He means a lot to this staff,” Elko said. “I know it hasn’t been everything he had hoped it would be his senior year. But, you know, he continues to battle, he continues to work, and I’m sure at some point that name is going to pop up in a meaningful game, because it always seems to, but yeah, it was important to get him in the end zone today.”

Texas A&M would go more than 12 minutes without scoring, as kicker Jared Zirkel ended on drive by missing a 36-yard field goal and O’Neill (3-7, 19 yards, 1 INT) threw an interception on a deep ball intended for Terry Bussey. Given a second chance, Zirkel hit from 25 yards out to make the score 31-0 at the half.

The first half stat sheet was remarkably one-sided, as Texas A&M outgained Samford 360-25. The Bulldogs had eight possessions, but didn’t have one that lasted more than three plays. This ineptitude came largely against A&M’s defensive backups, who started to filter into the game before the first quarter ended.

“It’s always good to get out on the field and really, kind of get to play pretty free,” defensive end Marco Jones (team high 7 tackles) said. “So it was good.”

Samford received the second half kickoff, but went 3 and out for the ninth consecutive time. O’Neill returned after being pulled in favor of Hart late in the first half and engineered a touchdown drive. The honor of the score went to Tiger Riden (11 carries, 45 yards, 1 TD), who made his running debut for the Aggies earlier in the drive.

On Samford’s next drive, they finally picked up a first down an a 29-yard hook and ladder play. They picked up another after Texas A&M defensive end Solomon Williams was penalized 15 yards for roughing Bulldogs quarterback Quincy Crittendon (7-16, 41 yards), which moved Samford into field goal range. A 41-yard attempt by Jake Garner was blocked by A&M defensive tackle Landon Rink (3 tackles, 1 blocked kick), with cornerback Jayvon Thomas returning the block 41 yards to the Samford 34.

The A&M drive stalled quickly, but Zirkel came on and hit a 39-yard attempt to make the score 41-0 on the first play of the fourth quarter. By that point, A&M had emptied the bench and had third-stringers and walk-ons in the game. Still, the defense continued to stifle the Bulldogs, holding them to those two first down’s until the game’s final drive.

After seeing the 12th Man Kickoff team and the 12th Man, Nana Boadi-Owusu, pick up a sack, the crowd of 104,877 got to see a group of players who had never played on Kyle Field conduct a long scoring drive of their own. Zeno started things with a 13-yard completion to Blake Buntyn, followed by a carry for AJ DiNota. But the star of the drive was walk-on running back Preston Landis, who caught a 14-yard pass before taking a carry into the end zone from two yards out for the final margin.

Samford had a final chance at denting the scoreboard after Izaiah Williams muffed a punt at the Texas A&M 33-yard line with 3:19 remaining in the game, but the Bulldogs would have to settle for a 38-yard field goal attempt that Garner pulled to the left. That miss sealed A&M’s first shutout since 2002.

“Some people will knock our defense, you know, here and there … when we play really well, we’re a good defense, so we just got to take advantage,” Jones said. “And we did we were supposed to do today.”

Now that the feel good game of the year is out of the way, the Aggies return to very serious business: playing arch-nemesis Texas for a chance at a perfect season and a spot in the SEC Championship game.

“We know what’s in front of us, and so we’ll get back to work and get ready for next week and go try to win our spot in Atlanta for the SEC title,” Elko said.

The buzzword for the Aggies all season has been “finish”. The finish line is coming into sight, but Daniels said there was more for Texas A&M to do.

“All we gotta do is finish. We’re still working towards that goal, to finish all the way until the job was done,” he said.