Texas A&M Football: Grading the Aggies vs. SMU

The Texas A&M Football Team defeated the SMU Mustangs 46 to 14 at Kyle Field tonight. It was the first game so as you would expect, there were some issues that reared their ugly heads on the field. The Aggies looked great on offense, but obviously need to improve on defense. This is a position by position breakdown of the team's performance against SMU.

Quarterbacks: A+

Ryan Tannehill had a strong night to open up the 2011 campaign. The fifth-year senior completed 21 of 26 passes for 246 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Tannehill does not need to be spectacular for the Ags to win.

He just needs to drive the car, and get the ball into the hands of the Aggie skill players. The 32-yard TD pass to TE Hutson Priouleau was a thing of beauty. The senior QB did a good job of that and led the Ags to a quality win to get the season started on the right foot. 

Running Backs: A+

Cyrus Gray led the Aggie running game with 132 yards on the ground with two TDs. Christine Michael added 85 yards and two  touchdowns. Both Aggie RBs displayed great power and vision. I was extremely impressed with how hard Gray ran. You could see the offseason work in the weight room pay off.

Wide Receivers: A

As you would expect, Jeff Fuller and Ryan Swope led the Aggies' attack through the air. Swope displayed incredible hands with two fingertip catches. Swope led the Ags with eight receptions for 109 yards and one TD. Fuller had six catches for 52 yards and had a couple of great blocks downfield.

Tight Ends: A+

The Aggies played three tight ends against SMU. Hutson Prioleau got the start, but Michael Lamothe and Nehemiah Hicks also saw extensive action.I thought other than the RBs, the TEs had the best night of any position.

Prioleau had a 32-yard TD reception on a great pass from Tannehill. Lamothe suffered a concussion on a 16-yard reception early in the first half, but Tommy Dorman stepped in for Lamothe and had a great game. Collectively, the TEs had two receptions for 48 yards and one TD.

Offensive Line: A+

The Aggies started from left to right: Luke Joeckel, Brian Thomas, Patrick Lewis, Shep Klinke and Jake Matthews on the OL.The Ags rushed for 212 yards and passed for 246. Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael had holes to run through all night long.

The OL did not allow a sack of Ryan Tannehill in live action. Tannehill did fumble a snap and recovered it which may go down as a sack. Overall a very impressive game for the OL.

Defensive Line: B

The Aggies' defensive line was dominated in the first half of action, but came alive in the second half. Zach Line was a better RB than I thought and had 128 yards rushing against the Ags, most of it in the first half when the SMU OL simply pushed the A&M front seven around.

The DL played much better in the second half and for the game only allowed 79 yards on 32 carries for a 2.5 yds per carry average. Senior lineman Tony Jerod-Eddie had an excellent game recording three sacks and redshirt sophomore NG Kriby Ennis was also in on two sacks.

Linebackers: D

The Aggies were attempting to replace Von Miller and Michael Hodges who completed their eligibility last year. Jonathan Stewart had a much better game than I expected. He was solid against the run and in coverage. Sean Porter made a couple of plays. Other than that, I did not see anything of note.

The LBs struggled to get off blocks in the first half. The OLBs did not get any kind of consistent pressure. The 3-4 scheme is designed so the OLBs can make big plays. We did not see that tonight from the Aggie OLBs.

Defensive Backs: D

The Aggie secondary had a tough task trying to defend against June Jones' run and shoot offense. They had two interceptions but had three blown coverages, two of which resulted in SMU touchdowns.

The Ags appeared confused out there at times. Steven Campbell had a nice run back after his interception. I believe Terrence Frederick had a sack. Ags need to get their issues sorted out during the bye week. You rarely saw a blown coverage last year. Tonight with a senior laden secondary, there were blown assignments all over the place.

Special Teams: C

The Ags were tasked with stopping the Mustangs kick-blocking units. As I predicted in the game preview, the Ags had two extra points blocked. Margus Hunt is simply a very hard guy to block.

Randy Bullock put four kickoffs into the end zone by my count. He was also two for two on field goals.

Ryan Epperson got off two good punts, including one that was downed inside the five-yard line.

Kenric McNeal did muff one punt but overall the return teams were solid. SMU has one of the best special teams coaches in the country and they played like it on the field.

Coaching: B+

At the end of the day, the goal for the first game is to simply be 1-0 when it is over. The Ags accomplished that and beat a bowl team by 32 points in the process.

The Ags made good halftime adjustments on defense. Would like to see less blown coverages. I thought June Jones got the better of Tim Deruyter in the first half but Deruyter won the second half.

SMU has an outstanding staff full of guys with NFL experience. I expect the Ponies to make a bowl game for the third year in a row. Very solid win for the Ags to start the season.