Texas A&M Is the Real Deal, Deserves More National Respect

After becoming the toast of the town on opening weekend with its 38-17 win over Arizona State in Houston, Texas A&M has flown under the radar during the last two weeks thanks to cupcake games against Ball State and Nevada.

That's a shame because that nine-sack performance against the Sun Devils has been overshadowed by Ole Miss' success, the Leonard Fournette frenzy and Georgia's big win over South Carolina.

Quietly, though, No. 14 Texas A&M has built off its opening-night success and looks like one of the most complete teams in the country that nobody is talking about anymore.

That's a shame because the moves head coach Kevin Sumlin made this offseason have the Aggies looking like a contender in the SEC West.

Sure, there's the obvious.

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The addition of defensive coordinator John Chavis looks like the best coordinator hire in college football through three games. In addition to those nine sacks in the opener, the Aggies also notched 14 tackles behind the line of scrimmage in that game, rank sixth in the SEC in yards per play allowed (4.57) and have the third-best third-down defense in the conference (23.40 percent).

As SB Nation's Ryan Nanni noted, the Aggies' 15 sacks on the season look fantastic when compared to some other defenses that are known for bringing pressure.

But it isn't just the pass rush that's helped turn things around; it's the pass defense.

Texas A&M ranks fifth in the SEC in pass defense through Week 3 at 175.3 yards per game, third in passing yards per attempt at 5.4 and fifth in opponent passer rating (106.28). 

For perspective, the Aggies gave up 234.8 yards per game through the air a year ago, 7.1 yards per attempt, and opponents combined for a 127.86 passer rating.

Safety Armani Watts leads the team with 18 tackles, Donovan Wilson is one behind him, and junior college transfer Justin Evans has 14. After an up-and-down career, corner De'Vante Harris has a pick-six on the year and, as Sumlin noted after Game 2 (via 1150 The Zone in College Station), has finally taken the next step to become the lockdown corner the Aggies need:

One slight tweak this offseason was the move of former running back Brandon Williams to cornerback. Through three games, Williams has seven tackles and has provided much-needed depth to the secondary.

"Brandon's in a good place already, but he's got to continue to improve on his footwork, and gaining experience and confidence will be big for him," defensive coordinator John Chavis said last week, according to Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle. "That comes through reps [in games] and reps in practice, and he's working as hard as anybody I've been around."

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One of the only question marks the Aggies had exiting NRG Stadium after the opener was at quarterback. Kyle Allen was benched in favor of true freshman Kyler Murray, only to come back later in the game after Murray got banged up.

Since then, though, Allen has taken the bull by the horns and locked down the top spot on the depth chart. The sophomore from Scottsdale, Arizona, is tied for the SEC lead with nine touchdown passes, has the third-best passer rating in the conference (169.43) and has rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

Plus—dirty little secret—Texas A&M is actually running the ball downhill.

Tra Carson has been a monster as the Aggies feature back. The 6'0", 235-pound senior has 292 yards and two touchdowns through three games—including 137 yards last week vs. the Wolf Pack. 

"A big storyline this offseason was John Chavis, his defense and what he could fix, and that's still where they've made the biggest improvements," said ESPN's Jesse Palmer while speaking on behalf of the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. "But it's a great point to make. Offensively, being able to find balance, is something offensive coordinator Jake Spavital has wanted to do for over a year now. Getting [offensive line coach] Dave Christensen has helped them become more physical and establish the line of scrimmage.

"This is a team that takes pride in establishing that line of scrimmage and being physical."

Through three games, is there a more complete team in the country?

You could make the argument Ole Miss is and Michigan State might be, but after those two, the list starts to get really short.

Don't sleep on Texas A&M. 

This team has quietly been doing everything right this year and deserves to be in the College Football Playoff discussion along with all of the other usual suspects.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Statistics are courtesy of CFBStats.com. Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.