Texas A&M opened the season with a 50-0 win over the Missouri State Bears, where the defense looked like it hadn't skipped a beat following one of its best seasons in recent history.
The numbers speak for themselves for the Aggie defense. They held the Bears to 67 total yards for an average of 1.7 yards per play. The third-down defensive prowess carried over from last season as well, holding Missouri State to 1-of-10 on third-down conversions. While those are stellar numbers, the Aggies will face a much different challenge when they host Arizona State at Kyle Field.
The Sun Devils stuffed the stat sheet, putting up over 680 yards in a 70-7 win over Morgan State, including 432 yards through the air. Transfer quarterback Cutter Boley completed 21
of 27 passes for 387 yards and six touchdowns in his first start for Arizona State.
Once you put everything into context, both wins came against overmatched opponents. To add some additional perspective, Arizona State was beating Morgan State so badly that the coaches agreed to a 10-minute fourth quarter. But after Texas A&M allowed only 30 passing yards against Missouri State, the Aggies' secondary will get a much more legitimate test this weekend. That makes the Aggies' secondary the X-factor against Arizona State.
Why the secondary is the X-factor
The Sun Devils showed in Week 1 that their passing game has the potential to be explosive. Boley averaged 14.3 yards per attempt and finished with six touchdowns without throwing an interception. Meanwhile, A&M had a no-fly zone at Kyle Field against the Bears, earning an 84.0 PFF coverage grade.
The competition level changes significantly for both teams this week. Morgan State isn't Texas A&M, but Missouri State also didn't present the Aggies with anything close to what they'll see from Arizona State.
Arizona State has multiple weapons
One of the biggest challenges for A&M will be covering the entire field from sideline to sideline. Arizona State has three legitimate playmakers at wide receiver, and all three had over 100 receiving yards and at least one touchdown in Week 1.
- Reed Harris: 6 receptions, 137 yards, 2 touchdowns
- Grayson Rigdon: 2 receptions, 110 yards, 2 touchdowns
- Omarion Miller: 8 receptions, 102 yards, 1 touchdown
However, it's not just about coverage. 340 of ASU's 432 passing yards came after the catch, and the Sun Devils' receivers block for each other really well. That means the Aggies will have to be sure tacklers in space and prevent short completions from becoming explosive plays.
Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko called this the best secondary he's coached during his time at Texas A&M. After a Missouri State team that didn't test them much, Arizona State will give us a much better idea of whether Elko's assessment is right.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Why is Texas A&M's secondary the X-factor vs. Arizona State?
