No. 8 Texas A&M (1-0) was slow out of the gate during Saturday night's season opener vs. Missouri State, as the Aggies' revamped offensive line struggled to find consistency, giving up several pressures and two sacks on starting quarterback Marcel Reed, but thanks to adjustments from coach Mike Elko and OL coach Adam Cushing, this group tightened up in the second half.
Leading 19-0 going into halftime, Texas A&M's defense shut down the Bears throughout the night, which continued into the third and fourth quarters, allowing 67 total yards, including a pedestrian 37 rushing yards. With A&M's O-line improvement, the Aggie rushing attack made its late impact, as wide receiver Terry Bussey, RB Jamarion Morrow, and freshman running back Carsyn Baker
scored touchdowns.
Marcel Reed completed 21/30 for 233 yards and 2 touchdowns, completing impressive pass after impressive pass despite early pressure in his face, while transfer wide receiver Isaiah Horton made his impact known, leading the game with 76 receiving yards and his first touchdown as an Aggie.
Before hosting Arizona State on Saturday, here are the latest Pro Football Focus grades on offense and defense after Texas A&M's 50-0 win over Missouri State in Week 1.
PFF Texas A&M offense grades
- QB Marcel Reed — 80.6 offense, 78.6 passing, 66.8 running
- RB Carsyn Baker — 79.8 offense, 76.6 running, 60.0 pass and run blocking
- OT Tyree Adams — 79.3 offense, 81.0 pass blocking, 80.6 run blocking
- TE Micah Riley — 74.6 offense, 83.1 run blocking
- RB KJ Edwards — 74.3 offense, 74.6 running
The latest PFF grades show that Texas A&M's offensive line, led by LSU transfer left tackle Tyree Adams, performed much better compared to Saturday's first viewing, finishing with impressive pass and run blocking grades, while the offensive line gave up a total of five pressures and two sacks. Junior left guard Blake Ivy rebounded in the second half, finishing with solid pass-blocking (69.6) and run-blocking grades (69.6).
As you can see, both freshman running backs earned top-5 grades, as Mike Elko stated after the win that Carsyn Baker and KJ Edwards are fully expected to see more playing time moving forward.
PFF Texas A&M defense grades
- Edge Ryan Henderson — 86.4 defense, 74.1 tackle, 70.0 pass rush
- DL Landon Rink — 82.0 defense, 77.4 run defense, 74.3 tackle
- LB Noah Mikhail — 78.4 defense, 74.7 run defense, 82.0 tackle, 72.3 coverage
- DL DJ Hicks — 77.1 defense, 67.1 run defense, 71.9 tackle, 76.2 pass rush
- Edge Samu Moala — 76.6 defense, 65.1 run defense, 73.0 tackle, 64.5 pass rush
Texas A&M's defense allowing 67 total yards is highly impressive, no matter the opponent, and as I detailed in the post-game takeaways, the Aggie linebacker rotation was borderline elite, led by Noah Mikhail and transfer Ray Coney combining for 13 tackles, while Coney earned an impressive 78.1 tackling grade.
While the pass rush recorded just one sack and three pressures, I highly doubt these numbers won't increase drastically starting next week vs. Arizona State's shaky offensive line. And while the Aggie secondary had a relatively quiet night, starting cornerbacks Dezz Ricks and Julio Humphrey did not allow a reception on four combined targets.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Notable PFF grades after Texas A&M's 50-0 win over Missouri State
