Texas A&M Up Big Against Samford At Halftime

The No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies entered the morning hosting a non-conference game against the Samford Bulldogs in College Station, Texas, at Kyle Field. 

Coming off an illustrious comeback win against South Carolina, A&M was much more fired up in the first quarter, getting off to a much faster performance compared to what it did a week ago in front of the 12th Man, where every fan was holding its breath that the offense could pull it together. 

Going into intermission, the Aggies hold a 31-0 lead against the Bulldogs in a one-sided offensive thriller. 

Major headlines in the first half include the wide receivers jumping out to a terrific start, where redshirt freshman Ashton Bethel-Roman and junior WR KC Concepcion continued to pile up yards, which helped Heisman-caliber quarterback Marcel Reed make a case to be the leading candidate with 120 yards and three touchdowns. 

Running back Amari Daniels also culminated his best game, breaking his highest rushing game of the season and recording his first touchdown of the year. He accumulated 106 yards off nine attempts.

Anytime a powerhouse program takes on a smaller football program, there are often issues for the school with fewer recruits and fewer playmakers to make many stops on defense. Reed embarrassed the Bulldogs’ defense, chunking the ball everywhere with a ton of opportunities for his weapons to amass several receptions and yards on a cool morning.

On the first drive, he did that when he found ABR, who posted the first score for the Aggies on a spectacular 3-yard touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone. Setting up that score was senior RB Amari Daniels, who had 39 yards on three rush attempts.

Concepcion showed off his crafty route-running and ability to rack up yards after the catch, combining for 42 yards. On the third drive, Concepcion slipped up after dropping a pass from Reed that hit him on the fingertips, but he responded with a slant route in the end zone for a 6-yard score.

The Missouri City, Texas, native recorded only two receptions for 61 yards and continued to get reps on the field, which will benefit chemistry with his QB going into the game against Texas. ABR posted his second score of the morning on a 58-yard shot downfield from Reed that extended the lead to 21-0.

Offensive coordinator Collin Klein dialed up a fair number of play calls to get the running backs involved, and several possessions featured big chunks of yardage. Last week against South Carolina, the group gained only 64 yards, so it was a significant improvement from the start.

Daniels ended up commanding the ground game, where he tallied a majority of the touches with an explosive 41-yard run on the fifth offensive drive, which set him up to barrel into the endzone on the 1-yard handoff.

After coach Mike Elko saw enough from his offense, Reed’s day concluded as he watched the rest of the half from the sidelines. Redshirt freshman QB Miles O’Neil entered under center for two drives, tossing six yards off four passes before freshman QB Brady Hart ran the offense for the rest of the first half.

A&M’s defense had no problems running right through the Samford offensive line, which attempted to protect the QB, Quincy Crittendon. There were only a couple of possessions that the tacklers let the 1-10 Samford team gain a few yards and move the ball downfield. 

On third down conversion, the Aggies held the Bulldogs to go 0-for-8. That has been one of the brighter spots for this defense, which has found a ton of success throughout the season. No first downs were recorded either. That was a positive area holding the Bulldogs to -2 passing yards. 

In the air, the secondary held Samford to no positive yardage with a dominant performance from the cornerbacks. Senior Tyreek Chappell had one pass breakup in the endzone, getting nearly intercepted, which contributed to forcing a three-and-out. 

Safety Marcus Ratcliffe also contained the big plays from being allowed a week ago against the Gamecocks, with two back-to-back tackles on Samford’s third drive, where one of them stopped a busted play. 

In the ground game, the Samford RBs had only 27 yards, courtesy of a brick wall kit that they were running into. Protection wasn’t powerful, as freshman defensive end Marco Jones led the team with five total tackles.  

The second half of the game at Kyle Field will continue shortly on SEC Network+.