Quarterback Garrett Gilbert was sacked four times by the Texas A&M defense in the 48-3 loss Saturday in Ford Stadium. (Sidney Hollingsworth/The Daily Campus)
SMU’s much-anticipated matchup against the Texas A&M Aggies was more of a showcase of one of the Southeastern Conference’s rising stars quarterback in redshirt freshman Johnny Manziel.
“I knew it was going to be tough [to contain Manziel],” SMU head coach June Jones said.
After the 48-3 loss Saturday, Jones fell to 0-5 against Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin in his career.
“I thought if we had answered anything to the game early offensively when the defense stopped them the first five or six times we had the ball, I think that everybody would have rallied up,” Jones said.
Manziel dazzled a crowd of 32,016 at Ford Stadium, the sixth-highest attended game at Ford Stadium. Manziel racked up 418 total yards and six touchdowns, but his legs did most of the work as he had 124 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Offensively for the Aggies, the team were able to do what most teams have been able to do against the Mustangs this year: rack up big yardage. The SMU defense gave up 605 yards to total 1,670 yards over three games this year.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” SMU linebacker Taylor Reed said. “[Manziel is] a great athlete, I’ll say that. He’s really shifty.”
While the Texas A&M offense made the SMU defense look overwhelmed, the SMU offense was overwhelmed by an Aggie defense that sacked quarterback Garrett Gilbert four times and limited him to 203 yards passing on 49 attempts.
What was worse was the third down conversion rate for the Mustangs, which was a dismal 3-for-18.
“We couldn’t convert the last two weeks on third down. We’ve been terrible. You can’t win doing that,” Jones said.
Even SMU running back Zach Line had trouble, who had just 31 yards at halftime before finishing with 107 yards rushing and 35 yards receiving against mostly A&M backups.
SMU receivers also weren’t a factor and senior Darius Johnson and junior Jeremy Johnson were held without a catch going into halftime. The shifty slot receivers are focal points for the offense and Gilbert had a rough day getting the ball to them.
Texas A&M was held scoreless after the first quarter, but broke through on a 29-yard touchdown reception by Ryan Swope. Then after forcing a three-and-out, Manziel took off for a 48-yard touchdown run on the first play of the possession.
SMU senior defensive end Margus Hunt then blocked the extra point to give him 16 career blocked kicks, which ties him for second all-time on the list of most blocked kicks. Hunt has a shot to break the record if he can get to 20 blocks by the end of the season.
SMU looks to get back in the win column after a bye week hosting rival TCU on Sept. 29. The Mustangs are 1-2 this season.
