Texas A&M left Kyle Field with a 48-20 win over Arizona State on Saturday, but the ground game gave Mike Elko plenty to chew on once the dust settled.
The Aggies moved to 2-0, and the final score looked comfortable enough. It just didn’t feel that way for much of the afternoon. A&M was still only up 24-20 entering the fourth quarter before ripping off 24 unanswered points over the final 15 minutes to put the Sun Devils away.
Even with the victory in hand, the rushing attack was hard to ignore. Texas A&M never found much traction on the ground over the first three quarters, and Elko didn’t sugarcoat it when he was asked about the issue Monday.
“Obviously not good enough, for sure,” Elko said. “Certainly an area that needs to improve.
We have to be able to run the ball more effectively than that. I think that when you look at that tape, you know, there’s a lot of reasons.
I think that we have got to do a better job of blocking up front; that’s a part of it. We’ve got to do a better job of running behind the blocks; that’s a part of it… I think that it’s just something that we’ve got to continue to address, for sure.”
The numbers matched the eye test. The Aggies finished with 92 rushing yards, and most of that came after halftime. Their backs and runners averaged just 2.6 yards per carry, a figure that won’t play well once SEC games start stacking up.
And that’s the real issue here: a one-dimensional offense is a dangerous place to live in this league, especially for a team with national-title ambitions. If Texas A&M wants any shot at a second straight College Football Playoff trip, Elko and his staff have to get the run game moving.
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