SMU Has No Answer For Texas A&M

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas — SMU defensive coordinator Tom Mason sounded an ominous tone going into the matchup with Texas A&M.

“I have the worst job in America this week,” he said Monday.

He was right.

Johnny Manziel rolled up 346 yards and three touchdowns in an abbreviated outing to lead No. 10 Texas A&M to a 42-13 rout of SMU on Saturday at Kyle Field.

The Aggies (3-1) rebounded from last week’s loss to Alabama in the finale of a four-game homestand to open the season. Manziel passed for 244 yards and ran for 102 in one half and one series of work, exiting early in the third quarter.

“For us to win comfortably is just another step for this program,” Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said.

The Aggies also had their best defensive showing of the season against the overmatched Mustangs. Texas A&M gave up an average of 36 points and nearly 500 yards in the first three games.

SMU (1-2) had 434 yards, three turnovers and didn’t get into the end zone until

the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter. Mustangs quarterback Garrett Gilbert passed for 310 yards and a touchdown.

“We played with energy,” Sumlin said. “We played a lot of guys. We gave up some yardage, but we created a lot of turnovers.”

Manziel sliced up SMU’s defense, piloting the Aggies to a 32-6 halftime lead. The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner ran for two scores and threw for another by the intermission, completely confounding the Mustangs.

“We tried a little of everything,” SMU coach June Jones. “He’s an amazing player. You blitz him and he’s accurate with the ball. You rush three, and he can scramble around and make it last forever. He’s a great college football player and he’s in the perfect system.”

Texas A&M started fast. Manziel’s short toss in the flat to Sabian Holmes went for 32 yards on the first offensive play. The Aggies scored four plays later on Ben Malena’s 5-yard scamper, his first of two touchdowns.

The Aggies went 80 yards in seven plays on their second march to take a 14-0 lead. Mike Evans hauled in a pass for 46 yards just before Manziel ran in the last seven yards for a score.

Penalties stifled the Mustangs on their first two drives, but SMU found some traction on its third after defensive back Hayden Greenbauer picked off Manziel.

Garrett drove the visitors deep into A&M territory with a series of short, accurate passes. Chase Hover’s 42-yard field put SMU on the board just before the first quarter ended.

The Aggies upped their advantage to 23 in the second quarter. Manziel had a 16-yard scoring pass to Malcome Kennedy and a 7-yard keeper to make it 26-3.

Texas A&M’s defense got into the scoring act soon after. Gilbert’s pass to Jeremiah Gaines was fumbled and picked up by Aggies safety Deshazor Everett, who cruised 12 yards into the end zone.

Hover drilled a 47-yarder to close out the first half.

The Aggies had 377 yards of offense to SMU’s 193 in the opening half. The only negative for A&M was three missed extra points.

The Aggies are on the road for the first time this season and return to SEC play Saturday at Arkansas. SMU is at rival TCU next week.

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