Arizona State Sun Devils vs Texas A&M Aggies Match Player Stats On Sep 05, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 5, 2015

HOUSTON - Freshman receiver Christian Kirk, the best recruit in the state of Arizona, showed up Arizona State on Saturday night and lead Texas A&M to a 38-17 victory.

Kirk, who enrolled at Texas A&M in January and earned a starting spot in August, caught six passes for 106 yards, with a 66-yard zig-zag of a touchdown to break open the game for the Aggies with 3:45 to play.

Kirk also reeled off a 79-yard punt return early in the second quarter to give his team an early 14-0 cushion. The 15th-ranked Sun Devils eventually got to within a field goal of the Aggies late in the third quarter. But a rejuvenated Aggies' defense, under new coordinator John Chavis, never allowed Arizona State to close the gap.

By rankings, it was an upset, although oddsmakers had established Texas A&M as a three-point favorite. The teams opened the season in NRG Stadium in Houston, but there were far more Aggies than Sun Devil fans in the announced crowd of 66,308. A&M's campus is only a two-hour drive away.

Aggies running back Tra Carson finished the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown after Arizona State turned the ball over on downs.

The defenses of both teams often times were spectacular.

Texas A&M sacked Sun Devils quarterback Mike Bercovici nine times. He completed 25 of his 41 attempts for 199 yards.

The Arizona State defense forced Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin to switch quarterbacks, with A&M shifting from sophomore Kyle Allen to freshman Kyler Murray then back to Allen. The A&M quarterbacks each threw an interception and Allen fumbled after a sack. The Sun Devils registered three sacks for the game, but kept enough pressure on A&M so that both quarterbacks threw for a combined 19 of 35 for 247 yards. Murray was effective with his running, scampering six times for 69 yards.

Arizona State cut A&M's lead to 24-17 with 4:16 to go in the game on Zane Gonzalez's 23-yard run.

But on the next series, Allen and Kirk combined on the 67 yard score.

Texas A&M led Arizona State 14-7 at halftime. Both offenses struggled mightily, with A&M even switching quarterbacks late in the second quarter after Allen was sacked for the second time and fumbled.

Allen's turnover, which came at his own 17, set up Arizona State's first points of the game. Linebacker Christian Sam sacked Allen and stripped him of the ball and nose tackle Demetrius Cherry recovered it. A play later, Bercovici threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Kody Kohl.

Texas A&M's lone offensive touchdown was a simple pass from Allen to running back Tra Carson.

NOTES: Moments before kickoff, A&M coach Kevin Sumlin announced the suspensions of LB A.J. Hilliard and DT Zaycoven Henderson. Each will serve a two-game suspension for violating unspecified team rules. Hilliard, a junior, had been hurt, but wouldn't say what injury he suffered. Henderson is a sophomore. Both were listed as second team. ... A&M sophomore DE Myles Garrett was credited with two sacks in the first half. He had 11.5 a season ago, when he broke the SEC freshman record for sacks, a standard previously held by South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney. Fellow Aggies DE Daeshon Hall, a junior, had four of A&M's nine sacks. ... Arizona State's D.J. Foster, with an 8-yard reception, eclipsed 4,000 career yards in the first half. A&M limited him to six catches for 48 yards for the game.