Kirk's Big Night Lifts Aggies Past New Mexico State

Saturday, October 29

College Station

6:30 PM

Texas A&M

7-1

New Mexico State

2-6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

New Mexico State

Texas A&M

Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics

Oct 29, 2016 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery A&M 52, NMSU 10 - Final Stats

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Christian Kirk returned two punts for touchdowns and added a third score on a reception to help No. 9 Texas A&M rout New Mexico State 52-10 on Saturday night.

Texas A&M (7-1) took a break from Southeastern Conference play to face the Sun Belt team for the first time a week after suffering its first loss at top-ranked Alabama.

Kirk returned punts for 70 and 73 yards to become the first player in school history with two punt return scores in a game. He has four in his career, which is a Texas A&M record.

A 12-yard run by Trayveon Williams on A&M's first drive made it 7-0 before Kirk's first return TD pushed the lead to 14-0 later in the first. On that return, Kirk grabbed the ball and evaded the first wave of defenders before sidestepping another one, getting a couple of blocks, sprinting away from the rest of the defense and waltzing into the end zone.

Trevor Knight found Kirk on a 3-yard reception in the corner of the end zone in the second quarter to leave Texas A&M up 24-0.

Texas A&M was up by 28 points early in the third quarter when Kirk added his second return score to make it 38-3. Knight was replaced by backup Jake Hubenak not long after that, and most of A&M's starters were soon on the bench.

Tyler Rogers threw for 138 yards and a touchdown and ran for 40 yards for New Mexico State (2-6).

ABOUT THE VICTORY...
•   The Aggies improved to 7-1 for the first time under head coach Kevin Sumlin.
•   The Aggies are 7-1 for the first time since 2006. Texas A&M is 7-1 or better for the 24th time in school history.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY...
Sophomore WR/RS Christian Kirk had a pair of long punt return touchdowns against NMSU, making him the first player in school history with a pair of punt return TDs in a single game.
•   Only four players in school history have had two punt return TDs in an entire season -- Carl Roaches in 1972, Rod Harris in 1987, Aaron Glenn in 1993 and Kirk last season.
•   Kirk gained 143 yards on just two returns against NMSU with 70- and 73-yard TD jaunts.
•   Kirk now has four punt return TDs, which is a school record. Previous record of three by Kevin Smith from 1988-91 and Dustin Harris from 2009-12.
•   Kirk had a season-high 179 all-purpose yards with 36 receiving yards and 143 punt return yards. It's the sixth time that Kirk has gained 175-plus all-purpose yards in a game.
•   Kirk scored a trio of touchdowns, marking the second time this season that he's scored multiple TDs and the fifth time he's done it in his career.
•   With his first catch of the day, Kirk reached the 50-catch plateau in the eighth game of the season, which matched the fastest to 50 in school history. Jeff Fuller (2010) and Ryan Swope also reached 50 in game eight.

REYNOLDS TIES SWOPE
Senior WR Josh Reynolds reeled in the 24th TD catch of his career on a 41-yard catch and run early in the fourth quarter.
•   With the TD, Reynolds matches Ryan Swope (2009-12) for No. 2 on Texas A&M's career touchdown catches list. Jeff Fuller set the school record of 34 from 2008-11.

200 / 200 ... AGAIN
Texas A&M rushed for 200-plus yards and passed for 200-plus yards for the seventh time in eight games in 2016, tied with South Florida for the most on the season.
•   The Aggies gained 515 total yards with 233 on the ground and 282 through the air.
•   Texas A&M had only four 200/200 games last season.

NOTABLES
•   Texas A&M became the first FBS team in 2016 to register multiple TDs via rushing, passing and returns in the same game.
•   Tight ends Kalvin Cline and Tanner Schorp both logged the first catches of their Texas A&M careers against NMSU. Cline's came on a 17-yard TD pass from Jake Hubenak in the fourth quarter, while Schorp's 4-yard catch came from his former high school teammate Trevor Knight.
•   Redshirt freshman RB Kendall Bussey who entered the contest with 85 career rushing yards, racked up a career high 87 yards on 10 carries, including a career high 29-yard run.
•   The Texas A&M defense registered a three-and-out to open the game for the fifth time on the season.

GAME CAPTAINS, 12TH MAN
•   Game captains for the Aggies were graduate transfer QB Trevor Knight, junior WR Ricky Seals-Jones, senior LB Shaan Washington and senior DB Alex Sezer Jr. New Mexico State won the toss and elected to receive.
•   The Aggies' 12th Man representative was sophomore LB Cullen Gillaspia (Katy, Texas) in his eighth straight start. A former walkon, Gillaspia was awarded a scholarship at the end of fall camp.

Post Game Quotes
Texas A&M 52, New Mexico State 10
October 29, 2016

Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M Head Coach
On motivation in second half…
"In the first half we were just giving up yardage and doing some things that we could control, so our coaching staff addressed that at half time. Conversely, I was pleased with how our team responded in the second half. We got back to really handling business and taking control of the game the first four or five minutes of the second half. I was really happy with how they responded in the third quarter. That's part of it, getting better and not going to sleep and going through the motions. Coming out into the second half was fun. Our guys picked their energy level up and executed."

On Christian Kirk….
"Christian [Kirk] has established himself quickly as one of the best returners in the country. He's dynamic with the ball in his hands. He's a weapon and has been since he has been here. He has gotten better. He is a lot better as a full time receiver. With the ball in his hands, he has real skill and continues to develop. Just going back and watching the special teams there was some great execution and great decisions made. There were guys really working hard to create running lanes for him and when you have a guy like that it creates energy. Our return units have been pretty solid on the year."

On Josh Reynolds…
"That's who he is. The team appreciates how hard he plays without the ball. He'll go quarters without something, like today, but there's been time after time after time where he's had knockdown blocks or down the field blocking for the running game. Just an aggressive guy, he's extremely effective. He's really increased his play this year as an overall player. He made a great decision by coming back, because he's stronger, he's more physical."

Justin Evans, Texas A&M Senior Safety
On the team's response after half…
"I felt like we didn't start slow, but our energy wasn't where it should be. We knew that was our problem in the first half and we talked about that at halftime so that was our focus heading out of halftime."

On the big return out of the half…
"Actually I was ready for the first one but I got held so I was thinking if I get the next one I'm going to try to return it. I had great blocks from my teammates that really set it up and I was able to get the big return."

On fellow return man Christian Kirk…
"Two returns for a touchdown is always special no matter who you're playing. That's the kind of athlete Christian is and that's what you're going to get out of him each and every week."

Kingsley Keke, Texas A&M Sophomore Defensive Tackle
How well the defensive lineman have played…
"Our defensive line Coach Turner has done a really good job helping with our gap integrity. He's helped us be disruptive in there giving help to our linebackers and safeties."

On the young players getting playing time…
"It's good for their experience, knowing the pace of the game and how it's supposed to be played. It helps them get them ready for next year."

On second-half adjustments…
"The coaches told us to play to our standard. We didn't have a good first half but we came out in the second half, more amped up and more juiced, and I think we played up to our standards."

Trevor Knight, Texas A&M Senior Quarterback
On the game…
"The Aggies got a win tonight. It was just a fun night for us. We got to make a lot of big plays and a lot of people got to play. We got to see Jake [Hubenak] in there a lot and obviously the crowd favorite in the end, [Connor] McQueen. He had a big run as well, so that's fun stuff for me and our whole team."

On getting better as a team…
"It started really fast. That first drive may have been our best drive of the season. That was good. There were things here and there that we were a little sloppy on and kind of got lax. We can't let that happen and we talked about that a lot at half time that we can't keep doing that. Then we came out in the second half and had a couple quick stores. We beat a team we were supposed to beat and made a bunch of big plays that we were supposed to make, but the message after the game was still that we could be sharper. We could be better. We still have not played our best game of football yet."

On moving ahead of other teams and playoffs…
"There is a side of it where you are watching who wins and losses, but if we do not take care of our business then we are not going to be in the conversation at the end anyways. As a fan, you look at who is beating who and where the matchups are, so that plays a little into it. I think that our whole team has bought into the idea really well that let's play this week. It's about us and to get one week better. If we continue to do that, we are going to have a good stretch to finish."

Christian Kirk, Texas A&M Sophomore Wide Receiver
On his two punt return touchdowns…
"We knew coming into this week that there would be a big opportunity to make big plays in the special team's part of the game. Coach Banks really put an emphasis on making sure that we were going through our preparation and not changing just for this game, and playing to the level that we can play to. It was just big for us to be patient, know that we're going to get opportunities, and just take advantage of those opportunities. The whole punt return scheme that we had this week was great. The guys went out there and executed. Everyone got their blocks. Like I said, just taking advantage of opportunities and it felt nice to get in the end zone."

On halftime adjustments…
"It was a pretty intense halftime for us, the coaches coming in and kind of kicking us in the butt a little bit and getting us going. We knew the standard we set, and we weren't playing at that in the first half. That's on us as players to make sure that we come out and play at that standard. We weren't doing it and the coaches felt like we weren't giving it all that we had so they came in and kind of got on to us a little bit but said 'Let's lock down and put this thing away'. We know what we can do when we execute and it was good to go out there the second half and execute."

On breaking Texas A&M punt return records…
"It means the world to me, especially with the amount of great players that have come through this program and this university. It means so much when I found that out. I play this game to leave a legacy and to leave my name in the record books. Obviously, I have to give thanks to the guys in front of me that are blocking. It wouldn't happen if those guys aren't selling out for that stuff."

Doug Martin, New Mexico State Head Coach
Opening statement…
"Texas A&M is a phenomenal football team. Being here for first time, just tremendous tradition, everything about this place is first class. They are a tremendous football team. Defensively, I told Coach Sumlin after the game, their defensive coordinator is the hardest guy I've ever had to game plan against in my career. I think he does a fantastic job defensively here. I've known Noel Mazzone a long time. He always does a great job offensively. They are a tremendous talent, and I don't know how anybody beats them."

What you can take away from this game going forward…
"I told our offensive kids, we had 3 goals tonight. We wanted to play more physical, we wanted to take care of the football and we wanted to run the ball better. We really got all three of those down tonight. For us it was a productive night as far as that goes. If we can carry that on into our last four conference games, then we have a chance to win some of those games, or all of those games. Defensively, we are a work in progress. We are getting better. We got outmatched a little bit on the perimeter there, especially their receivers against our defensive backs. I think we got better as a football team."

On playing at a place like Kyle Field…
"It's great. It's exciting for our players. We recruit Texas really hard. We have seven coaches who recruit Texas and a third of our travel team is from Texas. It's the state we recruit the most. A lot of our guys were coming back home. We are recruiting a lot of guys here now, that helps us also. But, this is a tremendous place. My hat's off to them. It is first class.