Starkel Leads Football to 55-14 Win Over New Mexico

Saturday, November 11

College Station

6 p.m.

Texas A&M

6-4 , 3-3

New Mexico

3-7 , 1-5

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
New Mexico	0	7	7	0	14
Texas A&M	13	35	0	7	55

Photo by: Glen Johnson/Texas A&M Athletics

Nov 11, 2017 | Football

Box Score Box (PDF)Photos Highlights

By: Charean Williams, special to 12thman.com

In a season where things haven't always gone right, Texas A&M's final home game of the 2017 season exactly followed the plan.

The Aggies rolled New Mexico 55-14, honoring their 14 seniors before the game and celebrating with them afterward with the Aggie War Hymn.

It was #asexpected.

"It's always good [to win]," senior strong safety Armani Watts said. ". . . That was the plan – to get the W this week – and that's what we did."

The Aggies had a number of firsts . . . and seconds, sixths and even a 50^th.

Nick Starkel, starting his first game since breaking his ankle in the season opener, completed 21-of-30 passes for 416 yards in the first half. He joined Johnny Manziel as the only freshmen in school history to throw for 400 yards. Manizel set the A&M freshman passing record with 453 yards against Arkansas in 2012.

Kellen Mond replaced Starkel in the second half and went 8-for-11 for 78 yards and a touchdown.

"Nick needed to practice [after missing time while healing]," A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. "I think what you've seen is, as he has practiced, he's starting to knock the rust off a little bit and feeling more comfortable with changing protections and seeing things in real time. He's thrown a couple of touchdowns now in the blitzes, right into the teeth of them, taking some hits. He took some hits tonight that I didn't want to see him take. But all that stuff, you don't get that on video, and you don't get that in virtual reality. You get that in practicing and playing.

"He is getting better. It's a shame because he really missed a month and a half at least of practice."

Christian Kirk, who entered the game with only 83 punt return yards for the season, scored on a 90-yard punt return. It was the junior wide receiver's sixth punt return touchdown of his career, ranking second among active FBS players behind only NCAA record-holder Dante Pettis of Washington, who has nine.

Kirk also has a kickoff return touchdown this season, the first time in a season an Aggie scored on a kickoff return and a punt return in the same season since Carl Roaches in 1973.

"It was good," Kirk said. "He's left-footed punter, so we knew that he was going to kick to our right the whole entire game. He's kind of sporadic. When we looked at his hit chart during the week, he would punt some 42 to 48 and then he would have some 70-yard punts. So it was just make sure we had the right call on, and wait for him to mishit one and send it [deep], and then right when it came off the foot, that's usually when I'm able to know. He kicked it, and I knew we were going to be able to return it. After that, it's just reading the blocks and setting them up and then going ahead and finishing.

"I was pretty heartbroken when I saw a penalty flag on the field, just because we've been waiting for so long for an opportunity. I'm glad it counted [after the flag was picked up]."

Kirk was one of three Aggie wide receivers with a 100-yard game Saturday, catching four passes for 120 yards and a touchdown. It marked the first time in school history that three wide receivers had more than 100 yards in the same game, with true freshmen Roshauud Paul catching seven passes for 129 yards and Jhamon Ausbon catching seven passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.

"We're really starting to click with Nick," said Kirk, who also threw a key block on Ausbon's 10-yard touchdown catch. "The timing's getting down. It's really making sure our reps during practice are like game reps. A lot of those deep balls we hit in the game today, we hit all of those during practice. I think the difference this week was us receivers going up there and making those contested catches. We've had throws and opportunities like that all season, where we didn't make those catches. Tonight, I think we took that step forward in making those catches.

"Nick's building every week and getting his confidence back. I'm sure he's going to get better and better throughout the season to finish out."

The victory marked the 50^th for Sumlin at A&M, becoming the fifth coach in school history to reach that number as he joined R.C. Slocum, Homer Norton, D.X. Bible and Jackie Sherrill. Sumlin shared hugs and photos with his family before departing through the tunnel.

"I didn't even think about numbers or anything like that actually," Sumlin said. "My oldest daughter was in from New York, so they were down on the field. She doesn't get back here much anymore. Just happy to see them at the end of the game.

"It was more about Senior Night, and what it meant to those guys to stand there before they go out on their own and their families and how emotional it is for them, because the backstories nobody ever knows."

The Aggies scored early and often. Kirk went 60 yards to the end zone on the second play, 28 seconds into the game. A&M scored one more touchdown in the first quarter and five in the second for a 48-7 halftime lead.

The Aggies scored only 60 points combined in their three previous games, two of them home losses.

Not to be outdone, the defense held the Lobos, coached by former A&M assistant Bob Davie, to 144 total yards, including only 24 passing yards. New Mexico's only offensive touchdown came late in the third quarter against the Aggie reserves after getting a second-quarter score on a 100-yard kickoff return by Elijah Lilly.

"The game plan was rather simple," senior defensive end Jarrett Johnson said. "They ran a lot of option. We knew that they didn't pass very much. What they really want to do is run the ball with the quarterback and their tailbacks and get to the perimeter and try to beat us to the edge. We had our defensive ends playing the quarterback, and then we had various other players playing the pitch.

"As you can see, it was pretty successful."

#asexpected.

ABOUT THE WIN ...
•   The victory was the 30th for the Senior Class of 2017, which was honored in a pregame ceremony. Tonight was the final game at Kyle Field for 14 seniors.
•   Texas A&M tallied its sixth win of the season with tonight's 55-14 victory, which makes the Aggies bowl-eligible for a school record ninth straight year.
•   Tonight's win was the 50th of head coach Kevin Sumlin's tenure at Texas A&M. He became the fifth Aggie head coach to reach the 50-win plateau, joining R.C. Slocum, Homer Norton, D.X. Bible and Jackie Sherrill.

STARKEL SCORCHES
In his first start since breaking his ankle in the season-opener, redshirt freshman QB Nick Starkel torched New Mexico for 416 yards and four touchdowns on 21-of-30 pass attempts -- all in the first half.
•   It was the second 400-yard passing game by a freshman in school history. Johnny Manziel set the freshman passing record with 453 yards vs. Arkansas in his Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2012.
•   Starkel's 416 passing yards rank ninth on the overall school list.
•   Starkel's four passing TDs match the freshman school record shared by five other QBs -- Manziel, Kyle Allen (twice), Reggie McNeal, Kevin Murray and Jeff Granger.
•   For the season, Starkel has led the Aggies to a touchdown on 14 of 29 drives.

THREE 100-YARD RECEIVERS
The Aggies had three receivers with 100 yards through the air for the first time in school history. Tallying their career highs were true freshmen Roshaaud Paul (7-129) and Jhamon Ausbon (7-105), while veteran Christian Kirk had four catches for 120 yards.

KIRK TALLIES NO. 6
Already the school record holder, junior Christian Kirk tallied the sixth punt return score of his career with a scintillating 90-yard return in the first half
•   Kirk entered the game with just 83 punt returns for the season, but surpassed that with his lone punt return of the game.
•   Kirk's six punt return scores rank No. 2 among active FBS players behind only NCAA record holder Dante Pettis of Washington, who has nine in his career.
•   Kirk's six rank in a tie for No. 2 in SEC history behind the seven punt return TDs by Alabama's Javier Arenas from 2006-09.
•   Kirk entered the game with an NCAA-best 21.4 career punt return average.
•   Kirk became the first Aggie with a kickoff and punt return touchdown in the same season since Carl Roaches in 1973.

NON-CONFERENCE GRAVEYARD
Tonight's victory marks the Aggies' 28th straight victory over non-conference opponents at Kyle Field.
•   Head coach Kevin Sumlin moves to 19-0 vs. non-conference opponents at Kyle Field.

NOTABLES ...
•   With redshirt freshman QB Nick Starkel passing for 416 first-half yards and true freshman QB Kellen Mond (78) and senior QB Jake Hubenak (5) combining for 83 yards in the second half, the Aggies recorded the third-best passing effort in school history with 499 yards. The tally trailed only 511 vs. South Carolina in 2014 and 500 vs. Sam Houston State in 2013.
•   The Aggies scored 48 first-half points, marking the highest scoring first half since tallying 49 in the first two quarters vs. Ball State in 2015.
•   With his 210 all-purpose yards on the evening, junior Christian Kirk moved into fifth place on A&M's career list with 4,360 yards, passing Leeland McElroy (4,186 - 1993-95).
•   Kirk also moved into fifth place on A&M's career receiving yards list with 2,512, passing Mike Evans (2,499 - 2012-13).
•   Senior Night marked the 40th start of senior DB Armani Watts' career, which is the most on the team.
•   The 55 points were a season high and mark the highest scoring game by the Aggies since beating Prairie View A&M 67-0 in 2016.
•   The Aggies' top six tacklers vs. New Mexico are all first-year players. Leading the way was true freshman DL Jayden Peevy with six stops.
•   Tonight's 55-14 win marked the 19th 50-point game of the Sumlin era (since 2012).
•   Junior PK Daniel LaCamera missed the first extra point try of his career after the Aggies' first touchdown. LaCamera had made the first 87 of his career. It snapped a FBS-best streak of 234 successful PATs by Texas A&M that dated back to the 2013 SMU game.
•   Senior RB Keith Ford logged his team-best 10th rushing TD on a 12-yard run in the second quarter.

GAME CAPTAINS, 12TH MAN
•   Game captains for the Aggies were Cullen Gillaspia, Christian Kirk, Trayveon Williams, Armani Watts and Donovan Wilson.  Texas A&M won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
•             The Aggies' 12th Man representative was junior LB Cullen Gillaspia (Katy, Texas) in his 23rd straight start.

It didn't take long for the Aggies to strike, as @NickStarkel found @ChristianDavon2 to open the scoring. #12thMan pic.twitter.com/VeBten1Jh0
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 12, 2017

Damion Ratley celebrated Senior Night with two TD grabs. Here's a look at the first one. #12thMan pic.twitter.com/G6QVfN4fd9
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 12, 2017

.@ChristianDavon2 delivered his sixth punt return touchdown in Saturday's win. #12thMan pic.twitter.com/uIWm8EfZx1
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 12, 2017

.@NickStarkel --> Damion Ratley part 2#12thMan pic.twitter.com/zOuiI4MazJ
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 12, 2017

#GigEm ?? @AggieFootball pic.twitter.com/Ds80DUQFt9
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) November 12, 2017

Hear from Damion Ratley following the win over New Mexico. Ratley finished with a pair of touchdown receptions on the night. #12thMan pic.twitter.com/hYJ9nMt83p
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 12, 2017

"It's been a blessing playing here each & every week. I'm going to miss it a lot." - @GGPR_BANGER5 on Senior Night at Kyle Field#12thMan pic.twitter.com/RFjZbtdbR8
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 12, 2017

We say Thank You to tonight's Honorary Captain, Dave South! #12thMan #ThanksDave pic.twitter.com/4c2A0wijVg
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 12, 2017