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Texas A&M defeats Arizona State 38-17: Christian Kirk runs wild in debut

By Charles Rahrig V

Sep 5, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies kick returner Christian Kirk (3) breaks the tackle of Arizona State Sun Devils linebacker Luke Williams (36) and returns the punt for a 79 yard touchdown in the second quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 5, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies kick returner Christian Kirk (3) breaks the tackle of Arizona State Sun Devils linebacker Luke Williams (36) and returns the punt for a 79 yard touchdown in the second quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Texas A&M pulls away from No. 15 Arizona State behind Christian Kirk’s stellar first game

It was an absolute defensive battle between the No. 15 Arizona State Sun Devils and the Texas A&M Aggies in Houston on Saturday night. It looked like early on in the first it was going to be a struggle for both team to score as they traded punts, and it was.

As the first ended, it was Texas A&M who got on the board when quarterback Kyle Allen found Tre Carson for a touchdown. Just a few plays later, freshman Christian Kirk would wow everyone with a punt return for a touchdown and suddenly it looked like the rout was on.

However, Arizona State would recover a fumble deep in Texas A&M territory and Mike Bercovici would find Kody Kohl in the endzone for the touchdown. The score would remain 14-7 into the second half. After Arizona State fumbled deep in their territory, it looked like Texas A&M would punch it in and increase their lead. However, the Arizona State defense stood tall and held Texas A&M to a field goal to keep it to 17-7.

Needing a much needed scoring drive, Arizona State went right down the field and scored when Mike Bercovici scampered into the endzone to make it 17-14. After Kyle Allen was replaced by Kyler Murray earlier in the game, Murray would come out of the game with a hip injury and Allen would come back in.

Allen, looking better than he did earlier in the game when he was dealing with issues with accuracy and turning the ball over, took Texas A&M down for a score, and much like Bercovici did for the Sun Devils, ran in for a touchdown to put the Aggies up 10 at 24-14.

The Sun Devils would come right down the field after a deep pass from Bercovici to Ellis Jefferson. However, Arizona State couldn’t get the football in and would have to settle for a field goal to make it 24-17. Then, with time running down in the fourth, Arizona kids Kyle Allen and Christian Kirk connected on a 66-yard catch-and-run to put Texas A&M up 31-17. Texas A&M would get one more before the game was over on a run from Tra Carson and the Aggies would win 38-17.

Three Stars

3. Kyle Allen

Kyle Allen would actually be replaced in this game by Kyler Murray. That’s all it would take for Allen to kick it into high gear and lead the Aggies to two critical scores late in the game that would ultimately be the difference in Texas A&M’s win over Arizona State.

2. Tra Carson

Tra Carson was the workhorse in the backfield. He may have struggled and only averaged a little over three yards a carry on the ground against Arizona State, but he carried the ball 29 times, once for a touchdown and even scored on a touchdown pass from nine yards out. He earned his helmet stickers tonight.

1. Christian Kirk

Has there ever been such a dynamic debut from a freshman? Christian Kirk made waves in recruiting when he chose Texas A&M over his home state team. Well, he made the Sun Devils pay early and often. He returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown and also took a pass from Kyle Allen for 66 yards on a score. He had over 200 yards of offense just by himself.

Odds

Texas A&M was favored by 3 and and resoundingly covered the spread.

Next Week

Arizona State returns home next week to take on Cal Poly in a game where they should pick up their first win. With their offensive struggles this week, it will be a good chance for Arizona State to get things right ahead of a monstrous PAC-12 South slate.

Texas A&M will play host to Ball State next week and will be looking to build off their big win from this week. Christian Kirk will look to build on his performance from the first game of his career and continue to grow into a dynamic player for the Aggies.

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