College Football

Texas A&M Football: Aggies Fall Short Against Kansas State in Texas Bowl

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:22 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Matthew Bartlett/FanSided via Gig Em Gazette

Dec 28, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Kansas State Wildcats defensive end Reggie  Walker (51) celebrates after a play during the second quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas A&M football team ended their season on a low note, losing to Kansas State by a final score of 33-28 in the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl.

Texas A&M received the opening kick off and wasted no time getting into the endzone. Knight was 5 for 5 for 46 yards and Keith Ford punched it in from seven yards out to give the Aggies a 7-0 lead. After forcing a Kansas State punt, the Aggies next drive was foiled by a chop block on a reverse pass attempt by Christian Kirk.

Just when things seemed to be working, the play calling got a bit too cute. The Wildcats followed that with a 79 yard touchdown pass from Ertz to Pringle and the game was level again, 7-7. The teams were even after the first quarter, but Kansas State certainly had all of the momentum. Myles Garrett did his part. He blocked the point after on the Wildcats second touchdown.

The Aggies continued to shoot themselves in the foot for the majority of the first half. At the end of two quarters the Aggies had committed seven penalties for 70 yards. They also allowed a 52 yard touchdown run on a jet sweep to Dominique Heath. One of too many explosive plays from a not-very-explosive Kansas State offense.

MORE: Season Rewind – Josh Reynolds

The defense stepped up at the beginning of the second half. They bent, but didn’t break and kept the Wildcats out of the endzone in the third quarter. That gave the offense enough breathing room to close the gap to two five points at the start of the fourth quarter. The offense did put some points on the board, but a missed field goal and a turnover on downs ended the Aggie season with a loss.

Now: the good, the bad, and some final thoughts on the game and the end of the 2016 season.

Dec 28, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Kansas State Wildcats wide receiver Dominique  Heath (4) scores a touchdown during the second quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Bad

Butterfingers

Tanner Schorp, Josh Reynolds, Jeremy Tabuyo, and Ricky Seals-Jones each dropped a first down reception. The Aggies most efficient drive of the game came after the opening kickoff in which Aggie receivers made all the catches. Reynolds did make a nifty over the should catch to set up an Aggie touchdown. He followed that up with another dropped first down pass early in the second half.

Trevor Knight couldn’t pull in a low snap with two minutes remaining in the first half. His fumble was the second Aggie turnover of the day and gave the Wildcats a short field. Thankfully the defense rose up and made a fourth down stop to keep Kansas State off the board.

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Turnovers and Penalties

Bill Synder’s teams always seem to play physical, smart football. That rang true again in the Texas Bowl. The Aggies trailed by nine points at half time, two scores. The turnover differential for the Aggies? Minus two.

Texas A&M played a much cleaner game in the second half. After committing seven penalties for 70 yards in the first half they committed one for 15 in the second half.

Dec 28, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Jesse Ertz (16) runs the ball during the second quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Big Plays

Kansas State had seven plays of 20 yards or more:

The Wildcat offensive is a lot of things, but explosive hasn’t been an adjective they were described as coming into this bowl game. The A&M defense still hasn’t perfected the art of tackling. Weird. Thought they taught that concept fairly early on.

Dec 28, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver Josh  Reynolds (11) makes a reception over Kansas State Wildcats defensive back Kendall  Adams (21) during the second quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Good

Myles Garrett and the Defensive Front Seven

Garrett literally took a point off the board by himself with the extra point block. He finished the night without any other plays that showed up in the boxscore. The junior defensive end might not have put up big numbers in the stat sheet, but his sheer power played a crucial role in disrupting the Wildcat offense.

He wasn’t alone. Otaro Alaka and Reggie Chevis seemed to live in the Kansas State backfield. Each picked up a sack of their own. The Aggie defense made plenty of tackles in backfield, including three sacks.

Ricky Seals-Jones and Josh Reynolds

aggies

Gig Em Gazette 1 dGetting to Know Kansas State

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1 d - Texas A&M Football: Season Rewind - Kingsley Keke2d - Texas A&M Football: Texas Bowl Key Players to Watch and Predictions2d - Texas A&M Recruiting: Aggies Land 2018 Safety Jordan Moore2d - Texas A&M Football: Season Rewind - Christian Kirk3d - Texas A&M Football: A Journey Through Aggie Bowl HistoryMore News at Gig Em Gazette

Rumors began circulating before the game that Seals-Jones intended to declare for the NFL draft after the game. If that is indeed the case he put his best foot forward on Wednesday night by catching his first touchdown pass of 2016. He pulled in a fade by his finger tips to give the Aggies a 14-13 lead. He finished the game with six catches for 34 yards, all in the first half.

Josh Reynolds had a touchdown grab of his own, pulling in an under-thrown fade route for the Aggies third touchdown of the day. That touchdown marked his 11th consecutive game with a touchdown reception, extending his very own school record. His over-the-shoulder grab in the first half set up Seals-Jones early score. In total, Reynolds caught 12 passes for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Reynolds’ 12 catches broke his own bowl record. He’s still shooting up NFL draft boards as you read this. The Aggie faithful don’t yet realize what they’ll be missing when Reynolds is catching passes on Sundays next year instead of in front of the 12th Man.

Keith Ford

Kansas State hadn’t surrendered more than 180 yards rushing all season. That came against Oklahoma State. They played Christian McCaffery and Deont’e Foreman this year too.

Keith Ford was tremendous, carrying the ball 10 times for 86 yards. On a Knight where Trevor Knight was held in check on the ground, the rest of the ball carriers racked up 59 yards. All that against a defense that ranked 11th in the nation and allowed less than 113 yards per game. They would have had more had they not fallen being by two scores late in the game.

Dec 28, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Daylon  Mack (5) and defensive lineman Myles  Garrett (15) attempt to block a point after touchdown by the Kansas State Wildcats during the second quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Final Thoughts

On Wednesday night in Houston the Aggies couldn’t erase the frustrating losses that had happened during the year. They couldn’t wish themselves back into the playoff rankings. What they could do was win a football game. The Aggies were three point favorites coming into the Texas Bowl and many expected a close game. That’s what they got.

At the final whistle it was Kansas State that ended their season on a high note. Instead of being able to end his season with momentum, Sumlin will now have to answer to his critics during the offseason. After beating Tennessee at the beginning of October the Aggies only wins came against New Mexico State and Texas-San Antonio.

The Aggies have a talented incoming recruiting class, but fans are getting restless with talk of the future. A second consecutive bowl loss is only making head coach Kevin Sumlin‘s set a little hotter.

With the game on the line, Sumlin’s offense faced a 4th and eight. They threw the ball to Damion Ratley who had one reception on the season coming into the game. There was an unblocked rusher that forced Knight to release the ball much earlier than he wanted to, but the final result stands. No Reynolds and no Kirk. No catch. That’s on you coach.

***Stats from Sports Reference, ESPN***

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