One game of stellar defense won't bring back the Wrecking Crew nickname at Texas A&M but at least it offered a glimmer of hope.
Now the Aggies, who walloped Arizona State 38-17 behind a nine-sack effort on defense, will look to carry that momentum into Saturday's game against Ball State at Kyle Field.
While the defense stole the show and helped the Aggies move from unranked to 16th in the latest Associated Press rankings, it will be the stadium that has the spotlight Saturday. The game will mark the first since the $485-million renovations were completed.
As nice as the stadium looks now, head coach Kevin Sumlin is eager to see how new defensive coordinator John Chavis and the Aggies follow up their showing against Arizona St. The nine-sack effort was the most by a Texas A&M team under Sumlin and the most for the program since A&M had 10 in a 1995 game against Texas Tech.
"I think that was more than anybody would have anticipated against a quality football team like Arizona State with the athletes and the scheme," Sumlin said of his team's nine-sack game. "They're a team that's used to scoring a lot of points. It was a dramatic turnaround from our defense last year. I don't know if we can get nine sacks a week. We'd love to do that. Certainly our defense played very well last week and had something to build on."
Chavis has now seen his new defense in action and has game film to work with for the Ball St. game. The Aggies also now know what's expected out of the former LSU defensive coordinator effort-wise too.
That could spell trouble for Ball St., which is coming off a 48-36 win over VMI.
"There's an immediate buy in," Sumlin said of his defense's reaction to Chavis. "He's got a wealth of experience, particularly in the SEC and the SEC West. He's a guy who's been around, understands things. It's a great fit for both of us, a great fit for him. We've got some really talented young players. Our guys are excited to play and you can see that energy and excitement Saturday night. Our challenge is to continue that energy and excitement for the rest of the year."
