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After dropping a shocker to Appalachian State in a game that notoriously cost $1.5 million to book, the Texas A&M Aggies entered Week 3 of the 2022 NCAA season with a lot to prove and a fanbase that could best be described as worried. Sure, the team's Week 1 win was impressive, as a 31-0 win over any team is a good time, but if the Aggies couldn't secure a win over App State, how would they fare against a Miami team who entered the game as favorites? Factor in the absence of four players, Evan Stewart, Denver Harris, Deyon Bouie, and Chris Marshall, who were suspended for curfew violations, and the stars were aligning for Texas A&M to start the season out 1-2 and effectively count themselves out of playoff contention before Halloween decorations went up in College Station.
Fortunately, that isn't how things went down. No, in a very welcomed twist of fate, A&M caught some lucky breaks early on, and even after a targeting call challenged their depth even further, Jimbo Fisher's squad still bested the Hurricanes on the way to a 2-1 record as tens of thousands of fans cheered them on proudly. With another test against a ranked opponent on the books for Week 4 versus Arkansas – who almost lost to Bobby Petrino's Missouri State Bears in Week 3 – the Aggies have a chance to parlay a surprise win into a serious momentum shifter moving forward.
Turn the lights out! AGGIES WIN!#BTHOMiami ✅ pic.twitter.com/ci1xzwFaD8
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) September 18, 2022
3 takeaways from Texas A&M's win over Miami
3. Special teams are important too
Some fans don't appreciate special teams; to them, a kicker stepping foot on the field is an ideal excuse to go to the bathroom or secure another hot dog, and the game will only regain their attention when either the offense or the defense takes the field. Fortunately, Fisher is an old-school head coach who cares about all three facets of the game, and the Aggies are 2-1 largely because of it.
From Chris Russell Jr. securing a muffed punt that set up a go-ahead touchdown, to Ainias Smith muffing a punt of his own only to wrestle back possession to keep the ball away from Miami, Texas A&M won the special teams game when it mattered and ultimately won the game as a result too.
2. Devon Achane kept the ball moving
While the Texas A&M offense is still a work in progress, with Kirk Herbstreit consistently pointing out that the team doesn't have a wide receiver who can test the defense down the field, one player who did his job was running back Devon Achane, who moved the ball with ease against the Hurricanes defense.
Rushing the ball 18 times, Achane picked up a season-leading 88 yards on the ground on the way to the best rushing performance of any player in the game. While he may never be a certified burner who can rip off 50-yard runs weekly, Achane is a known commodity who can keep an offense on track, much like his predecessor, Isaiah Spiller, who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft because of his solid-as-a-rock bell cow abilities.
1. Max Johnson did his job
After biding his time on the sidelines, Max Johnson started Texas A&M's third game of the season and did a good enough job to help his team secure the win. Was he the second coming of Johnny Manzel? Hardly, Johnson played fine, completing 10-20 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown with 13 more yards on 11 carries picked up on the ground, but in the end, he didn't need to be elite.
No, in order to beat a top-15 team, all Johnson needed to do was not make mistakes and let the team around him do the work. In Week 4, expect more of the same from Johnson.
