Key to Texas A&M's third-down dominance lies in early-down success

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The third time is supposedly a charm. That seems to apply to Texas A&M’s defense.

Success or failure on third down is one of the primary metrics in winning or losing football games. A&M is fifth in the nation in opponent third-down conversions.

Consequently, it’s no surprise No. 5 A&M is unbeaten in five games.

The Aggies’ defense has a stunning 22.39 success rate on third down (15 of 67). They’ve been nothing short of amazing in the last two games.

In victories over Auburn and Mississippi State, the Aggies have allowed just one third-down conversion in 23 attempts — a 0.04 success rate.

Coach Mike Elko, at his weekly press conference on Monday, pointed out that A&M’s grandiose success on third down is largely due to grandiose success on previous downs, too.

"I think TFLs (tackles for loss) are a big part of it,” Elko said. “A lot of people have talked about our third-down success the last two weeks. One of the hidden stats in there is third-down distance.”

As usual, Elko is right. On 19 of the 23 third-down plays, opponents needed at least six yards to convert.

The only conversion came when Mississippi State faced third-and-1.

“I think our ability to create some negative plays on first and second down, our ability to create some sacks or some pressures or some tackles for loss in the run game puts people behind the sticks and forces them into third down situations,” Elko said. “As much as we’ve been good on third down the last two games, I also think a large part of our success is that we’ve been very much in advantageous third-down situations.”

Seven of those long third-down situations were caused by big losses in the early downs.

Sacks by linebacker Daymion Sanford led to Mississippi State facing third-and-13 and Auburn facing third-and-seven.

Sanford also had a seven-yard tackle for loss on a running play that eventually forced Mississippi State to face third-and-16.

Sacks by Cashius Howell forced Mississippi State into a third-and-19 and Auburn into third-and-11.

Jordan Lockhart’s six-yard tackle for loss on a first-down pass and Howell’s sack on second down put Mississippi State in a third-and-23 situation.

A first-down sack by Taurean York led Auburn to face a third-and-10.

A fumble for an eight-yard loss put Mississippi State in a third-and-11.

“Those things are hard to overcome as an offense,” Elko said. “Some of that is what you’re trying to create on defense. When you have kids who have the ability to do that, obviously, it gives you a chance.”

Rising star?

As previously referenced, Daymion Sanford has emerged as a big-play threat on A&M’s defense.

An injury to Scooby Williams against Notre Dame thrust Sanford into the lineup. He has excelled.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

Daymion Sanford was named the SEC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his collegiate career.

“Daymion has stepped up and played two really big games for us as a starter the last two weeks,” Elko said. “He also played a really big second half for us on the road at Notre Dame.

“He’s a kid we have a lot of confidence in.”

Sanford has recorded 18 of his 19 tackles in the three games vs. Notre Dame, Auburn and Mississippi State.

In that span, he has also posted 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and grabbed an interception.

Depth is typically a major key to success in football. The Aggies seem to have a glut of depth at several positions.

Sanford was recognized as the team’s defensive player of the week for his performance vs. Mississippi State. The offensive player of the week was running back Rueben Owens II, who rushed for a career-high 142 yards. Most of that came after starter Le’Veon Moss left the game with an injury.

“It’s not lost on me that our two players of the week were not necessarily starters (in) game one,” Elko said. “When you talk about what it really takes to build a program that can go the distance in this conference week in and week out, you’re going to need a lot of kids to be bought in. You’re going to need a lot of kids to be able to come in and have success.

“Fortunately, Daymion was a kid who was ready when his number was called. That won’t be the last time that story comes up, and we’ll need to have guys that are capable of answering the bell.”

The Boerkircher threat

Tight end Nate Boerkircher will forever be remembered in Aggieland for his game-winning touchdown catch vs. Notre Dame.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

Nate Boerkircher has five receptions and two carries on the season.

However, he has made some other clutch plays, albeit not nearly as spectacular.

The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Boerkircher has become an option to carry the football on third-and-short. He was used to convert third-and-1 vs. Auburn and third-and-2 vs. Mississippi State.

That’s no small accomplishment because A&M has often struggled to convert short-yardage situations, especially near the goal line.

“Obviously, we challenged ourselves a lot this offseason to kind of do some studies on how people run the ball, what people do to effectively run the ball in short yardage situations,” Elko said. “I love Marcel (Reed), but he’s not a 215-pound, 225-pound quarterback. That takes the quarterback sneak out of our equation a little bit.

“Maybe just some creative ways to get some bigger guys in there that can kind of get into the wedge off some misdirections is where that came from.”

Boerkircher has also done a great job blocking. He pushed receiver KC Concepcion and a Mississippi State tackler into the end zone to complete a 34-yard touchdown pass.

Challenge accepted?

A&M’s offensive line is among the best in the nation. Yet, it can be better.

Penalties and some missed assignments have thwarted several A&M scoring opportunities.

Elko declined to name an offensive lineman of the week because those issues again arose vs. Mississippi State.

“The challenge that I laid out to them was to stop having those two plays a game that send us backward, whether it’s a penalty or a critical mistake,” Elko said.

Elko stressed that the linemen played well. He just expects more.

“Each kid graded out really well,” he said. “Each kid had a really solid game. I think we created movement. We obviously ran the ball really well. I think we protected Marcel (Reed) really well.

“But we have high expectations for that group. Let’s get rid of the two plays that each one of them had that make you pull your hair out. I think if we can do that, there’s probably still another level that we can get to with them and offensively.”

Two hundred and counting

Leading tackler Taurean York needs 10 more stops to reach 200 for his career.

That could come this week against Florida. After all, York posted 10 tackles twice this season. He hit that mark vs. UTSA in the season-opener and again last week.

Elko was unaware that York was closing in on 200.

“It’s a really cool milestone for him,” he said. “I hope I’m around to see him get to 300. That’s what he’s capable of.”

NOTES

• As previously mentioned, Owens was the offensive player of the week, Sanford was the defensive player of the week, and there was no offensive lineman of the week for the Mississippi State game. Those also honored were defensive end Cashius Howell (defensive lineman), KC Concepcion (special teams), offensive lineman Josh Moses (scout team offense), cornerback Deyjhnon Pettaway (scout team defense) and receiver Johnny Ryder (scout team special teams).

• Also, Sanford was named the SEC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week, and Howell was named the conference’s Defensive Lineman of the Week.

• Punter Tyler White was named to the Ray Guy Award “Ray’s Eight” for his play vs. Mississippi State.

• Kickoff for A&M’s Oct. 18 game at Arkansas has been set for 2:30 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPN.

• Elko opened his press conference by encouraging fans to attend No. 9 Texas A&M’s volleyball game against No. Kentucky on Wednesday night at Reed Arena. With both teams ranked in the nation’s top 10, it will be the first time Reed has hosted such a matchup.