NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Taylor Bertolet tied Southeastern Conference and school records by making six field goals, and Kyle Allen passed for 336 yards and one touchdown, leading Texas A&M to 25-0 a win over Vanderbilt on Saturday night.
Bertolet kicked field goals of 31, 25, 46, 46, 41 and 23 yards. Texas A&M’s Alan Smith kicked six field goals in a 1983 win over Arkansas State.
Allen made his first start since a 23-3 loss to Mississippi on Oct. 24. He won the starting job back in practice after freshman Kyler Murray started the previous three games, but threw a total of five interceptions against Western Carolina and Auburn.
Allen, who completed 18 of 36 passes, started the first seven games of the season.
Texas A&M (8-3, 4-3 SEC West) held Vanderbilt (4-7, 2-5 SEC East) to a season-low 148 total yards and 23 passing yards.
Teams from Texas shut out Vanderbilt 59-0 this season, including Houston’s 34-0 win over the Commodores on Halloween.
Ralph Webb led the Commodores with 79 rushing yards on 25 carries, giving the sophomore 1,003 yards on the ground this season.
Bertolet made a 31-yard field goal on the first drive of the game.
Sam Moeller blocked Tommy Openshaw’s punt and it was recovered by Devonta Burns at the Vanderbilt 13-yard line, setting up the Aggies’ next score.
Four plays later, Bertolet’s 25-yard field goal gave Texas A&M a 6-0 lead with 2:32 left in the first quarter.
Josh Reynolds got behind Vanderbilt’s Torren McGaster on a fly route down the right sideline on third-and-9 for a 95-yard touchdown pass from Allen, increasing the Aggies’ lead to 13-0 with 2:11 left in the first half.
That tied for the second longest TD pass in Texas A&M history. Johnny Manziel threw a 95-yard strike to Mike Evans against Alabama in 2013.
De’Vante Harris gave Texas A&M a good scoring opportunity 13 seconds later when he intercepted a Kyle Shurmur pass deep in Vanderbilt territory, but Bertolet’s 35-yard field goal attempt went wide left.
Bertolet got another chance on the final play of the half when he hit a 46-yard field goal, giving the Aggies a 16-0 lead. He added three second-half field goals to cap the scoring.
TEAM/GAME NOTES
• The Aggies improved to 8-3 overall and 4-3 against SEC opponents.
• The Aggies’ 25-0 shutout of Vanderbilt was the program’s first goose egg since 2004 (31-0 over Wyoming at Kyle Field). It was the first conference shutout and road shutout since blanking Baylor 41-0 in Waco in 2002. It was A&M’s first out-of-state shutout since blanking Kansas State 10-0 in 1975. It was Texas A&M’s first shutout since joining the SEC.
• Aggie head coach Kevin Sumlin joined Hall of Famer R.C. Slocum as the only coaches in school history log eight or more wins in their first four seasons.
• Texas A&M continued to be road warriors under Sumlin, improving their record in games away from Kyle Field to 18-5 in games away from Kyle Field since 2012.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
• Sophomore QB Kyle Allen returned to the starting role and responded with 336 passing yard on 18-of-36 attempts. It was Allen’s third 300-yard passing game of 2015 and his career. With his big passing game, Allen became the eighth QB in school history to pass for more than 2,000 yards and 15 or more passing TDs in a season, joining Johnny Manziel, Jerrod Johnson, Ryan Tannehill, Kenny Hill, Dustin Long, Kevin Murray and Edd Hargett.
• Allen connected with junior WR Josh Reynolds on a 95-yard TD catch and run, which ranked as the second-longest pass play in school history. It matched the 95-yarder from Johnny Manziel to Mike Evans vs. Alabama in 2013, and was just behind the 96-yarder from Randy McCown to Chris Taylor against Tulsa in 1999.
• Reynolds, who did not play last week due to suspension, logged his third 100-yard receiving game of 2015 with 105 yards on three catches. His TD catch was the 18th of his career, which gave him sole possession of fifth place on A&M’s career receiving TDs list. He entered the game tied with Mike Evans for the fifth spot with 17.
• Senior RB Tra Carson surpassed the 100-yard mark in rushing yards for the fourth straight game with 126 yards on 22 carries. He is the first Aggie with four straight 100-yard game since Cyrus Gray closed out the 2010 season with seven straight.
• Carson also moved within 10 yards of his first career 1,000-yard rushing season. He is seeking to become the first RB to rush for 1,000 since Gray had 1,045 in 2011.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
• Sophomore FS Armani Watts became the first Texas A&M defensive back to accumulate 100 tackles in a season since 2003. Watts posted nine tackles against the Commodores to bring his season total to 105. Prior to Watts, the last Aggie DB to surpass the century mark was Jaxson Appel with 135 in 2003. Watts is the first Aggie defender to reach 100 since linebacker Michael Hodges had 115 in 2010.
• Junior safety Justin Evans, who missed last week’s game due to injury, returned action by matching his career high with 10 tackles, which led the Aggies.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
• Senior PK Taylor Bertolet matched the school record for single game field goals with a career-high six three-pointers vs. Vanderbilt. He matched the school record of six originally set by the bare-footed Alan Smith vs. Arkansas State at Kyle Field in 1983. His previous single-game high was three FGs vs. multiple opponents.
• Senior P Drew Kaser, a Ray Guy Award semifinalist, averaged 46.0 yards on four punts. He had two 50-yard plus boots, which raised his season total to a career high 20. He also had two inside-the-20 efforts, which raised his season total to 18.
MISCELLANEOUS
• Game captains were OC Mike Matthews, RT Germain Ifedi, DE Myles Garrett and 12th Man Sam Moeller. The Aggies won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
• Moeller was the Aggies’ 12th Man for the 37th straight game, which is a school record.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics