HOUSTON (AP) — Kyle Allen threw for a score early and sealed the game by running for a touchdown and throwing for another in the fourth quarter after being benched in favor of freshman Kyler Murray, and Texas A&M beat No. 15 Arizona State 38-17 on Saturday night.
Allen won the starting job in camp, but coach Kevin Sumlinreplaced him with Murray in the second quarter and alternated quarterbacks for much of the second half. Allen spent most of the third quarter on the bench before returning early in the fourth and capping a long drive with a 12-yard touchdown run that made it 24-14.
Arizona State kicked a field goal before Allen connected with freshman Christian Kirk — like Allen, from Scottsdale, Arizona — on a short pass and he dashed 66 yards for a touchdown to make it 31-17. Kirk also returned a punt 79 yards for a TD in the second quarter.
Mike Bercovici threw for 199 yards and a touchdown for the Sun Devils.
It was the first-ever meeting between these teams and the loss dropped the Sun Devils to 0-7 against the Southeastern Conference.
Allen finished with 198 yards passing with two touchdowns and an interception. Murray threw for 49 yards with an interception and ran for 69 yards.
A&M’s revamped defense under John Chavis, the former LSU coordinator, forced two turnovers, had nine sacks and 14 tackles for losses. Daeshon Hall led the unit with four sacks and two forced fumbles and Myles Garrett had two sacks, three hurries and forced one fumble.
Tra Carson had a touchdown reception in the first quarter and ran for another score in the fourth quarter.
Allen was intercepted by Kweishi Brown on his first play of the second half, but the Aggies got it right back on a fumble. Murray took over after one more failed drive by Allen in the third and he dazzled with his feet, scrambling away from pressure for a long throw before gaining 23 yards on a run two plays later. That drive ended on an interception by Jordan Simone.
The Aggies defense bailed the offense out again, forcing a fumble and recovering it on Arizona State’s ensuing drive.
A 19-yard field goal made it 17-7 in the third.
A 19-yard run by Bercovici got the Sun Devils within 17-14 with about three minutes left in the third quarter.
Kirk extended A&M’s lead to 14-0 when he shed three tackles and then simply outran the rest of the defense in his punt return for a touchdown early in the second quarter.
Christian Sam sacked Allen and caused a fumble which 6-foot-6, 300-pound defensive lineman Demetrius Cherry recovered and rumbled 18 yards to the Texas A&M 4-yard line. The Sun Devils cut the lead to 14-7 early in the second quarter when Kody Kohl scored on a 4-yard reception on the next play.
Murray first entered the game after Allen couldn’t move the offense on the next two drives after the touchdown by Kohl.
Gm1: TEXAS A&M VS. ARIZONA ST.
6 p.m. | Sept. 6, 2015
NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
Texas A&M 38, Arizona State 17
SEASON-OPENER/GAME NOTABLES
• Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin improved his career record in season-openers to 7-1 as head coach — 3-1 at Texas A&M and 4-0 at Houston.
• Sumlin’s record in games away from Kyle Field improves to 16-4.
• The win over the Sun Devils, ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25, moved Sumlin’s road record against the AP Top 25 to 8-4 (at Texas A&M).
• Sumlin’s record in games played in the city of Houston improves to 21-4.
• Texas A&M won its second straight season-opener away from Kyle Field. It’s first time A&M has opened a season away from Kyle Field in consecutive years since 2004-05. Both wins came against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 (52-28 over No. 9 South Carolina in 2014, 38-17 over No. 15 Arizona State in 2015).
• It was Texas A&M’s first non-conference, regular season game in the city of Houston since falling to BYU, 18-17, in 1979, a game that was moved to Rice Stadium due to the construction of the Kyle Field third deck.
• Today’s game was the first of nine games the Aggies will play in the state of Texas in 2015. None of those nine games will be against teams from the state of Texas. It’s the first time in 121 seasons of football that the Aggies will not face a team from the state in the regular season.
• Christian Kirk‘s punt return TD was the first by an Aggie in a season-opener since at least 1970.
• Texas A&M’s nine QB sacks were the most by the Aggie defense since posting 10 against Texas Tech in 1995.
• The Aggies also had 14 tackles for loss, which is the most of the Sumlin era.
BIG DEBUT FOR KIRK
True freshman Christian Kirk delivered the Aggies’ first punt return TD since 2012 early in the second quarter and put the game out of reach with a weaving 66-yard receiving touchdown in the final stanza.
• Kirk finished the game with more 200 all-purpose yards with a game-high 106 yards on six catches and 118 return yards.
• Kirk’s 79-yard bolt early in the second quarter was A&M’s first punt return TD since Dustin Harris’ 96-yarder against South Carolina State in 2012.
• Kirk becomes the first freshman with a punt return score since 1996 when Dante Hall had a 69-yard TD return against Iowa State.
• Kirk is the first freshman to log a 100-yard receiving game in his playing debut in school history.
CHAVIS’ DEFENSIVE ENDS SHINE
Living up to first-year Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis‘ proclamation that Aggie DEs Myles Garrett and Daeshon were among the nation’s best, the pair combined for six QB sacks, 6.5 TFLs, three forced fumbles and 15 tackles.
• Hall posted a career-high four QB takedowns, which tied for the second-most in school history behind only Alex Morris’ five sacks vs. Houston in 1987. Hall also forced a pair of fumbles.
• Garrett added two QB sacks and had three QB pressures, while also drawing multiple offensive holding penalties.
KASER’S LASERS
Fifth-year senior punter Drew Kaser had a huge game with six boots for a 52.8 average, including five 50-yard plus bombs and two that were downed inside the ASU 20. In the first half alone, Kaser had five punts for 267 yards (average of 53.4 yards) with four 50-yard-plus efforts.
HERALDED 2015 SIGNING CLASS DELIVERS
Several members of the heralded 2015 Texas A&M signing class had impressive debuts in the maroon and white.
• WR/RS Christian Kirk led the game with 224 all-purpose yards, including 106 receiving yards and 118 return yards. He scored on a 79-yard punt return and 66-yard catch and run.
• QB Kyler Murray contributed 118 yards of total offense with 49 passing yards and 69 more on the ground. His 26-yard run was the long of the game.
• SS Justin Evans was a defensive enforcer throughout the game with nine total tackles (second-mosts on the team), including five solo hits.
• DT Daylon Mack added six tackles, with one tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
MISCELLANEOUS
• Senior RB Tra Carson had a career-high 29 carries for 96 yards. His previous high was 25 vs. West Virginia in the 2014 AutoZone Liberty Bowl. In Carson’s last two games, he has rushed 54 times for 229 yards.
• Making their first career starts were WR Damion Ratley, LG Keaton Sutherland, WR Christian Kirk, SLB Shaan Washington and SS Justin Evans. Ratley, Sutherland, Kirk and Evans were members of the 2015 signing class.
• Senior Brandon Williams, who made multiple starts at RB over the past two seasons, made his first career start at CB against Arizona State. He finished the game with three tackles (two solo stops).
• Senior PK Taylor Bertolet had a successful return as the starting placekicker by connecting on 6 of 6 kicks — 5 of 5 on PATs and a 19-yard field goal. Bertolet was the Aggies’ starting PK in 2012 and for the first few games of 2014.
• Sophomore FS Armani Watts led the team with 11 tackles, which was the first double-digit tackle game of his career.
GAME CAPTAINS / 12TH MAN
Game captains were OC Mike Matthews, RT Germain Ifedi, DE Myles Garrett, CB Brandon Williams and 12th Man Sam Moeller. The Aggies won the toss and elected to receive.
Making his 27th consecutive 12th Man start was senior Sam Moeller (San Antonio, Texas).
PREGAME ANNOUNCEMENT
Sophmore DT Zaycoven Henderson and junior LB A.J. Hilliard have been suspended for the first two games of the 2015 season due to a violation of Texas A&M Athletic Department rules and regulations.