(Photo: Jack Simon/WCSN)
Before the start of every fourth quarter, Texas A&M fans belt the “Aggie War Hymn” in unison. “They are the boys who show the real old fight,” the song goes.
And fight they did.
The Aggies scored 24 points in the fourth quarter – equaling their total from the first three.
Arizona State’s fourth-quarter collapse was such a departure from the game it had played to that point. To some viewers, it might have seemed they changed the channel to another game by accident.
Complete fourth-quarter domination, coupled with several key Arizona State miscues, led to a 48-20 rout of the Sun Devils at Kyle Field on Saturday afternoon.
“I thought we played a good football game in the first three quarters,” Sun Devil head coach Kenny Dillingham said, continuing to describe how the team seemed to completely unravel.
Heading into the fourth quarter, ASU trailed by just four points. One more defensive stop would give the Sun Devils a chance to finally seize the lead that eluded them all afternoon.
But just two plays into the final quarter, Texas A&M hit pay dirt. Third-year wide receiver Mario Craver was left wide open crossing the field. Fourth-year quarterback Marcel Reed found him for the first of three Aggie fourth-quarter touchdowns.
As the quarter ticked away, the game fell apart for ASU. Down 11, the Sun Devils were in prime position to gain momentum after a muffed punt snap gifted them their best starting field position of the day.
On third-year ASU quarterback Cutter Boley’s first dropback of the drive, fourth-year Aggie defensive end TJ Searcy was able to tip Boley’s pass on a bull rush. The ball popped straight up and into the arms of second-year defensive end Marco Jones. Jones scampered his way to the end zone for a 55-yard pick six.
The very next offensive play was no better.
Fourth-year running back Kyson Brown took the ball and followed his big fifth-year right tackle Jalen Klemm. Immediately, Brown was met by three Aggies looking to take him down. But Brown kept fighting, and it cost him. While two Aggies went for the tackle, the third went for the ball. The hit jarred it loose from Brown, causing another costly turnover for ASU.
After a Texas A&M field goal, the Sun Devils were now down three scores. ASU needed to find some way to move the ball downfield. They opted for short passes. But even that would end up pouring salt into the Sun Devils’ gaping offensive wound.
Boley looked left to his target, fourth-year wide receiver Omarion Miller, for a designed screen pass. Before Boley could even release the ball, fourth-year defensive back Julio Humphrey knew where it was headed. Humphrey jumped the pass, picking off Boley and returning it for another Aggie pick six.
Before Saturday, Texas A&M hadn’t scored a defensive touchdown since December 2024. In a single quarter, they had two. Four standout plays from Texas A&M erased everything ASU built up through three quarters.
“Take away those four plays, and we’re playing pretty good,” Dillingham said. “But those four plays count, and they count for more than the other plays, and that’s what we got to clean up.”
Texas A&M embodied its fight song and showed a “real old fight” on Saturday. ASU’s problem was it only fought for three.
The Sun Devils look to rebound when they head across the pond to face Kansas in the Union Jack Classic next week.
“If there’s one takeaway from this game… it’s that we’re a good football team,” Dillingham said. “I don’t leave this game not thinking that we can beat anybody.”
