The Sports Xchange
Sep 16, 2017
Kellen Mond passed for three touchdowns and ran for one as Texas A&M recovered from a shaky first half to record a 45-21 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday in a nonconference game at College Station, Texas.
Mond was 21-of-34 passing for 301 yards for the Aggies (2-1), who trailed 21-14 at halftime before turning the game around with a dominating third quarter. Texas A&M overcame the absence of standout running back Trayveon Williams, who missed the contest with an unspecified injury.
Safety Armani Watts intercepted two passes and had two tackles for loss, and linebacker Tyrel Dodson returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown as Texas A&M forced five turnovers.
Jordan Davis completed 27 of 43 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted three times for the Ragin' Cajuns (1-2). Keenan Barnes corralled 12 receptions for 118 yards, and Trey Ragas contributed 93 rushing yards and one score on 14 carries.
Texas A&M was outgained 227-127 and had just five first downs in the first half before the tide changed. The Aggies tallied 17 third-quarter points while rolling up 212 yards and 17 first downs in the period.
Mond scored on a 5-yard scamper to cap a nine-play, 81-yard drive to tie the score 21-21 with 10:27 left in the third quarter. Texas A&M moved ahead four-plus minutes later when Mond threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Camron Buckley to finish off a 10-play, 74-yard drive.
Daniel LaCamera's 28-yard field goal gave the Aggies a 31-21 lead with 43 seconds left in the quarter.
Dodson got into the act nine seconds into the fourth quarter when he grabbed an errant screen pass and easily cruised into the end zone for the touchdown to make it a 17-point margin.
True freshman Jacob Kibodi tacked on a 67-yard touchdown run with 6:41 remaining to make it 45-21. Kibodi had 101 yards on four carries to help the Aggies outgain Louisiana-Lafayette 331-82 in the second half.
Mond tossed touchdown passes of 1 yard to Christian Kirk and 24 yards to Jhamon Ausbon to help the Aggies hold a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter. The Ragin' Cajuns responded with two touchdown throws by Davis -- an 8-yarder to Ryheem Malone before a 13-yard scoring pass to Barnes made it 21-14 with 11 seconds left in the half.