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Aggies Notebook: Max Johnson Dazzles in Second Half

Originally posted on FanNation All Aggies | By Timm Hamm | Last updated 9/23/23

The Texas A&M Aggies beat the Auburn Tigers 27-10 at Kyle Field on Saturday, but the win didn't come as easily as the score might indicate. An injury to starting quarterback Conner Weigman thrust backup Max Johnson into play, and the Aggies' defense showed shades of the "wrecking crew" of A&M days past.

WEIGMAN ANKLE INJURY

Quarterback Conner Weigman went down with a left ankle injury in the second quarter and limped to the locker room just before halftime. Junior Max Johnson came in under center to begin the third quarter. ESPN sideline reporter Kris Budden said that Weigman was shouting in pain on the sidelines while being looked over by team trainers.

Weigman was 8-for-14 for 70 yards in almost a complete first half, starting 7-of-8 before closing the opening frame 1-for-6. This season through three games, Weigman has completed 70.48 percent of his 105 pass attempts for 909 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions.

PETRINO OFFENSE & JOHNSON?

The Aggies' offense sputtered tremendously in the first half. The Aggie scored just six points in the first quarter and were blanked in the second. Players looked out of sync and plays appeared slow to develop at times.

A&M also suffered three false start penalties in the first half behind Weigman, with two coming on one drive that set the Aggies back out of the red zone setting up the second field goal rather than an opportunity for a touchdown.

In the second half, the offense looked like a different beast with Johnson at the helm. Johnson posted 21 points in the second half while completing 7 of 11 passes for 123 yards. Johnson looked more comfortable than Weigman did and was much more effective.

Weigman is clearly the QB1 for A&M, but Fisher and Petrino need to figure out why Johnson performed so much better on Saturday.

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE

The Aggies' defense came to play on Saturday. D.J. Durkin's unit allowed just 10 points or less for the third time this season, with the only outlier being the 48 allowed to Miami in Week 3. Auburn was held to just 3 of 15 on third down and 200 total yards.

The Tigers' passing trio of Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford, and Holden Geriner threw for just 56 yards and no touchdowns, with QBRs of 18.4, 8.1, and 16.1 respectively.

The Tigers' rushing game wasn't much better, with most of the success coming late in the game. Auburn registered 144 yards on the ground with a 3.5 yards per carry average.

This article first appeared on FanNation All Aggies and was syndicated with permission.

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