Going into this weekend’s matchup against Arizona State, Texas A&M will face its first major test of the season and must evaluate where it can improve and clean up its game.

For A&M, it is coming off a nice 50-0 win over Missouri State, with the defense’s strongest performance in a long time, holding the offense to only 67 total yards. As for Arizona State, it is coming off a compelling victory over Morgan State where the offense was in sync.

Both programs now have more confidence and momentum going into this SEC-Big 12 non-conference clash, and these are stories to keep an eye out for up until kickoff.

Daymion Sanford’s Return

One of the leaders for head coach Mike Elko's defense, Daymion Sanford, was injured and carted off during the Maroon and White spring game. Since then, he hasn’t played, but he's recovered quickly.

When Elko was asked about Sanford after the win over the Bears on Saturday, he said Sanford didn't play for a few reasons. The first was that he wasn't fully ready, and the other was that he trusted his linebackers to handle business.

“It was a combination of things,” Elko said. “The way Coney and Mikhail have played, and I’ll throw Lockhart and Watkins in there, has made us feel confident that we could wait until Daymion was really ready.”

That makes sense, considering the significance of getting back to full health and having him ready to contribute in games where he is really needed. Last season, he registered 25 tackles, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception, so his impact on the field is clear and needed. Everyone will find out soon if he appears in his first game of the 2026-27 season.

Texas A&M Penalties

For the first game of the season, A&M had more penalties than it would have liked to have. How is that addressed going into Week 2?

There were two false starts and two holding penalties. All four were charged to the offensive line, so getting those areas more under control would keep the positive plays from being taken away.

One of those examples wasn’t on the offensive line, though, as there was an offensive pass interference on wide receiver Isaiah Horton, who originally made a fine 26-yard catch that ended up being erased. Avoiding extending the arms and initiating contact has got to be another thing to limit so those explosive plays can happen more often.

A delay of game was also called, but that came late in the second quarter on a fourth-and-25, so that is fixable too. No matter what draws the yellow flag, the Aggies ideally didn’t want to see these calls made in their first outing, so it will be interesting to pay attention to how many of these categories are dealt with.

Arizona State’s Passing Game vs A&M Secondary

Only 30 yards were allowed in the air by the Aggies’ secondary last week. The Sun Devils offense totaled 432 yards last week. One is going to have to give next weekend, but which will it be?

Quarterback Cutter Boley went 21-of-27 for 387 yards with a total of six touchdowns. How will the A&M defense hold the Arizona State offense out of the red zone? It very likely starts with the two captains, Marcus Ratcliffe and Dalton Brooks, setting the tone and firing up the rest of the unit, including Dezz Ricks, Julio Humphery, and Rickey Gibson.

Both Humphery and Ricks didn’t allow any receptions after there were four targets toward them. Ratcliffe also had one of the highest PFF grades at 75.8, so the coverage will be tested even more when the Sun Devils roll into town. Keep an eye out for that.

Kickoff between Arizona State and A&M begins at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 12.