COLLEGE STATION -- After an encouraging narrow loss to No. 2 Clemson late in the fourth quarter last Saturday night, the Aggies got back to winning ways against Louisiana-Monroe, winning 48-10. The game was a tune-up for a tough matchup next week when they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 1 Alabama. Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game.

Aggies get the job done with their ground game

The Aggies weren’t able to establish their ground game last weekend against Clemson and Kellen Mond was forced to make plays through the air. The opposite proved to be true against the War Hawks, as the A&M receiving corps struggled to get create space against the ULM secondary and turned to their ground game — led by Kellen Mond and Trayveon Williams – to shoulder the offensive load.

After he rushed for just 31 yards on 17 carries last week against Clemson’s stout defensive front, Trayveon Williams looked like he did in the season-opener against Northwestern State — when he ran for 240 yards. Williams rushed for 128 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. Kellen Mond was also able to move the chains with his feet, as he extended plays in which his receivers were tightly covered. Jimbo Fisher employed several designed runs for the signal-caller including a nine-yard quarterback draw that ended up in a touchdown midway through the third quarter. Mond finished the night with 67 rushing yards on nine carries and two rushing touchdowns.

Freshman Jashaun Corbin got the majority of the snaps in the backfield in the fourth quarter and notched 64 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. Though the ULM run defense is nowhere close to what the Aggies will see next weekend in Tuscaloosa, the A&M ground game did look to part — accumulating 281 total yards.

Special Teams Play

After Daniel LaCamera suffered a stress fracture to his plant foot in last week’s game against Clemson, freshman kicker Seth Small filled in nicely for the Second Team Preseason All-SEC selection, nailing a 40-yard field goal and a 36-yarder. Punter Braden Mann followed up his phenomenal performance in which he averaged 55 yards per punt against Clemson, launching a 47-yard punt and a punt that landed inside the ULM 10-yard line.

The Aggies also had a momentum-shifting field goal block just before the half. Daylon Mack reached over the ULM offensive line swatting the ball right into the hands of Tyrel Dodson who took the ball 78 yards for a touchdown. The block was a 10-point shift that was crucial for the Aggies momentum going into halftime.

Big Plays Continue to Plague A&M Secondary

Clemson was able to penetrate the Texas A&M secondary last week, throwing for 298 yards. Question marks surrounded the young secondary as the biggest problem was blatant missed tackles which led to big plays. The A&M secondary had a similar performance against ULM as quarterback Caleb Evans was able to have his way downfield, throwing for 225 yards, 171 of which came in the first half.

The secondary allowed ULM’s speedy receivers to create space and Evans did a phenomenal job of putting the ball in tight windows. The secondary — anchored by safety Donovan Williams — will have their hands full against Alabama’s passing attack that threw for four touchdowns in their 62-7 romp of Ole Miss on Saturday night.