FAYETTEVILLE — No FBS team has allowed fewer points this season than Texas A&M.
The No. 7 Aggies (3-0) have held their first three opponents to a combined 17 points and lead the nation in scoring defense, yielding an average of 5.7 points per game, going into their game against the University of Arkansas on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
Granted, Texas A&M’s opponents — Kent State, Colorado and New Mexico — are a combined 4-5 and the Buffaloes lost at Minnesota 30-0 last week.
But 17 points in 12 quarters? That’s impressive.
Texas A&M also leads the nation in pass defense (77.3 yards per game) and is ninth in total defense (239.3 ypg).
Stellar defense allowed the Aggies to escape with a 10-7 victory over Colorado in Denver after their starting quarterback, Haynes King, suffered a broken leg.
Texas A&M then beat New Mexico 34-0 last week in Zach Calzada’s first start at quarterback.
It was the Aggies’ first shutout of an FBS opponent since 2015, when they won 25-0 at Vanderbilt. Texas A&M held the Lobos to 122 yards in total offense after Colorado gained 54 yards in the second half.
“I thought defensively, we were outstanding,” Aggies Coach Jimbo Fisher said after the New Mexico game. “Fit to [defend the] run. Fit to play-actions. Covered the passes. Pressured the quarterback on third down.
“Gave up a couple of third-and-longs that I didn’t think we needed to, but to get a shutout in today’s time is a hard thing to do. I don’t care what happens, and what we did.”
The Aggies, who opened with a 41-10 victory over Kent State, returned nine starters on defense from last season’s 9-1 team, so that side of the ball was expected to be a strength with Texas A&M breaking in a new starting quarterback and four new starters on the offensive line.
“I think we care about the process more than the results,” said Texas A&M senior safety Leon O’Neal, who has two interceptions and 10 tackles. “I think if you go in and think about the results, you try to do more than what you are supposed to do, which is do your job to do a job and do it fast.
“We as a whole have done that. But I think there’s a lot of spots we can still build and get better at.”
New Mexico running back Aaron Dumas had runs of 16 and 13 yards, quarterback Terry Wilson twice scrambled for first downs and running back Bobby Cole went 7 yards for a first down.
“It’s unacceptable,” O’Neal said. “I feel like we’re the best defense in the country. We’ve got talent on every level, and there’s no excuse for failure.
“I think those big plays could have been even bigger plays if we were going against — not to discredit the running backs for the Lobos — more talented running backs.
“That can’t happen. So we’ve got to do a better job of plugging the holes up and play the defense that we know we can play.”
A big part of Texas A&M’s shutout New Mexico was the punting of sophomore Nik Constantinou, who earned SEC special teams player of the week honors. Constantinou averaged 45.5 on four punts, which had the Lobos starting at their 5, 8, 13 and 9.
“It feels good knowing they’ve got to get a lot of yards to get in the end zone,” O’Neal said. “We try to leave people with a zero on their score total. We don’t want nobody to score.
“So when they’re way back there, and we’re doing the things we do on defense, it’s rhythmic and beautiful. So I appreciate Nik giving us good field position to play defense.”
Calzada completed 19 of 33 passes for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns against New Mexico with 1 interception.
“Very proud of the way he managed the game, controlled the game,” Fisher said.
Isaiah Spiller, who caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Calzada against Colorado, leads the Aggies with 40 carries for 250 yards and Devon Achane has 30 carries for 203 yards.
Slot receiver Ainias Smith has 13 catches for 135 yards and tight end Jalen Wydermyer has 12 for 141.
Antonio Johnson, a nickel back, leads the Aggies with 18 tackles and senior linebacker Aaron Handsford has 15. Defensive end DeMarvin Leal has 13 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks.
On the season, the Aggies have 25 tackles for losses totaling 92 yards, including 11 for 47 against the Lobos.
“This is the beginning,” Leal said of the Aggies’ all-around performance. “It’s the start of us rising as a whole.
“It was a complete game, and we’re all on the same page. We started the game fast and finished it strong. It doesn’t matter who was in the game. So I say that’s just the first improvement.”
Fisher said after the game the Aggies have been an average team so far.
“These guys in the locker room know we’ve got to go harder,” O’Neal said. “You know what time it is, it’s SEC time.
“Time to put everything together and if Coach says we’re not doing enough, then we’re going to dig deeper and try to do more.”