It was billed as the return of the Wrecking Crew on the cover of the game program for Texas A&M's season opener against Stephen F. Austin.
If it wasn't a reappearance of those glory days, at least it was a long way from recent years when A&M fell to near the bottom of the national rankings in defense.
There were a couple of Wrecking Crew moments, including linebacker Sean Porter's big hit and cornerback Dustin Harris' interception return for a touchdown, as the Aggies rolled to a 48-7 victory over the Lumberjacks in the much-anticipated debut of new defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter.
The Aggies limited the SFA offense to 266 yards and allowed the Lumberjacks to convert only 3 of 15 third downs.
"I was happy with our effort," said DeRuyter, who was hired away from the Air Force Academy to pump life into the A&M defense. "In the first ballgame a lot of times things turn sloppy. You're not going to play perfect, but our overall effort was good."
DeRuyter and his staff employ a four-part philosophy that emphasizes producing takeaways, playing physical, making "fanatical" effort and getting stops. The Aggies scored fairly well in each area against SFA, causing two turnovers, dishing out a few bone-jarring hits and holding the Lumberjacks off the scoreboard in 13 of 14 defensive possessions.
"There's been a lot of talk about bringing the Wrecking Crew back and we haven't gotten there yet, but I think we're headed in the right direction," A&M linebacker Michael Hodges said.
The Aggies controlled SFA quarterback Jeremy Moses, who was an FBS All-American last season. Moses completed 19 of 37 passes for 171 yards, with one touchdown and the interception that went for an A&M score.
Moses employed an early release program, throwing the football so quickly that the Aggies only managed two quarterback sacks.
A&M players and coaches were complimentary of the Lumberjacks, but Moses sounded unimpressed by the Aggie defense.
"Texas A&M came out slower than we thought they were," Moses said. "There were things that were more open than what we thought we were going to see. We play against our defense every day: To be honest, there are smaller windows to throw through against our defense than there was [with] theirs."
Echoes of A&M's beloved Wrecking Crew defense were provided by Porter and Harris.
On the third play of the game Porter blasted Anthony Foster on a slant pattern, causing an incompletion and forcing one of nine SFA punts. The hit wasn't as memorable as the one Quentin Coryatt put on TCU's Kyle McPherson in 1991, but it resonated through the crowd.
Porter, a sophomore, was in on three tackles but played a significant role with defensive star Von Miller missing much of the game because of a sprained ankle.
"We have very high expectations for Sean Porter," DeRuyter said. "I think he's an excellent football player. With Von going down early, I think Sean did an excellent job of stepping up leadership-wise and made some plays."
With few sacks available, the best opportunities to deliver big plays came in the secondary. Harris produced one in the second quarter, stepping in front of a Moses pass to the sideline for an interception and zipping 38 yards for a touchdown that made it 17-0.
Notice about comments:
Theeagle.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. theeagle.com cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not theeagle.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Full terms and conditions can be read here.
Aggiesports.com is proud to offer our users enhanced commenting features. You can now build user-to-user connections, follow friends’ recent posts, add an avatar that fits your personality and more. If you have posted here before you’ll need to sign up again, and if you’ve never posted start now by signing up! If you've already registered for the new comments on www.theeagle.com then just use your Eagle username to log in and start commenting.