For most of Saturday’s REd, White and Blue OUT game against Arizona State, No. 10 Texas A&M was seeing just red. AFter the fourth quarter, however, the SUn Devils were black and blue.

Spurred by a dominant defensive performance in the game’s final stanza, the Aggies (2-0) scored the game’s final 24 points to turn a tight 24-20 game into a 48-20 rout before 107,523 at Kyle Field.

The Aggie offense did not overwhelm Arizona State (1-1), but turnovers forced by special teams and the defense — including two interceptions returned for a touchdown — allowed A&M to end up with a decisive victory.

The Aggies entered the fourth quarter with just a four-point lead but were on the move, thanks to a 21-yard punt return by Terry Bussey that allowed A&M to start at the Arizona State 44. After a pair of runs by Rueben Owens (10 carries, 35 yards, 1 TD) picked up a first down, quarterback Marcel Reed (15-25, 163 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT) went deep to a wide open wide receiver Mario Craver, who had sprinted all the way across the field to snag Reed’s pass at the ASU 7-yard-line and walked in for a 31-20 lead.

But the Aggies had put some distance between themselves and the Sun Devils before, so the 11-point lead seemed somewhat perilous with most of the fourth quarter remaining. That seemed especially true after A&M did nothing after forcing an ASU punt, then Aggie punter Tyler White muffed the snap, falling on the ball at the A&M 34.

Arizona State appeared to be ready to cut back into the A&M lead, but disaster struck immediately. The Aggie defensive line, which had delivered little pressure all game, erupted. Defensive end TJ Searcy bull rushed his way into the backfield and slapped the ball out of the right hand of Sun Devils’ quarterback Cutter Boley (21-34, 234 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT), sending it into the air and behind Boley. Fellow defensive end Marco Jones picked it out of the air and went 55 yards untouched, turning a potential four-point game into an 18-point advantage for the Aggies.

“It was a big response to the drop from Tyler White. That was a huge play for us, momentum-wise,” Elko said.

It only got worse for ASU from there.

On the next play from scrimmage, Arizona State running back Kyson Brown (13 carries, 66 yards) had the ball punched out of his left hand by A&M defensive end Sam M’Pemba. Safety Dalton Brooks recovered the fumble just barely inbounds at the ASU 26, setting the offense up in prime position again.

The Aggies were only able to muster a 39-yard field goal from David Olano, but A&M was suddenly up by three touchdowns with time running out. Boley was able to connect with receiver Reed Harris (8 catches, 189 yards, 2 TD) for 23 yards to get the Sun Devils out of their own end, but then threw a quick pass to receiver Omarion Miller (9 catches, 29 yards) that cornerback Julio Humphrey jumped, pulled the ball away from Miller, then sprinted 48 yards for a touchdown.

“We just self-destructed. When it rained, it poured all of a sudden. But anybody who watches that game is gonna look at the score and be like, ‘What? How did that happen?’” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said.

The Aggies, who only had three interceptions all season in 2025, suddenly had two pick-sixes in three possessions. A team that was -9 in turnover margin had four takeaways in the game.

“It’s fitting to get the interception monkey off our back with two,” Elko said.

The turnover trend started early on and kept the Aggies in the game as they sleepwalked their way through the first quarter. A&M’s offense had its least productive first quarter in 12 years, mustering just 14 yards while Arizona State had 126, including a 21-yard scoring pass from Boley to Harris.

But that only tied the score at 7, as the Aggies had already benefitted from ASU’s generosity. After a three and out, White boomed a 53-yard punt inside the Arizona State 10 that receiver Corey Barber muffed. Gunners Bravion Rogers and TK Norman made him pay, as Rogers knocked Barber out of the way and Norman recovered at the ASU 9. Two plays later, Owens scored from four yards out for a 7-0 lead.

Norman, who had already teamed with Rogers on a great tackle on an earlier punt, shouldn’t have even been in the game. Safety Myles Davis, the normal gunner, didn’t play Saturday due to an injury, allowing for Norman’s heroics.

“Myles Davis went down in practice last week. TK Norman has to go in and play because we wanted Dalton Brooks to back off the reps a little bit,” Coach Mike Elko said. “Norman whips his guy, runs down the field and recovers a fumble inside the 10-yard line. A lot of little things like that happen in the program that instill tremendous confidence in terms of where we are headed.”

After ASU’s first score, Reed and the offense finally showed up. After not passing for a single yard in the first quarter, Reed came out and fired a 16-yard rope to receiver Terry Bussey (4 catches, 58 yards) in a hole in the Arizona State zone — which picked up more yards than the Aggies had in the entire first quarter. Later in the drive, Reed picked up 19 yards on a scramble, then found tight end Richie Anderson for a 13-yard reception down to the ASU 4.

Reed then force-fed receiver Isaiah Horton (3 catches, 33 yards, 2 TD), missing him twice before finally finding him wide open in the back of the end zone for a touchdown on third and goal and a 14-7 lead.

Arizona State responded with a field goal after Boley hooked up with Harris for a 35-yard completion to move inside the A&M 30. The Sun Devils would move the ball to the Aggie 15 before the drive stalled, leading to a 30-yard field goal from Carson Smith.

The A&M offense continued to sputter, but Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham made a major mistake on ASU’s next drive. On fourth and 2 at their own 42, Dillingham called for a fake punt, and up back James Giggey was stuffed almost immediately by Aggie linebacker Noah Mikhail.

Taking over with 2:23 remaining, Reed completed passes of 16 yards to Horton and 15 yards to Bussey, but the Sun Devils held to force a short Olano field goal right before halftime.

After scoring to end the first half and getting the ball to start the second, A&M looked like they were in good shape to take control of the game. Instead, Reed was intercepted on the first play of the second half by safety Lyrik Rawls at the ASU 44. ASU moved the ball down to the Aggie 18, but settled for another field goal and a 17-13 game.

A&M would hit paydirt on the next drive, thanks in no small part to Arizona State penalties. Corner Ashton Stamps was busted for a 15-yard facemask penalty on the drive’s second play, then fellow corner Rodney Bimage was called for a hold after pulling down Horton on a fourth and 2. Four plays later, Horton would beat tight coverage from Bimage to snag a lob from Reed in the corner of the endzone and a 13-yard score.

But Boley and Harris would strike again in short order, with a 58-yard scoring strike on the next ASU possession, narrowing the score to 24-20 and setting up what promised to be an exciting fourth quarter.

And it was — for the Aggies.

“”You’ve got to be able to overcome adversity if you want to be a really, really good football team. There were times when that showed itself today. Offensively, putting a drive together when they got things rolling. Defensively, after the turnover, stepping up and making a play. I thought we were able to overcome some of the adversity today. That was really good to see,” Elko said.