In the first game played in the newly renovated Kyle Field, Texas A&M was sure to get things going in a hurry. The Aggies won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff, eager to trigger the roar of the fully loaded 12th Man. 
A&M’s first drive consisted of eight plays, 62 yards and a touchdown run by senior running back Tra Carson. Carson set up his one yard score with a 30 yard scamper down the sideline. 
In a shock to the crowd in Aggieland, the Ball State Cardinals opened up their first drive with two rushes that went for 47 and 27 yards, respectively. The Aggie defense was able to gain its composure and keep Ball State from breaching the end zone and managed to only allow three points on the Cardinal’s opening drive. 
Christian Kirk was once again back to return kicks for A&M which was no surprise considering his performance in Houston a week ago. In the first half Kirk did a great job of setting the Aggies up with great field position. To open up the second quarter the freshman returned a punt for 56 yards and set up a touchdown reception from another freshman, Jordan Davis. Kyle Allen found Davis in the back of the endzone to grant the underclassman with his first career score.
After giving up 71 yards on their first drive, the A&M defense buckled down and resumed the level of play they displayed against Arizona State a week prior. Senior cornerback De’Vante Harris recorded the Aggies first defensive touchdown of the year when he jumped a Jack Milas pass and took it 40 yards for the score. 
Back on the offensive side of the ball, A&M saw contributions from some not so familiar faces including the likes of Brice Dolezal, Jeremy Tabuyo and Kwame Etwi. When all was said and done, seven different players lit up the scoreboard for A&M in the first half. 
This time the Aggies knew that it was not a matter of if, but when freshman quarterback, Kyler Murray would enter the game. The Allen, TX native only logged one drive in the first half but he was sure to make it count. Murray led the Aggies down the field on an 81 yard, 16 play drive capped off with a touchdown pass to Christian Kirk in the corner of the endzone. 
The 49 points scored by the Aggies in the first half matched the current high for an A&M team in the Sumlin era. A&M dominated the stats in every category, racking up 18 first downs and 360 total yards. At the close of the second quarter Texas A&M looked to be clicking on all cylinders, ready to resume the domination after the break.