Allen, Bertolet lead Texas A&M past Vanderbilt 25-0

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Taylor Bertolet's last name is pronounced bert-uh-let, but Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin heard somebody call him bert-a-lot Saturday.

That's fitting because the Aggies used him a lot.

The senior kicker tied Southeastern Conference and school records by making six field goals, and Kyle Allen passed for 336 yards and one touchdown, leading Texas A&M to 25-0 a win over Vanderbilt on Saturday night.

"Did we want him to do all that -- to set field goal records? Probably not, but in a situation like we're in today if that's the case then he's doing his job and I'm happy for him," Sumlin said. "He's been solid all year."

Bertolet kicked field goals of 31, 25, 46, 46, 41 and 23 yards. Texas A&M's Alan Smith kicked six field goals in a 1983 win over Arkansas State.

Allen made his first start since a 23-3 loss to Mississippi on Oct. 24. He won the starting job back in practice after freshman Kyler Murray started the previous three games, but threw a total of five interceptions against Western Carolina and Auburn.

Allen, who completed 18 of 36 passes, started the first seven games of the season.

"I'm a pretty even-keeled guy," Allen said. "Not much stuff fazes me. I just know in my heart whatever's going to happen, it's for a reason."

Texas A&M (8-3, 4-3 SEC West) held Vanderbilt (4-7, 2-5 SEC East) to a season-low 148 total yards including 23 yards passing.

The Aggies earned their first shutout since a 31-0 win over Wyoming in 2004.

"We've got two of the best defensive ends in the country and they wreak havoc on the quarterback," Aggies defensive tackle Alonzo Williams said of Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall. "And our safeties and corners did a great job in coverage."

Teams from Texas shut out Vanderbilt 59-0 this season, including Houston's 34-0 win over the Commodores on Halloween.

Vanderbilt has been shut out three times in the last 13 games, the most in a 13-game stretch since 1996.

"We had a couple of good dives in the first half, then we just made too many mistakes or penalties got us behind the chains and we couldn't finish the drives," Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said. "Coming out in the second half, we never really got it going again."

Ralph Webb led the Commodores with 79 rushing yards on 25 carries, giving the sophomore 1,003 yards on the ground this season.

"It hurts," Webb said of the loss. "We're supposed to score points. Obviously, something's not going right if we're not scoring points."

The Commodores can still become bowl eligible with a win at archrival Tennessee next week because the NCAA may have to take several five-win teams since the bowl field was expanded to 80 teams this year.

Berlet made a 31-yard field goal on the first drive of the game.

Sam Moeller blocked Tommy Openshaw's punt and it was recovered by Devonta Burns at the Vanderbilt 13-yard line, setting up the Aggies' next score.

Four plays later, Bertolet's 25-yard field goal gave Texas A&M a 6-0 lead with 2:32 left in the first quarter.

Josh Reynolds got behind Vanderbilt's Torren McGaster on a fly route down the right sideline on third-and-9 for a 95-yard touchdown pass from Allen, increasing the Aggies' lead to 13-0 with 2:11 left in the first half.

That tied for the second longest TD pass in Texas A&M history. Johnny Manziel threw a 95-yard strike to Mike Evans against Alabama in 2013.

De'Vante Harris gave Texas A&M a good scoring opportunity 13 seconds later when he intercepted a Kyle Shurmur pass deep in Vanderbilt territory, but Bertolet's 35-yard field goal attempt went wide left.

Berlet got another chance on the final play of the half when he hit a 46-yard field goal, giving the Aggies a 16-0 lead. He added three second-half field goals to cap the scoring.