• Box score

COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M junior Ryan Swope, en route to a game high in catches and receiving yards, also kept his eagle eye trained on his senior quarterback trotting off the field after every possession.

"He was having fun out there," Swope said of Ryan Tannehill. "He was coming off the field with a huge smile on his face."

Plenty of guys would, too, if they were running the Aggies' high-powered offense. No. 8 A&M, in its final season in the Big 12, whipped old Southwest Conference foe SMU 46-14 on Sunday night before 86,951 fans, a Kyle Field record for an opener.

"That was a special atmosphere," A&M coach Mike Sherman said. "Our fans really stepped up to the plate."

So did his offense. The Aggies picked up where they left off last regular season – with Cyrus Gray paving the way on the ground, and Tannehill firing pinpoint passes to Swope and Jeff Fuller. A&M, which lost in the Cotton Bowl to future Southeastern Conference opponent LSU, closed out the regular season with six consecutive victories, in large part because of the aforementioned foursome.

On Sunday, Gray finished with 132 yards on 21 carries, in rushing for at least 100 yards in his eighth straight game. He took over the starting duties in the ninth game of the season last year, after Christine Michael broke his leg against Texas Tech. Michael, in his first action since, collected 85 yards on 14 carries.

"Having both guys back," Tannehill said, "is really a luxury for me."

For his part Tannehill finished 21 of 26 for 246 yards, and Swope collected eight catches for 109 yards. Meanwhile SMU coach June Jones yanked starting quarterback Kyle Padron, who set school records in nearly every passing category last season, after he threw two interceptions to Steve Campbell and Trent Hunter on the Mustangs' first two possessions, which led to A&M's first two touchdowns on short Michael and Gray runs.

"Those interceptions were huge, and gave this team a lot of energy," Swope said. "We fed off of that."

Jones quickly inserted J.J. McDermott for Padron, and McDermott finished 21 of 34 for 254 yards.

"I just had a feeling Padron wasn't himself," Jones said. "I thought I would settle him down and then get him back in the game, but McDermott was the way to go."

Tannehill played the entire game, although A&M led 43-14 late in the third quarter.

"I wanted Ryan to stay on the field after we fumbled an exchange," Sherman said. "We aren't going to play again for two weeks, and I wanted him to (hone) his mechanics and get some of the rust off."

The Aggies don't play again until Sept. 17, when they take on Idaho at Kyle Field. They open Big 12 play a week later at home against Oklahoma State. The Aggies are expected to announce this week their intention of joining the SEC, after officially announcing their impending Big 12 exit last Wednesday.

Meanwhile their fans will savor a 32-point victory over a veteran team that was heavy on offensive experience.

"This team scared the heck out of me," Sherman said.

SMU running back Zach Line rushed for 108 yards on 15 carries in the first half, but notched only 20 yards on seven carries after the break.

"We could not tackle Zach Line in the first half, he made us look stupid out there," Sherman said. "We corralled him better in the second half."

Despite a slow start defensively the Aggies finished with eight sacks, their most since collecting eight in a victory at Pittsburgh in 2002. They didn't allow a point in the second half Sunday.

"I told the defense at halftime that there was nothing we can't fix, and we have to get it fixed," Sherman said. "I thought (early on) a lot of the guys weren't playing downhill or aggressive. But that's typical of a first game, and we did a better job in the second half."

brent.zwerneman@chron.com