Game 12: LSU at Texas A&M

Thursday, November 24

College Station

6:30 PM

Texas A&M

LSU

Tickets

Nov 23, 2016 | Football

Game Notes: LSU

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

No. 22 Texas A&M looks for its ninth win of the year as the Aggies (8-3, 4-3 SEC) host No. 25 LSU (6-4, 4-3) to close the regular season on Thanksgiving night at Kyle Field. Kickoff is set for 6:32 p.m.

Dave Flemming, Jesse Palmer and Laura Rutledge will have the call of the action on ESPN. It will air regionally on the Texas A&M Sports Network (Dave South, Dave Elmendorf, Will Johnson), and a Spanish broadcast of the game can also be heard regionally on the Texas A&M Spanish Network (Pedro Vela Almaguer, Noel Orellana). Drew Bontadelli and Tony Hill will call the game on the Compass Media radio network.

Both Aggie radio feeds can be heard for free worldwide at 12thman.com/allaccess and inside the Texas A&M Athletics app. The Texas A&M Sports Network broadcast will be available on Sirius Channel 145 / XM Channel 191.

Senior Class of 2016

Saturday's game against LSU will be the final home game for 18 Texas A&M seniors. The Senior Class of 2016 has produced a 33-17 record entering the WCU game.

The 2016 seniors will rank among a select group of Texas A&M seniors that will have played in four bowl games. The seniors are 2-1 in bowl games -- with wins in the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl and 2014 Liberty Bowl -- and are already qualified for bowl play in 2016.
The seniors have tallied eight wins over AP Top 25 teams.

Senior Class of 2016

Jermaine Eluemunor	Denville, N.J.
Justin Evans	Wiggins, Miss.
Avery Gennesy	Southaven, Miss.
Claude George	Lafayette, La.
Peter Grady	Cedar Park, Texas
Daeshon Hall	Seattle, Wash.
Trevor Knight	San Antonio, Texas
Chad Loitz	Round Rock, Texas
Conner McQueen	Klein, Texas
Josch Motley	College Station, Texas
Boone Niederhofer	San Antonio, Texas
Will Paulhill	Conroe, Texas
Edward Pope	Carthage, Texas
Josh Reynolds	San Antonio, Texas
Alex Sezer Jr.	Orange, Texas
Jeremy Tabuyo	Honolulu, Hawaii
Hardreck Walker	Spring, Texas
Shaan Washington	Alexandria, La.

What to Watch For: #TAMUvsLSU

Texas A&M will be seeking its first win over longtime rival LSU since 1995 when the two teams battle on Thanksgiving night at Kyle Field.

Texas A&M will be seeking to snap a five-game losing streak to LSU, which includes all four meetings as SEC members.
A win would give the Aggies five SEC victories, which would be the team's most since 2012 (6-2).
A Texas A&M victory would give head coach Kevin Sumlin his third nine-win season in five seasons in Aggieland.
Sumlin will be seeking the 80th win of his nine-year career at the University of Houston (35-17) and Texas A&M (44-19).

Milestones to Watch

Junior DE Myles Garrett is 1.5 QB sacks away from becoming the first player in SEC history to reach double digits in the first three seasons of his career. Garrett had 11.5 as a freshman, 12.5 as a sophomore and has 8.5 as a junior in 2016.
With one sack, Garrett would move past Von Miller into Texas A&M's career QB sack top five.
Freshman RB Trayveon Williams is on the cusp of becoming the first true freshman to reach the magical 1,000-yard rushing plateau in program history. Williams needs 44 rushing yard to reach 1,000.
Sophomore WR Christian Kirk is one catch away from becoming the first Texas A&M player to make 70 or more catches in his first two seasons. He is also less than 200 yards from 3,000 career all-purpose yards.
Senior WR Josh Reynolds will be seeking a TD catch in his seventh straight game, which is already a school record.
The next catch for both Kirk and Reynolds will be the 150th of their careers. Just six receivers have reached the 150-catch plateau in program history.
Sophomore PK Daniel LaCamera is one point away from 100 for his career, as well as four points away from 100 for 2016. Only six Aggie placekickers have reached 100 points in a season.
Junior punter Shane Tripucka already owns A&M's single school record with 24 inside-the-20 punts. The old record was 22 shared by Drew Kaser and Cody Scates.
Texas A&M is five successful PATs away from reaching 200 straight extra points made. The Aggies have connected on 195 consecutive extra points dating back to 2013, which is easily the longest streak in school history The NCAA record is 262 straight by Syracuse from 1978-89.

Kirk Chasing History

Sophomore WR Christian Kirk is the NCAA's active career leader in punt return average by more than seven yards per attempt and is within shouting distance of multiple SEC and NCAA punt return records.

FBS Active Career PR Avg. Leaders

*Player, School*	*Returns-Yards*	TD	*Avg.*
Christian Kirk, TA&M	25-611	5	24.4
Brisly Estime, SYRA	39-728	2	18.7
Cameron Sutton, UT	43-639	3	14.9
De'Mornay Pierson-El, NEB	58-804	3	13.9
Jabrill Peppers, MICH	38-505	1	13.3

Kirk has three punt return TDs in 2016, which puts him two away from the NCAA FBS season record of five originally set by Chad Owens of Hawaii in 2004 and matched by Ryan Switzer of UNC in 2013.
Kirk has five career punt return TDs in 24 career games. Texas Tech's Wes Welker and Oklahoma's Antonio Perkins share the NCAA FBS record of eight.
Kirk's career punt return average stands at 24.4, which is more than five yards ahead of No. 2 Brisly Estime of Syracuse (18.7).
In the SEC record book, Kirk has already matched the single-game record of two PR TDs (shared by nine other players) ... He needs one more PR TD to match the SEC season record of 4 by three players (most recently by Alabama's Cyrus Jones in 2015) ... He needs two to match the SEC career record of seven by Alabama's Javier Arenas (2006-09).
Kirk is averaging 24.5 yards on 11 returns in 2016. The SEC season record (minimum of 10 returns) is 26.7 by Florida's Hal Griffin in 1947.

Garrett Moves Up SEC, School Sack Charts

Junior DE Myles Garrett needs one QB sack to move into the top five in career sacks in both SEC and Texas A&M history.

With his next sack, Garrett would move past Florida's Alex Brown into No. 5 on the SEC list and past 2017 Super Bowl MVP Von Miller on the school list.

SEC Career QB Sacks List

1.	Derrick Thomas, Alabama	52
2.	Billy Jackson, Mississippi St.	49
3.	Ben Williams, Ole Miss	37
4.	David Pollock, Georgia	36
5.	Alex Brown, Florida	33
6.	Myles Garrett, Texas A&M	32.5
7.	Reggie White, Tennessee	32
8.	Derek Barnett, Tennessee	31
9.	Richard Tardits, Georgia	29
	Eric Norwood, South Carolina	29

Texas A&M Career QB Sacks List

1.	Aaron Wallace, 1986-89	42
2.	Jacob Green, 1977-79	37
3.	John Roper, 1985-88	36
4.	Keith Mitchell, 1993-96	34
5.	Von Miller, 2007-10	33
6.	Myles Garrett, 2014-present	32.5
7.	Marcus Buckley, 1990-92	29
8.	Damontre Moore, 2010-12	26.5
9.	Ray Childress, 1981-83	25
10.	Roylin Bradley, 1997-2000	24

The Chavis Effect

Veteran SEC defensive coordinator John Chavis was hired at Texas A&M prior to the 2015 season and his influence on the Aggies' defense has been undeniable, especially in scoring and run defense and takeaways.

Defensive Turnaround

*Stat Category*	*2016 (FBS RK)*	*2015 (FBS RK)*	*2014 (FBS RK)*
Total Defense	428.0 (#81)	380.0 (#51)	450.8 (#104)
Pass Eff. Defense	117.5 rtg (#29)	127.8 rtg (#64)	136.5 rtg (#88)
Run Defense	179.7 (#75)	213.7 (#108)	216.0 (#111)
Scoring Defense	21.1 (#21)	22.0 (#28)	28.1 (t#77)
QB sacks	3.3 (t#9)	2.6 (t#24)	2.7 (t#27)
Tackles for loss	8.9 (#2)	8.5 (t#3)	5.9 (t#60)
Interceptions	1.1 (t#30)	0.9 (t#71)	0.4 (t#121)
3rd D % Against	38.2% (#50)	33.0% (#16)	40% (#67)
Turnover Margin	+0.6 (t#23)	-0.5 (t#102)	-0.5 (t#108)
Turnovers Gained	+2.2 (t#6)	+1.3 (t#79)	1.0 (t#122)

Disruptive Defense

The 2016 edition of defense ranks among the nation's best at QB sacks, TFLs and takeaways.

Aggies rank No. 2 nationally with 98.0 tackles for loss (TFL), which is 9.0 more than the No. 2 producer in the SEC (Alabama with 89.0).
Texas A&M ranks tNo. 9 in QB sacks (3.3/G) and tNo. 6 in takeaways (24 total).
DC John Chavis' charges have made at least seven tackles for loss (TFL) 10 of 11 games and have generated 10 or more in five times.
Produced a season-high 13 TFLs vs. Auburn on 9/17 and had 12 vs. Alabama on 10/22.

Defense Game-by-Game

*Opponent*	*QBS-YDS*	*TFL-YDS*	*Take*
UCLA	5.0-39	10.0-47	3
PVAMU	3.0-24	7.0-37	1
at Auburn	4.0-32	13.0-55	1
vs. Arkansas	1.0-9	10.0-35	3
at S. Carolina	3.0-23	10.0-41	2
TENNESSEE	4.0-29	8.0-37	7
at Alabama	3.0-11	12.0-36	2
NEW MEXICO ST.	3.0-12	7.0-20	0
at MSU	0.0-0	4.0-11	2
OM	3.0-11	9.0-53	2
UTSA	6.0-36	8.0-38	1

Louisiana Connections

Second-year Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis oversaw LSU's defense from 2009-14.
Third-year DB coach Terry Joseph is a native of New Orleans, La., and was a LSU graduate assistant coach in 2006.
First-year Texas A&M director of athletics Scott Woodward is a LSU graduate (class of 1985) and was LSU's director of external affairs from 2000-04.
The Pelican State is the second-leading producer of players on the 2016 Texas A&M roster with 14 players from the state of Louisiana, including starters: WR Speedy Noil, OL Colton Prater, LB Shaan Washington and DB Donovan Wilson.
LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger served as Texas A&M's OC from 1994-96.
LSU offensive line coach Jeff Grimes was a graduate assistant at Texas A&M in 1996-97 and earned his master's degree from Texas A&M.
Longtime Texas A&M assistant FB equipment manager Bryan Gossett is a 1999 graduate of LSU and worked on LSU's equipment staff as an undergrad.

Run-Game Renaissance

A year after ranking No. 66 nationally with a 169.1 rushing average, Texas A&M has improved its rushing attack by over 50 yards per game.

Texas A&M ranks No. 5 in the SEC and No. 24 in the FBS with a 220.2 rushing average and averages 5.7 per carry in 2016.
The Aggies have rushed for 200+ yards in seven of 11 games in 2016.
Opponents have rushed the ball 63 more times than the Aggies but gained 445 fewer yards.

Ground Attack 2016

*Statistic*	*2016 (FBS RK)*	*2015 (FB RK)*
Rushing Offense	220.2 (#27)	169.1 (#66)
Yards/Rush	5.7 (#8)	4.4 (t#70)
TDs/Game	2.3 (t#28)	1.0 (t#111)
10-yd+ gains	76 (t#24)	74 (t#48)
20-yd+ gains	24 (t#24)	17 (t#75)
30-yd+ gains	11 (t#27)	5 (t#101)
40-yd+ gains	8 (t#8)	2 (t#107)
60-yd+ gains	4 (t#6)	0 (t#83+)

Making and Limiting Explosive Plays

Texas A&M has allowed just eight TD plays of more than 20 yards in length while scoring 20 touchdowns of more than 20 yards.

The Aggies have 64 rush or pass plays of 20 or more yards, including 24 plays over 35 yards.
The 64 rush/pass explosive plays have been made by 13 different players.
Opponents have been limited to 52 20-yard offensive plays -- including just 15 over 35 yards.
Opponents have just 16 20-yard+ rushing plays while the Aggies have 24.

Balanced Attack

Texas A&M average more than 220 rushing and passing yards per game.

Texas A&M's rush/pass play breakdown is 2,422 yards on 423 rushes/2,723 on 414 pass attempts.
The Aggies have rushed and passed for 200-plus yards in seven of 11 games in 2016.

Transfer Impact

The Aggies have a number of four-year school and JC transfers making significant contributions in 2016.

Transfer Impact in 2016

Player	Pos	Former School
Kalvin Cline	TE	Virginia Tech
#Jermaine Eluemenor	OT	Lackawanna (Pa.)
#Justin Evans	SS	Gulf Coast (Miss.) CC
#Keith Ford	RB	Oklahoma
#Avery Gennesy	OT	E. Mississippi CC
Claude George	LB	Hutchinson (Kan.) CC
Jake Hubenak	QB	Blinn (Texas) JC
#Trevor Knight	QB	Oklahoma
Damion Ratley	WR	Blinn (Texas) JC
#Josh Reynolds	WR	Tyler (Texas) JC
#Priest Willis	CB	UCLA
# denotes 2016 starter

SUMLIN VS. TOP 25

In his ninth season as a head coach, fifth-year Aggie coach Kevin Sumlin has a career record of 15-13 against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 (12-12 at A&M).

Sumlin's record against non-conference teams ranked in the AP Top 25 is a perfect 5-0 (wins over No. 22 Louisiana Tech and No. 11 Oklahoma in 2012, No. 22 Duke in 2013, No. 15 Arizona State in 2015 and No. 16 UCLA in 2016).
Sumlin's three road wins over AP top 10 teams is a school record.
Sumlin's five road wins and nine wins away from Kyle vs. AP Top 25 squads are already the most by any coach in school history.
The win over No. 9 Tennessee was Kevin Sumlin's 12th win over an AP Top 25-ranked opponent, which is No. 2 among A&M coaches. R.C. Slocum leads the list with 17 wins vs. ranked opponents.
Kevin Sumlin enters his fifth season at Texas A&M in 2016. His 36 wins (36-16 record) after his first four seasons marked the second-fastest coaching start in school history behind R.C. Slocum's 39 wins from 1989-92.
Sumlin ranks as just the second Texas A&M head coach to lead the Aggies to at least eight wins in his each of his first five years.
Sumlin's record against non-conference teams ranked in the AP Top 25 is a perfect 5-0 (wins over No. 22 Louisiana Tech and No. 11 Oklahoma in 2012, No. 22 Duke in 2013, No. 15 Arizona State in 2015 and No. 16 UCLA in 2016).
Sumlin's 12 wins against AP Top 25 opponents rank No. 2 among Texas A&M head coaches in school history. Slocum leads the list with 17 wins vs. ranked opponents.
Sumlin was the first Texas A&M coach to win three straight bowl games (2012-14). His three bowl wins match the most by a Texas A&M head coach (Slocum had three from 1989-2002). He was the second head coach in program history to take his first four squads to a bowl game.
Sumlin was the 2012 SEC Coach of the Year by the Associated Press and the SEC Co-Coach of the Year by the league head coaches.
Sumlin was a 2009, 2011 and 2012 Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year finalist, and a AFCA Coach of the Year finalist in 2011.
Sumlin was hired at Texas A&M on Dec. 10, 2011 after four highly successful seasons as head coach at the University of Houston.
He compiled a 35-17 record at UH, and led the Cougars to three bowl games in his four seasons.
He earned his degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Purdue University in 1988. Sumlin was a standout linebacker for the Boilermakers from 1983-86.
Sumlin served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M from 2001-02. Was hired as assistant head coach and wide receivers coach, and he added offensive coordinator to his responsibilities early in the 2002 season after the offense struggled early in the season. With Sumlin calling the plays, the Aggie offense flourished, averaging 33.0 points and 419 yards per game for the remainder of the season after posting just 16.0 points and 286 yards per game previously. A highlight of the season included a 30-26 win over top-ranked Oklahoma with the Aggies gaining 404 total yards to key the victory.
Other assistant coaching stops for Sumlin include: Oklahoma (2003-07), Purdue (1998-2000), Minnesota (1993-97) and Wyoming (1991-92). He got his coaching start as a graduate assistant at Washington State from 1989-90.
Sumlin is a native of Indianapolis, Ind., and attended high school at Brebeuf Jesuit Prep. He was born Aug. 3, 1964, in Brewton, Ala.

Nightmare for QBs, OCs

Junior DE Myles Garrett is, arguably, the nation's most feared pass rusher.

Appeared healthy for the first time in over a month last week vs. UTSA when he flirted with the single game record for sacks with 4.5 and also chipped in a forced fumble.
Garrett is a semifinalist for the Rotary Lombardi Award and the Bednarik Award.
His older sister, Brea Garrett, was a NCAA Champion thrower for the A&M track and field team. His older brother, Sean Williams, has played for several NBA teams and currently plays basketball overseas.
Among his measurables are: 40-yard dash: 4.46; broad jump: 9 feet, 5 inches; vertical jump: 38.5 inches; power clean: 372 pounds; deadlift: 528 pounds; incline bench press: 355 pounds; leg press: 1,100 pounds.
Described as a "dino-geek," Garrett says of his post-football life: "I want to be a paleontologist, whether it's amateur or professional." (Sports Illustrated, July 27, 2015)

Veteran Leader

One of the keys to Texas A&M's 2016 improvement on defense has been the continued development and leadership for senior LB Shaan Washington.

Washington leads the team with 82 tackles.
Washington is regularly referenced by the coaching staff for his physical development over the past year.
Washington arrived at Texas A&M as a 210-pound safety in 2013 but has developed into a 240-pound linebacker in 2016.
Has increased his bench press to over 400 pounds, according to DC John Chavis.
Chavis also believes Washington has a future in the NFL.
Despite battling various injuries over the past two seasons, the Louisiana product or "Louisianimal" ranked No. 2 on the team with 81 tackles in 2015 and No. 4 with 64 in 2014.
Injured for the first three games of 2014, Washington averaged 6.4 tackles per game after returning to lineup which was the best per-game average on the team.

Hall's Growth

While developing into one of the nation's top DEs, senior DE Daeshon Hall has gained nearly 60 pounds since coming to campus on his recruiting visit.

Hall came to Texas A&M on his recruiting visit in 2013 as a 208-pound "basketball player," according to head coach Kevin Sumlin. He has bulked up to 270 pounds as a senior.
Hall's nickname is "Dae Dae."
Hall moved from Seattle, Wash., to Lancaster, Texas in high school. His high school coach Chris Gilbert got his first glimpse of Hall playing basketball. "He was just like hammering dunks," Gilbert said. "He was a little thin, but I could tell he was strong. He said, 'Coach, I love basketball but everybody tells me they think I can play on Sundays, and I think I can.' '' (Dallas Morning News, Sept. 12, 2014)
Hall's four-sack effort vs. Arizona State in 2015 tied for second-most in a single game in school history, trailing only the five-sack performance by Alex Morris vs. Houston in 1987. Hall matched the sack total of three first-team All-Americans: Jacob Green, Ray Childress and John Roper.
Teams with Myles Garrett to give the Aggies one of the nation's top defensive ends combos.
Garrett said of the pair's friendly competition to get to the quarterback, "It's a race to get to the quarterback every time."

Big Play Ability

Junior FS Armani Watts is the SEC's only player to have registered at least one QB sack, tackle for loss, QB hurry, interception, pass breakup, forced fumble and recovered fumble.

Missed the UTSA game with an injury.
Earned SEC Defensive Player the Week after the Aggies' 2016 win over Arkansas. He posted a pair of game-changing plays with a strip and fumble recovery at the goal line and a fourth-down TFL vs, ARK.
Ranks No.4 on team with 56 tackles, has multiple TFLs, INTs, PBUs, FR and FF.
With 126 tackles in 2015, Watts was the first Aggie to hit the century mark since LB Michael Hodges had 115 in 2010. Only a handful of Aggie DBs have reached 100 tackles in a season, most recently Jaxson Appel had 135 in 2003.
Watts led the SEC with an amazing 83 solo tackles in 2016.
His 20-tackle game vs. the Rebels in 2015 was the second-most prolific tackle game by a DB in school history. Safety Larry Horton matched the overall school record with 24 tackles vs. Baylor in 1990 (originally set by LB Larry Kelm in 1985).
Watts finished 2015 tied for 14th nationally with 126 tackles.
A consensus 4-star recruit out of North Forney HS, Watts earned all-state honors at safety and was an all-district pick on offense and defense and as a return man.

Record-Setting Reynolds

Senior Josh Reynolds is the only player in Texas A&M and SEC history and FBS's only active player with two 90-yard plus catches -- a 95-yarder vs. Vanderbilt in 2015 and a 92-yard vs. Arkansas in 2016.

Reynolds is the SEC's leading active receiving TD producer with 27 since 2014.
Reynolds had made at least one TD catch in a school record six straight games.
Overlooked by FBS programs out of HS, Reynolds went to Tyler JC as a full qualifier and then transferred to A&M with three years of eligibility in 2014. The FB coaching staff was tipped off to Reynolds by TAMU T&F coach Pat Henry, who had recruited Reynolds as a high jumper.
Reynolds' younger brother, Moses, is a true freshman DB for the Aggies.

SEC Active Receiving TDs list

1.	27 - Josh Reynolds, TA&M	2014-16
2.	21 - Fred Ross, MSU	2013-16
3.	18 - Keon Hatcher, ARK	2012-16
4.	15 - Evan Engram, Ole Miss	2013-16
5.	14 - Drew Morgan, ARK	2013-16
	14 - Christian Kirk, TA&M	2015-16

TAMU Career Receiving TDs

*Player, Years*	*TDs*
Jeff Fuller, 2008-11	34
Josh Reynolds, 2014-	27
Ryan Swope, 2009-12	24
Uzoma Nwachukwu, 2009-12	19
Bob Long, 1966-68	19

Honey Badger Redux

Junior nickel back Donovan Wilson has drawn comparisons to former LSU playmaker Tyrann Mathieu or the "Honey Badger" because of his penchant for making big plays.

Wilson ranked third in the SEC with five interceptions in 2015, which matched the entire Texas A&M team's output in 2014.
Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis says of Wilson, "We need that catalyst and he's been that catalyst force. He's made big play after big play. (Former LSU All-American Tyrann Mathieu) had the 'it' factor. We're starting to see some of that with Donovan." (Bryan-College Station Eagle, Oct. 7, 2015)

2015 Wilson (13 gms) vs. 2011 Mathieu (13 gms)

*Player*	*TFL*	*QBS*	*INT*	*PBU*	FR	FF
Wilson	8.5	2.0	5	3	2	3
Mathieu	7.5	1.5	2	9	5	6

Wilson fills the stat sheet like few other defenders. He ranked No. 4 on the team in tackles (63), had 8.5 TFL, 2.0 QBS, three FF, two FR and three PBUs, along with his five INTs last season.
A late addition to the Aggies' 2014 signing class, Wilson led the Shreveport, La., area with 13 interceptions while earning All-City Defensive POY (Shreveport Times) and Louisiana Class 4A all-state honors.

Captain Kirk

Sophomore WR/RS Christian Kirk leads the SEC with 69 catches and he has a school-record five TD punt returns on just 25 career tries.

Used as a rusher, receiver and return man and averages 12.2 yards per touch, which ranks fifth-highest in the SEC.
Became the first Aggie to post two punt return TDs in same game vs. NMSU (70 and 73 yards).
Kirk and Washington's Dante Pettis are the only FBS players with multiple PR TDs the past two seasons.
Among his 25 career punt returns are five TD and six 50-yard plus returns.
His career PR average of 24.4 is the best among active FBS players (minimum: 24 returns).
Kirk posted a career-high 12 catches vs. South Carolina.
A consensus 5-star recruit out of Saguaro HS in Scottsdale, Ariz., Kirk was an early enrollee in January of 2015.

Tough Matchup

At 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, junior WR Ricky Seals-Jones ranks as one of the toughest matchups for defensive backs in the nation.

Seals-Jones missed the SC and UT games due to injury, but returned vs. ALA. Had his best game since returning to action last week vs. UTSA with six catches for 75 yards.
Seals-Jones has been consistently praised as one of the team's top blockers on the perimeter.
Seals-Jones has been the team's third-leading receiver the past two seasons with 49 catches in 2014 and 45 in 2015.
His receptions single game high is 10 catches vs. Mississippi State in 2014, which ranks as one of five double-digit catch games by a freshman.
RSJ played in two games as a true freshman in 2013 before suffering a season-ending injury. In his first career game, Seals-Jones reeled off a 71-yard TD catch and run against Rice that remains his career long.
The early-season showdown of future Texas A&M signees Seals-Jones of Sealy HS and QB Kohl Stewart of St. Pius in 2012 was the first destination of the "Swag-copter" when head coach Kevin Sumlin used a helicopter to get from College Station to St. Pius' Parsley Field in Houston.

Graduate Transfer QB

Graduate transfer Trevor Knight suffered a shoulder injury against MSU and is out for the remainder of the regular season, according to head coach Kevin Sumlin.

Named Midseason National Offensive Player of the Year by CollegeFootballNews.com. Also, semifinalist for Wuerffel Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award
Knight joined the Aggies in January as a graduate transfer after playing three seasons at the University of Oklahoma.
Has already established career highs in total offense (422 vs. PVAMU) and rushing yards (157 vs. ARK).
Named Davey O'Brien National QB of the Week and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose POTW after rushing for 157/2 TDs and passing for 225/2 TDs in win over ARK (9/24).
At OU, Knight started 15 games, including two bowl games.
Knight's stats at OU were 3,424 passing yards/25 TDs and 852 rushing yards/8 TDs. He was named the MVP of OU's 2014 Sugar Bowl win over Alabama after connecting on 32-of-44 passes for 348 yards and four TDs.
Knight had four 300-yard passing games and two 100-yard rushing games at OU.
His fraternal twin brother, Connor, is a senior fullback for the Sooners.
Knight earned his bachelor's degree in finance at OU and is pursuing his master's degree in management at Texas A&M.
Knight helped spearhead the Aggies' humanitarian trip to Haiti last summer, and had made previous trips to the impoverished nation while at OU.

Ball Hawk Safety

Senior SS Justin Evans has a well-earned reputation as one of the SEC's biggest hitters. He added ball-hawk to his repertoire with four pickoffs in 2016, which is tied for the SEC lead.

Named Midseason National Defensive POTY by NFL.com...Semifinalist for the Thorpe Award (best college DB).
Evans was spectacular in the season-opener against UCLA with a pair of interceptions, another broken up pass, a 21.0 average on kickoff returns and eight tackles. He earned Nagurski and Thorpe National Player of the Week honors.
After the Auburn game, Evans was named SEC Defensive POTW after making a game-high 12 tackles and breaking up a pass against the Tigers.
Evans ranked No. 3 on the team with 78 tackles in 2015, and he also contributed an interception and three broken up passes.
He had a season-high 10 tackles in SEC games against Alabama and Vanderbilt.
Evans joined the Aggies as an early enrollee after transferring from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Was also a standout baseball player in high school, batting .495 as a senior at Wiggins High School.

Instant Impact

True freshman RB Trayveon Williams still isn't listed as the Aggies' starter at running back, but his impact on the Texas A&M rushing attack is undeniable.

Williams ranks No. 8 in the SEC with an average of 86.9 rushing yards per game, while averaging 7.0 yards per rush.
With 217 rushing yards against UT, Williams became the first Aggie true freshman to surpass the 200 rushing yards plateau. His 89-yard sprint vs. AUB was the second-longest by a freshman in A&M history.
Was an early enrollee at Texas A&M in January 2016. A four-star recruit, Williams was District 15-5A MVP in 2015 after rushing for 1,409 yards and 20 TDs as a senior at C.E. King. Rushed for nearly 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns his final two seasons.

Runs Like a Ford

The other half of the Aggies' formidable running back tandem is hard-running junior Keith Ford, who is in his first season of action for Texas A&M after transferring from Oklahoma.

Running style has been described as "physical" with an "earnest pursuit of contact." (Dallas Morning News, 10/27/2016)
While not being the homerun threat of Williams, Ford does have at least one 15-yard or longer run in seven games.
While sitting out the 2015 season per NCAA transfer rules, Ford was named the Offensive Scout Team MVP.
Played two seasons at OU, seeing action in 18 games with three starts in 2013 and 2014.
Rushed for 369 yards and 5 TDs on 63 carries in 2014. Had a career-high 91 yards on nine carries vs. OSU. Earned starts against KU, UT and Tulsa, while seeing action in eight games. As a freshman, Ford gained 134 yards on 23 carries in 10 games.
Five-star recruit from Cypress Ranch HS near Houston after rushing for 1,868 yards and 24 TDs as a senior.

Big Maroon Goons

Calling themselves the Maroon Goons since 2012, the starting lineup for the past two games has consisted of tackles Colton Prater and Avery Gennesey, guards Jermaine Eluemenor and Keaton Sutherland and center Erik McCoy weigh in at 1,540 pounds, or 308 pounds per goon.

Goon Facts

Texas A&M has produced a NFL first-round pick at offensive tackle for the past four seasons -- Luke Joeckel in 2013, Jake Matthews in 2014, Cedric Ogbuehi in 2015 and Germain Ifedi in 2016.
Easily the most experienced Goon, senior LT Avery Gennesy started all 13 games in 2015 and has 24 career starts.
Entering 2016, RT Jermaine Eluemenor was the only other Goon with starting experience -- he started one game at guard in 2015 (bowl game vs. Louisville).
Eluemenor is nicknamed "London" because he grew up in London, England before moving to New Jersey as a teen.
Eluemenor was the "hot chicken eating" champion at last year's Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn.
The Aggies have rushed for 200+ yards in seven games, including 366 vs. ARK which was the most against a SEC opponent since joining the league.
Texas A&M hadn't rushed for 200+ yards in the first six games of a season since the days of Emory Bellard's famed Wishbone offense with Bubba Bean and George "Big Woo" Woodard in 1975.
The first Goon off the bench has been 305-pound swing tackle Koda Martin, who has made a pair of starts at RT in 2016 and came in for an injured Gennesy against UCLA.