GAMEDAY: UCLA

Texas A&M will open its 2017 season with a rare West Coast matchup with the UCLA Bruins at 6:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, Sept 3 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

KICKOFF: 6:30 p.m. CT

SITE: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif. (cap. 92,542)

RANKINGS: UCLA (RV - AP / RV - HC), Texas A&M (RV - AP / RV - HC)

TELEVISION: FOX (National)
Gus Johnson, play-by-play
Joel Klatt, analyst
Jenny Taft, sideline reporter

RADIO: Westwood One (National)

Brandon Gaudin, play-by-play
Brady Poppinga, analyst

RADIO: Texas A&M Radio Network (Regional)
Dave South, play-by-play
Dave Elmendorf, analyst
Will Johnson, sideline

RADIO: Texas A&M Spanish Network (Regional)
Pedro Vela Almaguer, play-by-play

Noel Orellana, analyst
(Texas A&M's Spanish broadcast can be heard on radio stations in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, El Paso and McAllen, Texas. Locally, the TAMU Spanish Network can be heard on 1550 AM.)

SIRIUS XM: The Texas A&M Radio Network call of the game can be heard on SiriusXM 137 / 190. The UCLA radio broadcast can be found on SiriusXM 84.

SERIES HISTORY vs. UCLA:
1940         W, 7-0            Los Angeles, Calif.
1951         W, 21-14       Los Angeles, Calif.
1955         L, 21-0           Los Angeles, Calif.
1998         L, 29-23         Dallas, Texas
2016         W, 31-24       College Station

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: #TAMUvsUCLA

It will be the second straight year that the Aggies and Bruins will open their respective seasons against each other. Last year, Texas A&M posted a dramatic 31-24 overtime victory over UCLA at Kyle Field.
It will be Texas A&M's first-ever appearance in the Rose Bowl Stadium.
The Aggies have faced UCLA three times in Los Angeles with their most recent trip being a 21-0 loss in 1955. The two teams also met in Los Angeles in 1940 (W, 7-0) and 1951 (W, 21-14).
It will be the third straight year that Texas A&M has faced a Pac-12 team in its season-opener. Texas A&M also tallied a 38-17 victory over then-No. 15 Arizona State at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Texas A&M is 8-2 in its last 10 season-openers with losses to Arkansas State in 2008 and Florida in 2012, both in College Station.

SUMLIN IN SEASON OPENERS

Aggie head coach Kevin Sumlin has been successful in season lid-lifters with a 8-1 record as a head coach at Houston (4-0) and Texas A&M (4-1).
Since joining the Texas A&M staff as an assistant head coach/WR coach in 2001, Sumlin's various teams have compiled a 14-2 record in season openers at Texas A&M (2-0 in 2001-02, 4-1 in 2012-15), Oklahoma (5-1 in 2003-07) and Houston (4-0 in 2008-11).
Texas A&M and Wisconsin are the only FBS teams with victories over top 25-ranked teams in their last three season-openers. Neither team faces a ranked team in its 2017 lid-lifter.

A&M-UCLA CONNECTIONS

Second-year Texas A&M offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Noel Mazzone served in the same capacity at UCLA from 2012-15.
The Aggies' projected starter at right CB is senior Priest Willis, who played his first two seasons at UCLA. Last season, Willis tallied an interception against his old teammates.

MILESTONES TO WATCH

Texas A&M's first victory of 2017 will be the 80th of Kevin Sumlin's career as a head coach.
Texas A&M needs six victories to reach 50 since joining the SEC in 2012. Similarly, Kevin Sumlin needs six victories to reach 50 since taking over the coaching reins at Texas A&M.
Junior WR/RS Christian Kirk needs 793 all-purpose yardage to become Texas A&M's sixth player to reach 4,000 career yards.
After just two seasons (26 games), Kirk needs 63 receiving yards to reach 2,000 for his career. Only six Aggies have reached the 2,000-yard plateau. He needs seven catches to become the fourth A&M player with 170 or more receptions (others are Ryan Swope (252), Jeff Fuller (233) and Terrence Murphy (172). Kirk's 16 receiving TDs already rank No. 7 in school histoy.
Senior DB Armani Watts needs nine tackles to reach 250 for his career. Only five defensive backs have hit the 250-tackle plateau in school history, most recently by Trent Hunter from 2008-11 (302 tackles).
Texas A&M has connected on exactly 200 consecutive extra point attempts dating back to 2013, which is easily a school record. The NCAA record is 262 by Syracuse from 1978-89.
Texas A&M has gained at least 5,000 total yards in eight consecutive seasons, which is a school record.
Texas A&M has passed for at 3,000 yards in nine straight seasons, which is a school record.

NOTABLES

Projected OL starter Koda Martin had a big summer as he wed former Texas A&M volleyball All-American Jazzmin Babers, who is the daughter of former Texas A&M offensive coordinator and current Syracuse head coach Dino Babers.
PK Daniel LaCamera became the fifth Texas A&M place kicker to score 100 points in a season with 105 points in 2016. LaCamera connected on 71-of-78 total placekicks (.910) -- 17-24 on FGs and 54-54 on PATs.
Texas A&M has produced 111.0 TFLs in each of the past two seasons while ranking in the top seven nationally both years. Texas A&M has had 10 or more TFLs nine times over the past two seasons.
The Aggies were among a small group of 200/200 rush/pass teams in 2016. Texas A&M rushed for 211.8 yards/game and passed for 255.2 yards/game.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Christian Kirk

Daniel LaCamera

Koda Martin

Armani Watts

Priest Willis

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