Football Hosts Vanderbilt Saturday in 2020 Opener

THE MATCHUP

• Vanderbilt at (#10) Texas A&M
• Date/Time: Saturday, Sept. 26 / 6:30 p.m. (CT)
• Venue: Kyle Field, Bryan-College Station
• Live Stats: Click Here

TV INFO

• SEC Network Alternate (Lowell Galindo, Andre Ware, Taylor Davis)
• Channel Finder: Click Here
• Live Stream: ESPN App

RADIO

• Texas A&M Sports Network (Andrew Monaco, Dave Elmendorf, Will Johnson)
• Local: WTAW-AM 1620
• Satellite: Sirius 137/XM 191
• Live Stream: 12th Man Mobile
   
• Texas A&M Spanish Network (Michel Gonzalez, Pedro Luna, Alejandra Dorbecker)
• Local: 102.7 FM La Jefa

What to Watch For

• Texas A&M and Vanderbilt meet for the first time since 2015.
• A&M holds the 2-0 series advantage and has not allowed the Commodores to score a point in the series since the first meeting in 2013.
• The Aggies have won seven straight home openers and will open the season against an SEC opponent for the third time since joining the league in 2012.
• Senior QB Kellen Mond already ranks in the top five all-time at A&M in nearly every career passing category and is poised to claim the top spots in completions, attempts, passing yards and passing TD’s in his final season.
• Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller led the Aggies in scoring last season with 10 touchdowns, while recording four 100-yard rushing games. 
• Spiller will be joined in A&M’s offensive backfield by classmate Ainias Smith, who made the move from receiver to running back at the end of the 2019 season. 
• The Aggies will have a veteran o-line at work this season as seniors Carson Green, Jared Hocker and Dan Moore Jr. did not miss a start last season and have each started 20+ games in their careers, while sophomore Kenyon Green started all 13 games in his debut season. 
• Junior PK Seth Small needs two field goals to become the eighth Aggie to reach the 40-FG plateau. 
• The Aggies’ 2019 statistical leader returns for rushing, passing, total offense, all-purpose, field goals, scoring, tackles, interceptions (tie), punt returns, kickoff returns and special teams tackles. 

UPS Gametracker Podcast

Listen below as the Texas A&M Sports Network team of Andrew Monaco, Dave Elmendorf and Will Johnson preview and breakdown the matchup with the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Milestones to Watch For

• Senior QB Kellen Mond needs just 236 yards to join Johnny Manziel as the only Aggies to surpass the 9,000-yard plateau in total offense ... He needs 121 passing yards to become the third Aggie to reach 7,500 career passing yards.
• Mond needs two rushing TDs to join Johnny Manziel, Joel Hunt and Bucky Richardson as the only Aggie QBs with 20 career rushing scores. 
• Mond is slated to make his 35th career start against Vanderbilt (22-12 record as a starter), which would be the second-most by a QB in school history ... Corey Pullig (1992-95) is the school record holder with 40 career QB starts (33-6-1).
• Mond currently ranks No. 5 on the Aggies’ winningest QB list, two behind No. 4 Bucky Richardson (24-6-1 from 1987-88, 90-91).
• Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller needs 54 yards to reach 1,000 career rushing yards in his 14th game.
• Senior OT Carson Green is slated to make his 30th consecutive start, which is the longest streak on the team.
• Senior DB Myles Jones needs two pass breakups to reach 25 for his career.

Dual Threat Mond

• Senior QB Kellen Mond is one of two Power 5 players with more than 7,000 career passing yards and 1,200 career rushing yards (all games at P5 school). Mond has passed for 7,379 and rushed for 1,314 in 37 career games at Texas A&M.
• Mond leads all SEC starting quarterbacks at their current institutions having passed and rushed for a touchdown in the same game 15 times in his career ... He was named MVP of the Texas Bowl after tallying 117 yards on the ground, including a  67-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Spiller Shines Among A&M True Freshman Running Backs

• 2019 SEC All-Freshman Team honoree Isaiah Spiller had one of the greatest true freshman seasons ever by a Texas A&M running back ... He matched George Woodard’s school record for 100-yard rushing games by a true freshman (4).
• His 106 rushing yards against Texas State was just the third 100-yard game by true freshman in his collegiate debut, joining Bucky Richardson (102 vs Southern Miss, 1987) and Kwame Etwi (116 vs. Ball State, 2015).
• Spiller became the first freshman running back with multiple rushing touchdowns in a game since Trayveon Williams on Sept. 24, 2016 against Arkansas.
• Spiller’s 217 rushing yards against UTSA matched Williams’ true freshman record for single-game rushing yards.
• Spiller trailed only Williams (1,057 yards in 2016) on Texas A&M’s true freshman rushing list with 946 yards on the ground in his debut season.

Wydermyer Makes Impact

• Sophomore TE Jalen Wydermyer, who was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and AP All-SEC Second Team following an impressive debut season returns as A&M’s most experienced target on the 2020 roster.
• Wydermyer led the receiving corps with six touchdown catches as a freshman, good for second on A&M’s single-season TE scoring list.
• After a two-touchdown performance against No. 1 Alabama, Wydermyer claimed Texas A&M’s freshman receiving touchdowns record for tight ends, scoring four TDs through just his first six games in the Maroon and White.
• Wydermyer ranked in the top 10 nationally in receiving TDs by a tight end, and was in the top six among scoring freshman tight ends.  

Maroon GOONS

• Known as the Maroon Goons since 2012, the Aggies return a veteran offensive line in 2020 comprised of four seniors and one sophomore.
• The unit enters the year having made a combined 107 career starts on the line, which ranks as the seventh-highest total nationally.
• Seniors Carson Green, Jared Hocker and Dan Moore Jr. have all logged over 20 starts in their careers and did not miss a start in 2019, while grad student Ryan McCollum started more than half of the team’s games in each of his first two seasons and served as a reliable backup at center last season ... Sophomore Kenyon Green impressed in his season in Aggieland, starting all 13 games.
• After helping Trayveon Williams to tally nine 100-yard rushing games in 2018, the unit cleared the way for seven 100-yard rushing games in 2019, four of which came from RB Isaiah Spiller.  

Freshman Impact

• Texas A&M saw 19 true freshmen hit in the field in 2019, with seven logging at least one start ... RG Kenyon Green, DL DeMarvin Leal, S Demani Richardson and RB Isaiah Spiller all earned starting jobs and made at least seven starts, while Ainias Smith played in 12 games on both offense and handling returns.
• The Aggies also saw 11 redshirt freshman get playing time last season, with two of them earning a start.
• Spiller and Wydermyer are A&M’s top returners at each of their position groups and both finished their debut seasons among the best freshman at their positions in program history ... Spiller led the team with 10 touchdowns and tallied four 100-yard rushing games, while Wydermyer was a close second with six catches in the end zone.
• Richardson was a key contributor on defense in his debut season for A&M and finished the year third on the team with 71 tackles ... He led the team tackles against Clemson (8), Alabama (11) and Mississippi State (7).