No. 7 Football Returns to the Road to Take on South Carolina

THE MATCHUP

• (#7) Texas A&M at South Carolina
• Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 7 / 6 p.m. (CT)
• Venue: Williams-Brice Stadium
• Live Stats: Click Here

TV INFO

• ESPN (Mark Jones, Dusty Dvoracek, Quint Kessenich)
• Live Stream: Click Here

RADIO

• Texas A&M Sports Network (Andrew Monaco, Dave Elmendorf, Will Johnson)
• Local: WTAW-AM 1620/94.5 FM, The Zone 1150 AM/93.7 FM
• Satellite: Sirius/XM 81
• Live Stream: 12th Man Mobile
   
• Texas A&M Spanish Network (Michel Gonzalez, Pedro Luna, Alejandra Dorbecker)
• Local: 102.7 FM La Jefa
• Live Stream: 12th Man Mobile

What to watch for #USCvsTAMU:

• Texas A&M and South Carolina meet for the seventh time in porgram history and for the second week in a row, the Aggies are looking to remain unbeaten by their opponent as SEC foes. 
• Senior QB Kellen Mond needs four passing touchdowns to become A&M’s all-time career leader in the category ... He has thrown for three TDs, his regulation career high, three times this season including the win over Arkansas. 
• Already the Aggies’ all-time leading passer, Mond is 377 passing yards from becoming the 18th SEC QB to reach the 9,000-yard plateau, which was most recently achieved by Dak Prescott of Mississippi State in 2015. 
• A&M’s veteran offensive line has not allowed a sack in four straight games (144 pass attempts) ... The Maroon Goons lead the SEC and are among the top 10 teams in the country in sacks allowed and TFLs allowed.
• Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller has rushed for over 100 yards in three of A&M’s five games this season and scored multiple TDs on the ground in two of the last three outings.
• Senior LB Buddy Johnson has led the A&M defense in tackles in all five games this season ... He ranks 10th nationally, averaging 10.8 takedowns per game. 
• Junior PK Seth Small needs one field goal to move into the top five in career makes at A&M ... At Alabama he became the eighth Aggie to reach the 40-FG mark. 
• A&M has scored 13 times on its last 14 trips into the red zone (last three games), with 11  of those scores being touchdowns.

Quick Hits

• Senior QB Kellen Mond became the first player in A&M history and the 12th in SEC history to tally over 10,000 yards of total offense when he upped his career total to 10,015 against Arkansas.
• This season, Mond has also become A&M’s all-time leader in career passing yards (8,623), completions (714) and attempts (1,217), while currently sitting in second on the career passing TD’s (64) and QB victories (26-13) lists. 
• Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller leads the SEC averaging 6.02 yards per carry, good for 16th in the nation ... After passing the century mark in just one SEC game a season ago, Spiller is averaging 102.4 yards per game against league opponents this year.
• Sophomore RB Ainias Smith is already the only player in school history with 200+ career yards in rushing (240), receiving (538), punt return (249) and kick return (257) ...  The rarity has only been achieved by 14 SEC players, including notables like Carnell “Cadillac” Williams of Auburn, Randall Cobb of Kentucky and Chris Rainey of Florida.
• Texas A&M leads the nation with a 58.7 conversion rate on 3rd down plays ... Against AP Top 25 opponents, the Aggies successfully convert 3rd downs at a 68.8 clip, which leads the FBS.
• Under DC Mike Elko, the Aggies ranked in the top 35 in total defense in 2018 (No. 32)and 2019 (No. 29) FBS statistical rankings ...  Prior to Elko’s arrival, the Aggies hadn’t ranked in the top 50 nationally in more than a decade (since 2006). 

Milestones to Watch For

• Senior QB Kellen Mond needs four touchdown passes to become A&M’s all-time career leader in the category.
• Mond needs two rushing TDs to join Johnny Manziel, Joel Hunt and Bucky Richardson as the only Aggie QBs with 20 career rushing scores. 
• With two more rushing touchdowns, Mond would also join an elite club of SEC QBs with at least 60 passing TDs and 20 rushing TDs in their careers ... The only members of the 60/20 club are  Manziel, Florida’s Tim Tebow and Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott. 
• Mond is eight rushing attempts away from 400 in his career ... The only Aggie QBs with 400+ carries are Reggie McNeal (411 from 2002-05) and David Walker (407 from 1973-77). 
• Mond has made 39 career starts, which is 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).
• Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller needs 42 rushing yards to become the 34th Aggie to reach the 1,500-yard barrier in career rushing yards ... He has 1,458 rushing yards in 18 career games. 
• Senior OL Carson Green is slated to make his 35th consecutive start, which is the longest streak on the team.
• Senior DB Myles Jones has 26 career pass breakups, which is one shy of breaking into the school’s top 10 list for PBUs. 

Mond Making History

• Senior QB Kellen Mond is on pace to finish his career atop nearly every A&M career passing record ... Against Alabama Mond claimed the top spot in career completions and attempts, and later set the career passing yards record in the win over No. 4 Florida ... He became A&M’s career leader in total offense in the win over Arkansas.
• One of the winningest QBs in program history, Mond boasts a 26-13 record, which gives him sole possession of second on A&M’s all-time list.
• Mond is the only player in program history and became the 12th in SEC history to tally over 10,000 yards of total offense, while he and Johnny Manziel are the only two Aggie signal callers to throw for over 7,000 yards and rush for 1,000-plus yards.
• Mond has surpassed the 300-passing yards mark seven times in his career, most recently with 338 against Florida this season ... Only Jerrod Johnson (12) and Johnny Manziel (10) have tallied more 300-yard games.
• Mond is also climbing the SEC career passing, total offense and TDs responsible for charts ... He is currently 22nd on the league’s all-time career passing yards list (8,623), 12th on the total offense list (10,015) and the 82 TDs he’s responsible for puts him in a tie for 17th.  

Spiller, Running Game Shine

• Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller has established himself as a top running back in the SEC, leading the league and ranking 11th in the nation with a 6.02 yards per carry average ... He ranks fourth in the league with 512 yards on the season. 
• Among SEC players with more than 500 yards, Spiller is the only player averaging more than 5.8 yards per carry. 
• Spiller has recorded three 100-yard rushing games against SEC opponents through four outings this year ... As a freshman he eclipsed the century mark just once in league play. 
• Against Mississippi State, Spiller rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns, marking the seventh 100-yard game and the fourth multi-touchdown game of his young career.
• As a team, the Aggies lead the SEC and rank No. 17 in the FBS with a 5.28 yards per carry average. 

SEC Rushing Leaders (min. 500 yards)

Rk Player, School Att.-Yds Avg.
1 Isaiah Spiller, Texas A&M 85-512 6.02
2 Najee Harris, Alabama 124-714 5.76
3 Kevin Harris, S. Carolina 93-535 5.75
4 Tank Bigsby, Auburn 89-503 5.65 
5 Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss 100-524 5.24 

SEC Rushing Leaders

Rk School Att.-Yds Avg.
1 Texas A&M 165-871 5.28
2 Florida 112-535 4.78
3 Auburn 220-1,028 4.67
4 Alabama 226-1,051 4.64
5 Ole Miss 286-1,298 4.58

Goons Protecting QB1

• Texas A&M’s offensive front, long known as the Maroon Goons, has emerged as one of the best at limiting pressure on the quarterback. 
• The Maroon Goons have not allowed a sack since the second quarter of the season-opener against Vanderbilt (18 quarters, 144 pass attempts), despite battling No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Florida and Mississippi State, which ranks second in the SEC in total defense leader, since then.
• For the season, Texas A&M has allowed 2.0 sacks and are allowing a national-best 0.4 sacks per game amoung teams that have played four-or-more games.
• The Goons have also only allowed a total of 16 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, which ranks sevenths nationally amoung FBS schools that have played at least four games. 
• The line allowed just 1.0 tackle for loss at Mississippi State, the program’s fewest since not allowing a TFL in the 16-10 road win over Colorado midway through the 1997 season.
• The Aggies are averaging a robust 426.4 total yards/game and 6.56 yards/play. 

FBS Leaders - QBS Allowed (Min. 4 games)

Rk School Gm. QBS-Yds. Avg.
1 Texas A&M 5 2-8 0.40
2 UAB 7 3-17 0.43
3 BYU 7 4-45 0.57
4 Marshall 5 3-30 0.60
5 Coastal Carolina 6 5-26 0.83
Ga. Southern 6 5-44 0.83

A&M Stopping the Run 

• Texas A&M allows just 104.8 rushing yards per game, which ranks No. 17 in the FBS and No. 2 among SEC schools ... Among teams that have played more than two games, the Aggies rank No. 11 nationally. 
• The Aggies’ most dominant rush defense outing came against Mississippi State, which was limited to minus-2 yards on 20 carries ... It was the fewest rushing yards allowed since Wyoming was held to minus-3 yards in 2004. 
• The Aggies are allowing a stingy 3.45 yards per carry to opponents, which ranks No. 3 in the SEC behind Georgia (2.5) and Mississippi State (3.43).
• Texas A&M has allowed just 34 first downs via the rush, which is second in the SEC behind Georgia (32). 
• The long rushes allowed by the Aggies in 2020 are a pair of 28-yard scrambles by QB Feleipe Franks of Arkanas ... The only other 20-yard rush allowed by the Aggies in 2020 was a 21-yard run by RB Ja’Veon Marlow of Vanderbilt in the season opener. 
• The defense has allowed just 15 rushes of 10+ yards, which ranks No. 2 in the SEC behind Georgia ... Only three SEC teams (Georgia, Texas A&M and Florida) have given up fewer than 20 10-yard runs in 2020.
   

SEC Team Leaders - Rushing Defense

Rk School Att.-Yds. Avg. TD Avg.
1 Georgia 159-400 2.52 1 80.00
2 Texas A&M 152-524 3.45 4 104.80
3 Miss. St. 181-621 3.43 3 124.20
4 Alabama 204-773 3.79 6 128.83
5 Missouri 164-656 4.00 9  131.20

Wydermyer Surges vs. Top 5 Opponents

• Sophomore TE Jalen Wydermyer is atop the SEC among tight ends with 25 catches, but he’s done his most damage in the Aggies’ two games vs. top-five opponents, tallying 13 receptions for 135 yards against No. 2 Alabama and No. 4 Florida. 
• Wydermyer’s 13 catches this season vs. AP Top 25 teams ranks in a tie for third nationally, and ranks first among tight ends. 
• On the season, Wydermyer is the Aggies’ leader with 16 catches for first downs, and he also leads with nine catches for first downs on third-down plays. 

SEC TE Receiving Leaders

Player, School Rec.-Yds Avg. TD
Jalen Wydermyer, A&M 25-557 11.04 0
Kenny Yeboah, Ole Miss 22-470 21.36 6
Kyle Pitts, Florida 22-355 16.14 7
Arik Gilbert, LSU 22-259 11.77 2
Ben Bresnahan, Vanderbilt 17-169 9.94 2

TAMU-South Carolina Connections

• Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher and South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp served on the same coaching staffs at Auburn and LSU.
• Fisher was the QBs coach at Auburn from 1993-98, while Muschamp was a GA in 1995-96 ... At LSU, Fisher served as the OC for Nick Saban from 2000-06 and Muschamp was the DC from 2001-04.
• Eric Hyman served as the athletics director at both South Carolina (2005-12) and Texas A&M (2012-16).