Saturday, December 19
Knoxville, Tenn.
11:00 AM
Texas A&M
at
Tennessee
Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics
No. 5 Football Travels to Tennessee for Regular Season Finale
Dec 18, 2020 | Football
THE MATCHUP
- (#5) Texas A&M at Tennessee
- Date/Time: Saturday, Dec. 19 / 11 a.m. (CT)
- Venue: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville
- Live Stats: Click Here
TV INFO
- ESPN (Bob Wischusen, 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 136/XM 201
- 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 #TENNvsTAMU:
- The Aggies look to even the series with Tennessee as they make their first trip to Knoxville in program history.
- On the hunt for yet another school record, senior QB Kellen Mond is currently four touchdowns away from being responsible for the most TDs in school history ... He enters the week with 90 touchdowns (70 pass, 20 rush) and aims to dethrone Johnny Manziel’s mark of 93 (63 pass, 30 rush).
- Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller, who ranks second in the SEC in yards per game (112.13) and third in total yards (897), is 157 rushing yards away from 2,000 for his career.
- Spiller, along with classmates RB Ainias Smith and TE Jalen Wydermyer, have combined to tally seven 100-yard games and seven multi-touchdown games this year.
- Wydermyer has scored at least two touchdowns in three of the last four games and currently leads all SEC tight ends with 40 catches on the season.
- The Aggie offensive line ranks fifth in the nation and leads the SEC, allowing just 0.5 sacks per game and 4.0 total on the season ... The unit is also top 10 in the country and second the league, with a 4.0 TFL allowed per game average.
- Senior LB Buddy Johnson leads the high-powered A&M defense, pacing the team in tackles in six of the team’s eight games this season and reaching double figures in the category on five occasions.
- Senior DB Myles Jones broke into the top 10 on A&M’s career pass break ups list with a pair of PBUs against LSU ... Jones needs to break up three passes to move into the top five all-time.
Quick Hits
- This season, senior QB Kellen Mond has become A&M’s all-time leader in career passing yards (9,148), passing touchdowns (70), completions (759), attempts (1,300) and total offense (10,661), while currently sitting in second on the career TD’s responsible for (90) and QB victories (29-13) lists.
- A&M remains the No. 5 team in the nation according to the AP for the sixth straight week, boasting the team’s highest in-season ranking since the 1999 season.
- The Aggies have also held the No. 5 spot in the College Football Playoff ranking, its highest mark since coming in at No. 4 in the first CFP rankings in 2016.
- A&M’s 7-1 record on the season marks the program’s best start since 2016 and the most wins in SEC play ... The last time the Aggies boasted a better record through nine games and won seven straight was the 1998 season.
- To date, 89-percent of the Aggies’ rushing yards and 96-percent of their receiving yards have come from freshmen and sophomores ... Twenty-nine of their 32 touchdowns have been scored by freshmen and sophomores.
- A&M has scored 23 times on its last 27 trips into the red zone (last six games), with 19 of those scores being touchdowns.
- Texas A&M averages more than 4:00 advantage in time of possession per game and has held the TOP advantage in each of the last seven games ... The Aggies lead the SEC in TOP and rank No. 9 nationally.
- 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 is four touchdowns away from being responsible for the most touchdowns in program history ... He enters the Tennessee game with 90 passing and rushing scores, and aim’s to top Johnny Manziel’s mark of 93.
- Senior LB Buddy Johnson is just two takedowns away from reaching 200 for his career.
- Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller needs 157 rushing yards to reach 2,000 for his career as he enters the week with 1,843 career yards on the ground ... He needs 200 yards to crack the top 20 on A&M’s all-time career rushing yards list.
- Senior DB Myles Jones is climbing A&M’s career pass breakups list with 28 to date, and needs just one PBU to move into a tie for seventh all-time with Dustin Harris (09-12) and Sammy Davis (99-02).
- Senior OL Carson Green is slated to make his 38th consecutive start, which is the longest streak on the team.
Mond Making History
- Senior QB Kellen Mond has claimed five A&M career passing records this season, as he also climbs the all-time SEC career charts.
- 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 and moved into the top spot on the career passing TDs list with a regulation-best four passes to the end zone at South Carolina.
- One of the winningest QBs in program history, Mond boasts a 29-13 record, which puts him in second on A&M’s all-time list.
- In the win at Auburn, Mond became the third quarterback in SEC history to throw for 9,000 yards and rush for 1,500 more, as he joined Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott and Florida’s Tim Tebow ... Mond also passed and rushed for a TD in the same game for an SEC-best 17th time in his career, allowing him to again join Prescott and Tebow, along with fellow Aggie Johnny Manziel as the only SEC QBs to tally 60 passing and 20 rushing touchdowns in their careers.
- Mond is the only player in program history and became the 12th in SEC history to tally over 10,000 yards of total offense in his career, while he and 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 19th on the league’s all-time career passing yards list (9,148), 12th on the total offense list (10,661) and the 90 TDs he’s responsible for puts him in a tie for 13th.
- Mond was responsible for five of A&M’s seven touchdowns in the win at South Carolina, which brings him within six touchdowns of the A&M record and top-10 all-time in the SEC.
Spiller, Running Game Shine
- Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller has established himself as a top running back in the SEC, as he is second in the league averaging 112.13 rushing yards per game and third with 897 total yards on the ground this year.
- Spiller is averaging 3.58 yards per carry after contact on the year and has tallied over 100 yards after contact in a game twice this season.
- Spiller has recorded six 100-yard rushing games against SEC opponents through eight outings this year ... As a freshman he eclipsed the century mark just once in league play.
- At Auburn, Spiller rushed for 120 yards, marking the 10th 100-yard game of his career ... At Mississippi State, Spiller recorded the fourth multi-touchdown game of his young career with a pair of trips to the end zone.
- As a team, the Aggies lead the SEC and are fifth in the FBS among teams that have played more than five games with a 5.48 yards per carry average.
SEC Rushing Leaders (min. 500 yards)
Rk Player, School Att.-Yds Avg.
1 Kevin Harris, S. Carolina 185-1,138 113.80
2 Isaiah Spiller, Texas A&M 151-897 112.13
3 Najee Harris, Alabama 183-1,084 108.40
4 Larry Roundtree III, Missouri 184-851 94.56
5 Chris Rodriguez Jr., Kentucky 102-701 87.63
Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss 135-701 87.63
SEC Rushing Leaders
Rk School Att.-Yds Avg.
1 Texas A&M 294-1,610 5.48
2 Alabama 374-1,901 5.08
3 Kentucky 389-1,874 4.28
4 Georgia 353-1,697 4.81
5 Auburn 330-1,509 4.57
Stopping the Run
- Texas A&M allows just 100.75 rushing yards per game, which ranks No. 9 in the FBS and No. 2 among SEC schools.
- 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.
- A&M made it back-to-back games of holding its opponent to 50-or-fewer rushing yards for the first time since the 1999 season, limiting South Carolina to 50 yards on the ground and LSU to 36 yards.
- Texas A&M has allowed just 47 first downs via the rush, which leads the SEC ... The Aggies have only allowed their opponent a 20-yard rushing play eight times this season.
- The defense has allowed just 23 rushes of 10+ yards, which ranks No. 2 in the SEC behind Georgia ... Only Texas A&M and Georgia have given up fewer than 25 10-yard runs in 2020.
SEC Team Leaders - Rushing Defense
Rk School Att.-Yds. Avg. TD Avg.
1 Georgia 275-624 2.27 7 69.33
2 Texas A&M 232-806 3.47 6 100.75
3 Alabama 348-1,130 3.25 8 113.00
4 Miss. St. 221-1,152 3.59 7 128.00
5 Tennessee 338-1,200 3.55 12 133.33
Dynamic Backfield
- Sophomore RBs Ainias Smith and Isaiah Spiller, along with freshman RB Devon Achane have become a reliable and unstoppable force for the Aggies ... The trio has combined to score 17 of A&M’s 32 total touchdowns on the year.
- Spiller has been A&M’s most consistent performer in the backfield and is currently second in the SEC in rushing ... He is averaging 112.1 yards per game on the ground and has scored at least one touchdown in four of the Aggies’ six straight victories.
- Smith leads the Aggies with eight total touchdowns, five through the air and three on the ground.
- Smith is already the only player in school history with 200+ career yards in rushing (277), receiving (658), punt return (260) 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.
- Achane is second on the team and second among SEC freshman RBs with 230 rushing yards on the season, scoring twice on the ground and once through the air.
- Smith and Achane are the only players on the roster to have scored a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game in their career ... Smith did so when he recorded the second multi-touchdown game of his career against Arkansas and Achane hauled in a 52-yard bomb from QB Kellen Mond and used a 3-yard run to return to the end zone on A&M’s very next drive at South Carolina.
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.
- For the season, Texas A&M has allowed 4.0 sacks and is allowing 0.5 sacks per game, good for fifth nationally while standing atop the SEC.
- The Maroon Goons went 24 quarters and 201 pass attempts without letting its opponent get to the quarterback ... The streak spanned from the second quarter of the season opener against Vanderbilt until the third quarter of the LSU game.
- The Goons are allowing just 4.0 tackles for loss per game, which ties them for ninth nationally and ties them for second with Kentucky in the league.
- At Auburn, the offensive line cleared the way for the Aggies to tally 313 yards on the ground, their highest single-game total of the season, as sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller recorded the 10th 100-yard game of his career and senior QB Kellen Mond became the second Aggie and fourth SEC QB to pass for 60 TDs and rush for 20 more in their careers.
- The o-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 429.8 total yards/game and 6.4 yards/play.
FBS Leaders - QBS Allowed
Rk School Gm. QBS-Yds. Avg.
1 Buffalo 5 0.0-0 0.00
2 Washington 4 1.0-2 0.25
3 UAB 8 3.0-17 0.38
4 Air Force 5 2.0-19 0.40
5 Texas A&M 8 4.0-26 0.50
Wydermyer Surges vs. Top 5 Opponents
- Sophomore TE Jalen Wydermyer is atop the SEC among tight ends with 40 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 21st nationally, and ranks second among tight ends.
- On the season, Wydermyer is the Aggies’ leader with 25 catches for first downs, and he also leads the team with 12 catches for first downs on third-down plays.
SEC TE Receiving Leaders
Player, School Rec.-Yds Avg. TD
Jalen Wydermyer, A&M 40-431 10.78 6
Kyle Pitts, Florida 36-641 17.81 11
Arik Gilbert, LSU 35-368 10.51 2
Nick Muse, South Carolina 30-425 14.17 1
Ben Bresnahan, Vanderbilt 28-300 10.71 4
The Elko Effect
- After not finishing in the top 50 nationally in total defense for more than a decade, Mike Elko’s arrival in Aggieland as defensive coordinator in 2018 has coincided with consecutive top-35 finishes and a No. 21 spot in the current FBS total defense rankings.
- Elko has produced top-50 defenses in each of the last eight years with multiple programs (Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Bowling Green).
- The Aggies are second in the SEC in total defense at 329.5 yards/game and rushing defense (100.72), and No. 3 in pass defense (228.8) and scoring defense (22.1).
- Since joining the SEC in 2012, Texas A&M has never finished better than No. 9 in all four defensive categories (total, rush, pass, score).
- Another way the Aggies have improved under Elko and with the style of play by head coach Jimbo Fisher is the dramatic drop in number of snaps faced per game by the defense ... Texas A&M’s defense is facing just 60.8 snaps/game in 2020, which is similar to the numbers from 2018 (60.4) and 2019 (64.8) ... Prior to Elko’s arrival in 2018, the Aggies faced 72.5 snaps in 2017 and a whopping 79.6 in 2016.
Five-Year Aggie Defense Snapshot
Elko Era (2018-present)
Category 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Total Defense 441.8 408.5 348.4 340.2 329.5
National Rank No. 90 No. 78 No. 32 No. 29 No. 21
Rushing Defense 191.8 170.9 95.2 130.7 100.8
National Rank No. 80 No. 71 No. 3 No. 30 No. 9
Yards per Rush 4.4 4.2 3.2 4.1 3.5
National Rank No. 63 No. 55 No. 8 No. 57 No. 22
Scoring Defense 24.5 30.7 25.3 22.5 22.1
National Rank No. 39 No. 87 No. 47 No. 36 No. 30
1st Downs Allowed 23.5 19.7 17.0 19.2 18.0
National Rank No. 107 No. 56 No. 16 No. 40 No. 20
One-on-One: Collin Klein
Thursday, October 09
The Aggie Football Hour (Ep 6)
Wednesday, October 08
The Pulse #12.5 | Operation: Blackout
Wednesday, October 08
Conversations: Jacob Graham
Tuesday, October 07
