No. 5 Texas A&M Ready for Road Trip to Auburn

Saturday, December 5

Auburn, Ala.

11:00 AM

Texas A&M

Auburn

Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics

Dec 04, 2020 | Football

By: Texas A&M Athletics Communications

GAME NOTES (PDF)

THE MATCHUP

(#5) Texas A&M at Auburn
Date/Time: Saturday, Dec. 5 / 11 a.m. (CT)
Venue: Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala.
Live Stats: Click Here

TV INFO

ESPN (Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Todd McShay, Allison Williams)
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 119/XM 192
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 #AUBvsTAMU:

The Aggies look to break the series tie and snap a three-game skid against Auburn.
Senior QB Kellen Mond is in need of 48 passing yards and 47 rushing yards to become the third QB in SEC history to pass for over 9,000 yards and rush for over 1,500 yards in their career.
Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller leads the SEC averaging 112.0 yards per game and is second in the league with a 6.03 yards per carry average.
Spiller has rushed for over 100 yards and scored at least one touchdown in four of A&M’s five straight victories.
The trio of Spiller, along with classmates RB Ainias Smith and TE Jalen Wydermyer, has combined to tally six 100-yard games and six multi-touchdown games this year.
The Aggie offensive line ranks fourth in the nation and leads the SEC, allowing just 0.43 sacks per game and 3.0 total on the season ... The unit is also top 10 in the country and atop the league, with a 4.0 TFL allowed per game average.
A&M leads the SEC in total defense and ranks second in rush defense after limiting its opponents to a combined 10 points and 87 yards on the ground in the last two games.
Senior LB Buddy Johnson leads the high-powered defense, pacing the team in tackles in six of the team’s seven games this season, 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 (8,952), passing touchdowns (68), completions (741), attempts (1,277) and total offense (10,405), while currently sitting in second on the career TD’s responsible for (87) and QB victories (28-13) lists.
A&M remains the No. 5 team in the nation according to the AP for the fourth straight week, boasting the team’s highest in-season ranking since the 1999 season.
The Aggies landed at No. 5 in the initial College Football Playoff ranking, its highest mark since coming in at No. 4 in the first CFP rankings in 2016.
To date, 89-percent of the Aggies’ rushing yards and 96-percent of their receiving yards have come from freshmen and sophomores ... Twenty-six of their 29 touchdowns have been scored by freshmen and sophomores.
A&M has scored 19 times on its last 21 trips into the red zone (last five games), with 15 of those scores being touchdowns.
The Aggies’ 53.7 success rate on third-down tries ranks fifth the nation, as they have converted more than 58.0 percent on third downs in four of the last six games.
Texas A&M averages more than 4:00 advantage in time of possession per game and have held the TOP advantage in each of the last six games ... The Aggies lead the SEC in TOP and rank No. 16 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 needs 48 passing yards to reach the 9,000 career mark ... The only SEC QBs to throw for over 9,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in their careers are Florida’s Tim Tebow and Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott.
Mond needs one rushing TD to join Johnny Manziel, Joel Hunt and Bucky Richardson as the only Aggie QBs with 20 career rushing scores.
With one more rushing touchdown, 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, Tebow and Prescott.
Senior OL Carson Green is slated to make his 37th consecutive start, which is the longest streak on the team.
Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller needs just 21 rushing yards to crack the top 25 on A&M’s all-time career rushing yards list ... He enters the Auburn game with 1,730 career yards.
Spiller aims to become just the fifth Aggie since A&M joined the Big 12 in 1996 to compile 10-or-more 100-yard rushing games ... He has eclipsed the century mark nine times in his career.
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 LB Buddy Johnson, who has tallied double-digit tackles five times this season, is just nine takedowns away from reaching 200 for his career.

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 28-13 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 in his career, 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 19th on the league’s all-time career passing yards list (8,952), 12th on the total offense list (10,405) and the 87 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 leads the league averaging 111.0 rushing yards per game and is third with a 5.9 yards per carry average.
Spiller is averaging 3.71 yards per carry after contact on the year and has tallied over 100 yards after contact in a game three times this season.
Spiller has recorded five 100-yard rushing games against SEC opponents through seven outings this year ... As a freshman he eclipsed the century mark just once in league play.
Against LSU, Spiller rushed for 141 yards, marking the ninth 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 11th in the FBS among teams that have played more than five games with a 5.25 yards per carry average.

SEC Rushing Leaders (min. 500 yards)

Rk Player, School Att.-Yds Avg.

1 Chris Rodriguez Jr. 88-562 6.39

2 Najee Harris, Alabama 148-893 6.03

3 Isaiah Spiller, Texas A&M 131-777 5.90

4 Kevin Harris, S. Carolina 164-928 5.66

5 Tank Bigsby, Auburn 103-566 5.50

SEC Rushing Leaders

Rk School Att.-Yds Avg.

1 Texas A&M 247-1,297 5.25

2 Alabama 293-1,420 4.85

3 Kentucky 344-1,583 4.60

4 Georgia 308-1,381 4.48

5 Auburn 300-1,313 4.38

A&M Stopping the Run

Texas A&M allows just 87.1 rushing yards per game, which ranks No. 5 in the FBS and No. 2 among SEC schools ... Among teams that have played more than five games, the Aggies rank fourth 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.
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.
The Aggies are allowing a stingy 3.02 yards per carry to opponents, which ranks No. 2 in the SEC behind Georgia (2.38).
Texas A&M has allowed just 38 first downs via the rush, which leads the SEC ... The Aggies have only allowed their opponent a 20-yard rushing play four times this season.
The defense has allowed just 17 rushes of 10+ yards, which ranks No. 2 in the SEC behind Georgia ... Only Texas A&M and Georgia 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 253-602 2.38 5 75.2

2 Texas A&M 202-610 3.02 4 87.1

3 Miss. St. 285-934 3.28 6 116.8

4 Alabama 278-952 3.42 7 119.0

5 Missouri 235-863 3.67 10 123.3

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 16 of A&M’s 29 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 111.0 yards per game on the ground and has scored at least one touchdown in four of the Aggies’ five straight victories.
Smith leads the Aggies with 348 receiving yards and five TDs through the air, while adding 187 yards and two scores on the ground.
Smith is already the only player in school history with 200+ career yards in rushing (241), receiving (596), 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.
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 3.0 sacks and is allowing a national-best 0.43 sacks per game among teams having played more than five games.
The Maroon Goons went 24 quarters and 201 pass attempts without letting its opponent get to the quartback ... The streak spanned from the second quarter of the season opener against Vanderbilt until the third quarter of the LSU game.
The Goons have also only allowed a total of 28 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, which leads the league and is tied for fourth nationally among FBS schools that have played more than five 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 418.4 total yards/game and 6.3 yards/play.

FBS Leaders - QBS Allowed (Min. 5 games)

Rk School Gm. QBS-Yds. Avg.

1 Texas A&M 7 3-16 0.43

UAB 7 3-17 0.43

3 Marshall 7 5-42 0.71

4 BYU 9 8-73 0.89

5 Army 9 9-59 1.0

FBS Leaders - TFL Allowed (Min. 5 games)

Rk School Gm. TFL-Yds. Avg.

1 Marshall 7 23.0-80 3.29

North Texas 7 23.0-80 3.29

3 Louisiana 9 35.0-120 3.89

4 Florida 8 32.0-98 4.00

Texas A&M 7 28.0-68 4.00

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. 20 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 lead the SEC in total defense at 328.0 yards/game and rank No. 2 in rushing defense (87.1), No. 4 in pass defense (242.5) and No. 4 in scoring defense (25.0).
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 441.8 408.5 348.4 340.2 328.0

National Rank No. 90 No. 78 No. 32 No. 29 No. 20

Rushing Defense 191.8 170.9 95.2 130.7 87.1

National Rank No. 80 No. 71 No. 3 No. 30 No. 11

Yards per Rush 4.4 4.2 3.2 4.1 3.0

National Rank No. 63 No. 55 No. 8 No. 57 No. 19

Scoring Defense 24.5 30.7 25.3 22.5 22.4

National Rank No. 39 No. 87 No. 47 No. 36 No. 25

1st Downs Allowed 23.5 19.7 17.0 19.2 18.3

National Rank No. 107 No. 56 No. 16 No. 40 No. 21

Wydermyer Surges vs. Top 5 Opponents

Sophomore TE Jalen Wydermyer is atop the SEC among tight ends with 32 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 20 catches for first downs, and he also leads with 11 catches for first downs on third-down plays.

SEC TE Receiving Leaders

Player, School Rec.-Yds Avg. TD

Jalen Wydermyer, A&M 32-342 10.69 4

Nick Muse, South Carolina 30-425 14.17 1

Arik Gilbert, LSU 30-339 11.30 2

Kyle Pitts, Florida 29-513 17.69 11

Kenny Yeboah, Ole Miss 27-524 19.41 6

Dual Threat Mond

Senior QB Kellen Mond is one of two Power 5 players with more than 8,000 career passing yards and 1,200 career rushing yards (all games at P5 school) ... Mond has passed for 8,952 and rushed for 1,456 in 44 career games at Texas A&M.
Mond is on the verge of becoming the fourth A&M QB to rush for 20-plus touchdown and the third SEC signal caller to throw for over 9,000 yards and rush for 1,500 more.
Mond leads all SEC starting quarterbacks having passed and rushed for a touchdown in the same game 16 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.

*Power 5 8000 Pass / 1200 Rush QBs

Sam Ehlinger, Texas 11,002 1,918

Kellen Mond, Texas A&M 8,952 1,453

*All seasons at Power 5 school

Texas A&M Rushing Yards by a QB

Player Yards

Johnny Manziel (2012-13) 2,169

Bucky Richardson (1987-91) 2,095

Reggie McNeal (2002-05) 1,889

Stephen McGee (2005-08) 1,750

Kellen Mond (2017-p) 1,453

The 12th Man

Graduate student LB Braden White was named the 12th Man by head coach Jimbo Fisher on August 20, 2019.
The Florence, Alabama, native has appeared in 37 career games, playing primarily on special teams ... He earned the Top Conditioned Athlete Award following the 2018 season and was named Defensive Scout MVP at the annual team banquet following his redshirt season in 2016.
White graduated in August of 2019, earning his degree from the College of Business.
Texas A&M’s famous 12th Man tradition dates back to 1922 when student E. King Gill came out of the stands in the Dixie Classic in Dallas at the request of legendary head coach Dana X. Bible because of injuries to his football team ... Gill never entered the game but “stood ready” in the Aggies’ 22-14 win over the powerhouse Centre College Praying Colonels.
In honor of the tradition, the Texas A&M student body “stands ready” to show their support of their team on the field.
The 12th Man Kickoff Team tradition was started in 1983 by then-head coach Jackie Sherrill after being inspired by watching students build the famous Aggie Bonfire. “I knew that I could find, out of 40-some-odd thousand students, 11 guys that would cover kickoffs, but have no regard for their body and be tough as nails,” Sherrill said. (Source: MyAggieNation.com) Beginning in 1991, a single 12th Man was chosen to represent the study body on the kickoff unit.

12th Man Starts

Name Games Seasons

Sam Moeller 39 2012-15

Cullen Gillaspia 39 2016-18

Nick Lamantia 30 2006-08

John Ray 23 2004-05

C.J. Jones 21 2010-12

Braden White 20 2016-p

Eric Stanford 17 1999-01