No. 11 A&M Heads to Oxford to Battle No. 12 Ole Miss

Saturday, November 13

Oxford, Miss.

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

Ole Miss

Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics

Nov 12, 2021 | Football

By: Athletics Communications

11th-ranked Texas A&M faces its toughest road test of the season on Saturday when the Aggies clash with 12th-ranked Ole Miss in Oxford. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. (ESPN).

Game 10: Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2) at Ole Miss (7-2, 3-2)

Saturday, November 13 • 6:05 p.m. (CT)
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (64,038)
TV: ESPN
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network, Sirius/XM 81
Live Audio: 12th Man Mobile app
Live Stats: Click Here

GAME NOTES (PDF)

What to Watch For

Texas A&M aims to take down its third AP top-15 team this season, traveling to Oxford to face No. 12 Ole Miss.
Junior RB Isaiah Spiller recorded the 16th 100-yard game of his career with 112 against Auburn, the most by an Aggie since Greg Hill (1991-93) had 18 games over 100 rushing ... He enters the week third in the SEC in total yards (873) and yards per game (97.0).
Junior TE Jalen Wydermyer recently passed Martellus Bennett’s record of 1,246 receiving yards among tight ends ... He is 4 yards away from cracking the top 20 among all players entering the week with 1,359 career receiving yards.
After only making 1.0 sack through A&M’s first five games, senior DL Tyree Johnson has gotten to the QB seven times in the last four games, including two solo sacks against Auburn ... His 8.0 sacks on the season are good for third in the SEC.
Senior PLK Seth Small took sole possession of A&M’s all-time career made field goals record when he put A&M on the board early in the first quarter against Auburn, eventually upping his career total to 67, the fifth most field goals made by an active player in the entire NCAA ... He currently sits in seventh on the SEC’s all-time made field goals list.
Small is now within 10 points of 2011 Lou Groza Award winner Randy Bullock’s (2008-11) career scoring record at A&M and ranks 13th on the SEC’s all-time career list for points by a kicker.

Quick Hits

Junior WR Ainias Smith ranks seventh in the nation and leads the SEC as he averages 12.48 yards per return ... His 95-yard punt return for a touchdown against South Carolina was the first special teams score of his career and the sixth-longest return in SEC history.
Junior DL DeMarvin Leal is tied for 10th in the SEC with 8.5 tackles for loss on the season, while his 5.5 sacks tie him for ninth among league players.
As a team, A&M is averaging 5.43 yards per carry this season, which is the 10th most by any team in the country.
With their 217 yards rushing in the win over Auburn, the Aggies made it three consecutive games with 215+ yards on the ground (SC - 290, Missouri - 283) for the first time since 2018 (268 vs. Ole Miss, 252 vs. UAB, 234 vs. LSU) and the first time against SEC opponents since 2016 (231 vs. Auburn, 366 vs. Arkansas, 216 vs. South Carolina, 353 vs. Tennessee).
As a team, the Aggies rank second in scoring defense in the country, allowing just 14.7 points per game ... The unit is averaging 3.1 sacks per game on the year, good for 13th nationally.
A&M scored on all three trips to the red zone against the Tigers and have now scored on 19 of its last 20 trips to the red zone, dating back to the New Mexico game.
Quick starts have been a harbinger of Aggie victories in the Jimbo Fisher era ... The Aggies are 25-4 when scoring first and a perfect 23-0 when leading after the first quarter.

Milestone Watch

Junior WR Ainias Smith is just 54 yards away from cracking the top 10 on A&M’s all-time career punt return yards list, tallying 527 on 52 returns so far in his career.
A&M is looking for its fourth game of the year with a pair of 100-yard rushers ... The last time the Aggies had four games in a season with two 100+ yard rushers was 1990.
Senior PLK Seth Small sits in second, just 10 points away from Randy Bullock’s (2008-11) school scoring record.

Three-Headed Monster

Juniors WR Ainias Smith and RB Isaiah Spiller, along with sophomore RB Devon Achane have become a relentless force for the Aggies, scoring 20 of the team’s 29 TDs this season.
The trio led the offense in week one with Achane and Spiller racking up 124 and 113 rushing yards, respectively, and Smith adding 100 receiving yards ... Achane and Smith also each made a pair of trips to the end zone in the victory.
In the win over No. 1 Alabama, the three Aggies scored four of the team’s five touchdowns as Smith had a pair of TD grabs, including the game-tying score with three-minutes remaining to position the Aggies for victory ... Spiller added a first quarter run into the end zone before Achane took a 96-yard kickoff return to the house in the third quarter.
At Missouri, the three players combined to score all five of A&M’s touchdowns, with Smith and Achane each making two trips to the end zone ... For the second time this season, Spiller and Achane each recorded over 100 rushing yards.
Each of the three players recorded a TD against South Carolina with Smith getting the game started taking a 95-yard punt return to the end zone, while Spiller and Achane also made it back-to-back 100-yard rushing games.
Smith and Achane are the only players on the roster to have scored a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game ... Smith did so against Arkansas and at Tennessee last season, while Achane hauled in a 52-yard pass and used a 3-yard run to return to the end zone on the very next drive at South Carolina.

It's Spiller Time

Junior RB Isaiah Spiller has remained as one of A&M’s most consistent performers in the backfield ... He ranks third in the SEC with 873 rush yards on the year, averaging 97.0 per game.
Spiller has rushed for over 100 yards in a game six times this season and 16 times in his career, most recently rushing for 112 yards in the win over No. 12 Auburn ... His 16 100-yard games are the most by an Aggie since Greg Hill (1991- 93) tallied 18 games with over 100 rushing.
Spiller has been a go-to in the end zone for the Aggies, scoring a touchdown in six of the last eight games, including a 25-yard run to the end zone against No. 1 Alabama and a 67-yard scoring sprint against No. 16 Arkansas.
After adding 26 yards through the air against the Razorbacks, Spiller is one of only six current players in the Power 5 to have tallied more than 500 receiving yards and 2,000 rushing yards in their career ... He is the sixth Aggie RB to reach the 500+ plateau in career receiving yards, most recently Trayveon Williams did so with 561 yards from 2016-18.

Achane is Off the Chain

Sophomore RB Devon Achane wasted no time settling into his second season in Aggieland, picking up where he left off after last season’s Orange Bowl MVP performance when he put up 140 yards on 12 carries and two scores.
Achane is third in the SEC and ranks 11th nationally averaging 7.35 yards per carry, while also pacing A&M’s kickoff return team that ranks No. 1 in the country, averaging 38.0 yards per return.
Achane put his speed on display in the win over No. 1 Alabama when he returned a third quarter kickoff 96 yards to the end zone.
Against Kent State, Achane rushed for his second consecutive 100-yard game (127), with both games featuring a 60-plus yard sprint for a touchdown.
In the win over New Mexico, Achane’s success came through the air as he caught all three passes that came his way and finished the day with 45 yards and the second receiving TD of his career.
The talented sophomore also runs track for the Aggies, already receiving NCAA All-America selections in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay ... In his first season, Achane clocked the 11th fastest time in A&M history in the 200m (20.31), along with a 10.22 100m.

Swiss Army Knife

Junior WR Ainias Smith has been called a “Swiss Army Knife” by head coach Jimbo Fisher because of his do-it-all ability on the field.
Smith leads the Aggies with 391 receiving yards on 35 receptions this season ... His six touchdown catches on the year tie him for fourth in the SEC.
Smith has recorded six multi-touchdown games in his career, three this season ... Most recently, Smith caught a pair of scoring passes against No. 1 Alabama, including the game-tying score with three minutes remaining, before making two trips to the end zone in the first half at Missouri.
Smith is already the only player in Texas A&M history to gain 250+ yards as a receiver, rusher, punt returner and kickoff returner, and is one of 10 players in SEC history to reach the plateau ... Smith is one of three SEC players to have accomplished the feat in the past decade.
Against Mississippi State, Smith became the third player in SEC history to rack up 1,000 receiving yards while also gaining 250+ yards as a rusher and returner (punt and kickoff) ... The others are Kentucky’s Randall Cobb (2008- 10) and LSU’s Skyler Green (2002-05).
A&M’s go-to on punt return, Smith currently ranks seventh nationally, boasting a league-best 12.48 yards per return average ... He recorded the first special teams TD of his career on A&M’s first possession of the game against South Carolina when he posted the sixth-longest punt return in SEC history, going 95 yards to the house.
He is quickly climbing A&M’s all-time career chart, entering the week ranking 11th all-time with 527 yards on 52 returns.

Wydermyer Setting the Standard

Junior TE Jalen Wydermyer continues to raise the bar for Aggie tight ends, holding the all-time career records for receiving yards, receptions and TDs among tight ends in A&M program history.
Wydermyer recorded the fifth multi-touchdown game of his career when he hauled in a pair of scoring passes against South Carolina ... His 16 career TD grabs are a school record among tight ends.
Wydermyer’s 75 receiving yards against the Gamecocks moved him past Martellus Bennett for the most career yards by a TE ... He currently sits in 21st among all players at A&M with 1,359 career yards to date.
Against Colorado, Wydermyer became the fourth tight end all-time at A&M to tally over 1,000 receiving yards in his career.
Wydermyer scored six touchdowns in each of his first two seasons, the second-most in a season by a tight end in program history ... He continues to chase Jace Sternberger’s 10 TD receptions in 2018.

Green Anchors New O-Line

Junior OL Kenyon Green is in his third year as a starter and first as a veteran leader on a young offensive line as the Aggies look to replace four multi-year starters.
Green, a consensus All-American and 2020 Outland Trophy Semifinalist, has made 32 consecutive starts, which stands as the most on the current roster.
Green has earned SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors three times this season ... He was recognized for his efforts in the season opener, when the youthful unit cleared the way for a pair of 100-yard rushers and helped A&M tally 595 yards of total offense in their debut together.
In the win over Alabama, the reshuffled offensive line did not allow a sack for the first time this season.
At Missouri, the Maroon Goons again cleared the way for a pair of 100-yard rushers who combined to run for 292 when Isaiah Spiller and Devon Achane each set then-season highs with 168 and 124 yards, respectively.
Last season, A&M became the first school in the last 10 years to lead the SEC in sacks allowed (0.7), tackles for loss allowed (3.8) and yards per carry (5.45) in the same season.

Veteran D-Line Dominates

A&M boasts an experienced defensive line that has dominated the opposition throughout the season ... Graduate Micheal Clemons, seniors Jayden Peevy and Tyree Johnson, along with junior DeMarvin Leal, lead a unit that ranks second in the country in scoring defense (14.7) and seventh opponent yards per play (4.59), as well as third in the SEC in total defense (317.8 y/g).
Leal, regarded as one of the country’s most disruptive defenders, currently ranks ninth in the SEC with 5.5 sacks on the season as he averages 0.61 sacks per game ... His 8.5 tackles for loss on the season tie him for 10th among league players.
Johnson boasts a team-best 8.0 sacks on the season, good for third in the SEC and ninth in the country ... After recording just one sack in the team’s first five games, Johnson has had at least 1.0 in each of the last four games.
Clemons leads the team with 10 QB hurries on the year and is third with 7.5 tackles for loss, recording at least 1.0 TFL in seven of the last eight games.
As a team, the Aggies rank 14th nationally with 28.0 total sacks on the year and are tied for 13th as they average 3.1 per game.