No. 6 Aggies, App State Set to Clash at Kyle Field

Sixth-ranked Texas A&M hosts App State in the first-ever meeting between the two programs on Saturday afternoon at Kyle Field.

GAME 2: #6 TEXAS A&M (1-0) vs APP STATE (0-1)

• Saturday, September 10 • 2:35 p.m. (CT)
• Kyle Field (102,733)
• TV: ESPN2
• Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network, SiriusXM 98 or 192/SXM App 963
• Live Audio: 12th Man Mobile app
• Live Stats: Click Here
• Forecast: mid 90s, sunny, light winds

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

• Saturday marks the first meeting between the Mountaineers and Aggies ... A&M’s most recent game against a Sun Belt foe was a 41-7 win over Texas State to kick off the 2019 season at Kyle Field.
• Senior WR Ainias Smith looks to extend his streak of 24 consecutive games with at least one reception, which dates back to the 2019 season ... Smith started the 2022 season making a statement, hauling in a pair of 40-plus yard scoring passing and finishing the game with a career-high 164 yards.
• Junior RB Devon Achane was one of the most productive backs in the nation last season, ranking 11th in the FBS with a 7.00 yard-per-carry average ... He led the A&M offense with 10 trips to the end zone, while also adding a 96-yard kickoff return score.
• Sophomore QB Haynes King regained his starting role after he was named QB1 just ahead of the Week 1 matchup with Sam Houston ... It was a career-day for King against the Bearkats, as he sent a pair of 60-plus yard TD passes down field and finishing the day with 364 yards and three passing touchdowns.
• A key contributor since arriving in Aggieland, DB Demani Richardson returns for his senior season and leads all Aggies with 32 starts through 33 career games ... He helped lead the way in the season opener with five tackles, including a tackle for a 5-yard loss.
• Junior DB Jaylon Jones has started all 22 games of his career he has played in and led the Aggies last season with a pair of picks, while also ranking second on the team with six breakups.
• Junior P Nik Constantinou led the SEC and was 10th nationally in 2021, as he boasted a 46.61 yards-per-punt average on the season ... Constantinou was named to the Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List and was a semifinalist for the national accolade in 2020. 

QUICK HITS

• With Saturday’s 31-0 shutout of Sam Houston, the Texas A&M defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown on its home turf since last year’s South Carolina game on Oct. 23, 2021 -- a streak of 12 quarters without a TD allowed ... During that span the Aggies have kept then-No. 12 Auburn, Prairie View and Sam Houston out of the end zone.
• The Aggies’ starting WR trio of senior Ainias Smith, junior Chase Lane and true freshman Evan Stewart combined for 13 catches against Sam Houston -- 10 of which produced a first down or a touchdown ... Leading the way was Smith with his six catches producing two scores and five first downs.
• The A&M defense picked up right where it left off last season, not allowing a touchdown on its home field for the third consecutive game and giving up just 198 yards of offense, including 91 passing yards ... The Aggies finished the 2021 season third in the nation in scoring defense (15.9 ppg) and second in points allowed (191 pts), while also leading the SEC in passing yards allowed (2,312).
• Six of the team’s top 10 tacklers return from a season ago, led by junior DB Antonio Johnson, who tallied 79 takedowns in 2021, including 53 solo tackles.
• The Aggies were tied for fifth in the SEC last season with 55 passes defended on the year ... Sophomore DB Tyreek Chappell, who started the final eight games of the season at corner, was fifth in the league after defending 10 passes in 2021.
• The Aggies are 22-4 (.846 win pct.) at Kyle Field under Jimbo Fisher ... In the five seasons prior to Fisher’s arrival, the Aggies were 23-12 on their home turf (.657).
• Quick starts have been a harbinger of Aggie victories in the Jimbo Fisher era ... The Aggies are 27-4 when scoring first and a perfect 25-0 when leading after the first quarter. 

MILESTONE WATCH

• Senior WR Ainias Smith needs three TD catches to reach the 20-touchdown plateau and crack A&M’s all-time top five in the category, which has only been attained previously by Jeff Fuller (34), Josh Reynolds (30), Christian Kirk (26) and Ryan Swope (24) ... He needs six receptions to move into the top 10 of the Aggies’ career receptions list, entering the game with 118 to date.
• With two more punt returns, Smith would become the 10th player in school history to log 60 punt returns in his career.
• Junior RB Devon Achane is 28 rushing yards away from moving into the top 40 all-time at A&M as he enters the game with 1,316 and aims to pass Trey Williams’ (2012-14) 1,343 career mark.
• Graduate DB Myles Jones cracked the top-10 on A&M’s and the SEC’s career passes defended lists by season’s end in 2020, sitting at 10th all-time at A&M and eighth in SEC history with 28 breakups to-date.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE

• Senior 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 made a statement in the first game of his final season in Aggieland, leading the team with six receptions for a career-high 164 yards and a pair of trips to the end zone.
• Smith has recorded seven multi-touchdown games in his career, catching multiple TD passes in a game five times ... Against the Bearkats, Smith hauled in a 63-yard scoring pass to put the Aggies up 17 points at the half and sealed the victory in the fourth quarter with a 43-yard TD grab.
• Dating back to the 2019 LSU game, Smith has caught a pass in 24 consecutive games.
• Smith is 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 in 2021, 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 finished the 2021 season 11th in the nation with an 11.3 yards-per-return average, good for third in the SEC ... 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. 

ACHANE IS OFF THE CHAIN

• Junior RB DEVON ACHANE looks to lead the Aggies as the premier back this season after flexing his speed and versatility last year.
• Achane led the SEC and was second in the nation (min. 100 attempts) averaging 7.00 yards per carry last season, while also pacing A&M’s kickoff return team that ranked No. 2 in the country, averaging 30.55 yards per return.
• Achane reached the end zone as rusher, receiver and returner, leading the offense with 10 touchdowns.
• 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.
• 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 Prairie View, Achane’s two trips to the end zone marked the sixth multi-TD game of his career, fourth of the year ... He also tallied four 100-yard games as a sophomore to bring his career total to six through his first two seasons.
• The talented back also runs track for the Aggies, already receiving NCAA All-America selections in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay ... In April of this year, Achane clocked the sixth-fastest time in A&M history in the 200m (20.20) and posted a time of 10.14 in the 100m at the 2022 Texas Relays. 

THE MAROON GOONS

• The Texas A&M offensive line returns great experience from last season ... Led by junior LAYDEN ROBINSON, the Aggies return three of five starters from a year ago.
• Robinson is in his second year as a starter after helping clear the way for one of the top running back tandems in the nation in 2021 ... He was a key reserve in 2020 when 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.
• In 2021, the Maroon Goons cleared the way for a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game on three occasions, as the duo of ISAIAH SPILLER and DEVON ACHANE rushed for over 100 yards a combined 10 times on the year.
• Sophomores BRYCE FOSTER and REUBEN FATHEREE II made immediate impacts in their debut seasons as Foster started all 12 games at center and Fatheree II earned a starting role at right tackle for the final nine games of the season ... The pair of newcomers were recognized for their hard work as they were named Freshman All-Americans by the FWAA and The Athletic.
• Sophomore AKI OGUNBIYI, along with redshirt freshmen MATTHEW WYKOFF and TREY ZUHN III, added depth for the Aggies off the bench last season with Ogunbiyi starting four of the eight games he appeared in.

SEASONED SECONDARY RETURNS

• A&M boasts a seasoned secondary that returns four starters, including senior Demani Richardson and junior Jaylon Jones, who have combined to start 54 games.
• In the season opener against Sam Houston, two of A&M’s leaders in tackles were from the secondary with Richardson sending the opposing running back 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and sophomore DB Jardin Gilbert adding the first interception of his career and returning the ball 13 yards in the second quarter.
• The Aggies picked up right where they left off last season, shutting out Sam Houston and limiting the Bearkats to just 198 yards of offense, including 91 yards through the air which marks the sixth game under Coach Fisher that A&M has held its opponent to less than 100 passing yards in  a game.
• A&M was one of the best in the nation at limiting opponents last season, finishing the year second in the country in points allowed (191) and third in scoring defense (15.9) ... A&M led the SEC in yards allowed (3,930) and pass yards allowed (2,312).
• The Aggies return six of their top 10 tacklers from the 2021 season, four of which were secondary starters ... While Richardson boasts the most career tackles on the current roster (177), junior Antonio Johnson is the top returner in the category after tallying 79 tackles, 53 solo last year.
• A&M’s 55 passes defended last season was good for fifth among SEC teams ... Sophomore Tyreek Chappell was fifth  in the SEC with 10 passes defended in his debut season, nine of which were breakups, which tied him for fourth in the league ... Jones added eight passes defended, putting him in a tie for 13th in the SEC. 

NON-CONFERENCE GRAVEYARD

• Kyle Field is a graveyard for non-conference opponents with the Aggies enjoying a 33-1 record against non-Big 12 or SEC opponents on their home field since 2010. 
• Texas A&M’s lone out-of-conference loss at Kyle Field in that span was a narrow 28-26 decision to No. 2 Clemson on Sept. 8, 2018.
• Under head coach Jimbo Fisher, the Aggies have posted a record of 9-1 against non-SEC opponents at Kyle Field.
• Since joining the SEC, the Aggies are 28-1 against non-conference foes at Kyle Field. 

KING RETURNS AS QB1

• Sophomore QB Haynes King returned to the field for the Aggies in the 2022 season opener against Sam Houston ... King previously earned the starting job in 2021, but suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the first quarter of the Colorado game, A&M’s second game of the season.
• King showed Aggieland why he was able to regain his starting job, going 20-for-31 on 364 yards passing and three touchdowns in the lopsided win over the Bearkats.
• The two 60-plus yard touchdown passes by King marked the first time an Aggie QB has sent multiple scoring passes over 60 yards to the end zone since Oct. 15, 2011, when Ryan Tannehill tossed a pair of 68-yard passes to Ryan Swope against Baylor.
• Despite his limited time on the field, King is set to graduate in December 2022 with a degree in management. 

A&M-APP STATE CONNECTIONS

• Texas A&M Associate AD for Football Mark Robinson was an offensive lineman for Appalachian State from 1998-2002 and graduated with his degree in communications in 2002. The Mountaineers were ranked in the top 10 in the nation in I-AA and earned playoff bids all five seasons. He set the school record with a 615-pound squat lift and received the Strongest Player Award on the team his senior year.
• App State WR coach Lawrence Dawsey served on Jimbo Fisher’s coaching staff at Florida State from 2010-17. In addition to overseeing the wide receivers in Tallahassee, Dawsey served as the Seminoles’ passing game coordinator from 2010-12 and the co-offensive coordinator from 2013-17.