Texas A&M returns to the Home of the 12th Man this weekend for its final non-conference tuneup, welcoming the ULM Warhawks to Kyle Field on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and the game will air nationally on the SEC Network.

The Aggies are looking to rebound after a 48-33 loss at Miami last weekend, while ULM enters with a 2-0 record after home victories over Army and Lamar. Next week will mark A&M's SEC opener, as Auburn heads to town to open league play.

The Warhawks are making their fifth trip all-time to Aggieland. The two teams last met in Jimbo Fisher's first season in 2018, a 48-10 Aggie victory. Highlighting the win was a 128-yard evening by running back Trayveon Williams. ULM is led by Terry Bowden, who was Jimbo Fisher's head coach at both Salem and Samford.

Saturday's forecast calls for a 50 percent chance of rain with highs in the upper 80s.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

• Texas A&M returns home to host ULM for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2018 as the Aggies boast a 4-0 series lead against the Warhawks with all four previous meetings being played in Aggieland.
• Sophomore QB Conner Weigman has had a productive start to the season, setting new career highs in nearly every stat category to rank in the top 20 in the nation and top five in the SEC averaging 286 passing yards per game, while his seven touchdowns through the air are tied for sixth in the country.
• Weigman also ranks 17th nationally, averaging 311.5 yards of total offense as he has added at least 20 rushing yards in each of the first two games, scoring his first touchdown on the ground at Miami.
• Sophomore WR Evan Stewart remains a top target in the receiving corps and continues to keep his name among the nation's best ... His 19 receptions on the year and 128 receiving yard per game average both rank in the top five in the nation and second in the SEC.
• Sophomore WR Noah Thomas has been a key factor in helping the Aggie offense rank sixth in the country in receiving touchdowns this season ... Thomas' 24 total points on the year are tied for seventh across the country and his four receiving scores are the third-most in the SEC this season.
• The Aggie defense has shut down the opposition's run game through the first two weeks of the season after holding Miami to just 77 yards on the ground in Week 2 and limiting New Mexico to 91 yards in the opener, marking the first time A&M has kept its opponent under 100 yards in consecutive games since the 2021 season.
• Junior LB Edgerrin Cooper leads the Aggies and is tied for 13th nationally, third in the SEC, with 4.0 tackles for loss so far this season, tallying a career-high 3.0 TFL for 9 yards lost in the opener against New Mexico.
• Graduate DB Sam Mathews was named the 12th Man for the 2023 season, becoming just the fifth student-athlete in program history to hold the season-long honor.

 

QUICK HITS

• Sophomore QB Conner Weigman put on a show in the season opener, going 18-of-23 with 236 yards and five scoring strikes ... His touchdown tally is the most in regulation by an Aggie QB since Johnny Manziel (2012-13) threw five touchdown passes against Mississippi State in 2013 and the tally is tied for fifth on A&M's single-game chart.
• Sophomore WR Noah Thomas went off in the season opener, catching all six passes that came his way, including three touchdown grabs, and racking up 74 yards on the day ... Thomas' stat line from game one alone topped his season totals from 2022 in every category.
• Junior RB Amari Daniels leads the way for the Aggies early in the year, ranking seventh among SEC backs with 56.5 yards per game and 25 attempts ... He ran the ball a career-high 18 times in his hometown of Miami, adding his second career touchdown.
• With a catch against ULM, graduate WR Ainias would extend his streak of games with at least one catch to 30 game ... It is the longest streak of games with at least one catch for an Aggie since Christian Kirk had a string of 39 games from 2015-17.
• Junior PK Randy Bond is in his second season as A&M's primary kicker and he opened the 2023 season connecting on all seven PAT attempts, while also adding a 39-yard field goal late in the game ... Bond ranked 12th overall in the SEC in scoring last season, connecting on 13-of-17 field goal attempts and all 25 PATs last season to tally 64 points on the year.
• The Aggies are 26-7 (.781 win pct.) at Kyle Field under Coach 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 31-5 when scoring first and are 29-2 when leading after the first quarter.  

MILESTONES TO WATCH FOR

• Graduate WR Ainias Smith aims to continue his climb through the A&M record books and is in need of just two receiving touchdowns to move into the top five all-time, currently sitting at 17 scoring receptions.
• Already among the top 10 in A&M history, Smith looks to pass Jhamon Ausbon (2017-19) on the Aggies' all-time career receptions list as Ausbon totaled 147 in his career and Smith has tallied 133 catches to-date.
• Smith is 26 yards away from breaking into the top 10 on the A&M all-time career receiving yards list with 1,679 entering Week 3.
• Smith is 44 punt return yards away from moving into eighth on A&M's all-time career list after entering the top 10 ... He also needs 166 yards to get his name on the career all-purpose yards list, with 2,926 entering the game.
• Sophomore QB Conner Weigman cracked the top 20 on A&M's all-time career passing touchdowns list in just seven career appearances and is tied with Nick Starkel (2017-18) with 15 pass TDs ... He is seven scoring strikes away from making his way into the top 15.
• Junior Moose Muhammad III is on the verge of moving into the top 20 of A&M's all-time career receiving touchdowns list ... He has nine career touchdown receptions and his next will put him in a tie for 18th with six other Aggies.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE

• Graduate 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 has recorded seven multi-touchdown games in his career, catching multiple TD passes in a game five times ... Against Sam Houston last season, Smith hauled in a 63-yard scoring pass to put the Aggies up 17 points at the half and extended the lead in the fourth quarter with a 43-yard TD grab.
• Dating back to the 2019 LSU game, Smith has caught a pass in 29 consecutive games ... This streak is the 10th-longest active streak in the nation and sixth among Power 5 receivers.
• A true quadruple threat, Smith has gained more than 250 yards as a rusher (384), receiver (1,679), punt returner (606) and kick returner (257) ... Among Aggies already in the 3,000-yard club, only six players even have stats in all four categories and just two -- Dante Hall and Larry Stegent -- had 250+ in all four.
• Smith is one of two players in SEC history to rack up 1,000 receiving yards while also gaining 250+ yards as a rusher and returner (punt and kickoff) ... The other is Kentucky's Randall Cobb, who posted 1,661 receiving yards along with 1,313 rushing yards, 619 punt return yards and 1,081 kickoff return yards from 2008-10.
• A&M's go-to on punt return, Smith 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.

 

WEIGMAN TAKES OVER AS QB1

• Sophomore Conner Weigman was officially named QB1 ahead of the season opener after logging four starts toward the end of the season in 2022.
• In just seven career games Weigman has already cracked the top 20 on A&M's all-time career passing touchdowns list ... His two scoring strikes at Miami upped his career tally to 15 to rank 20th in the A&M record book.
• Weigman put on a show against New Mexico, connecting on five touchdown passes and finishing the opener going 18-of-23 for 236 yards through the air ... His five scoring strikes were the most in regulation by an Aggie QB since Johnny Manziel (2012-13) threw five touchdown passes against Mississippi State in 2013 and the tally is tied for fifth on A&M's single-game chart.
• Weigman logged his second 300-yard passing game when he threw for 336 yards at Miami, setting new career highs after finishing the game 31-of-53 ... His 31 completions were the most by an Aggie QB since Kellen Mond (2017-20) connected on 31 passes against Auburn in 2019, while his 53 attempts were the most since Kenny Hill (2013-14) attempted 53 passes against Ole Miss in 2014.
• Weigman entered the season as the only SEC quarterback with at least 85 pass attempts that had not thrown a pick ... Despite ending his streak at Miami, he holds the A&M record with 179 consecutive attempts without a turnover.
• Weigman made his collegiate debut in the fourth quarter at South Carolina, finishing with 91 yards on 8-of-15 passing and made the first start of his first career start against Ole Miss.
• Against Ole Miss, Weigman put up 338 yards on 28-of-44 passing and four touchdowns ... His passing yards were the most in a game by a true freshman in program history and his four passing TDs were the most in a game since Kellen Mond (2017-20) threw four against South Carolina in 2020.
• The gunslinger recorded his first win as a starting QB against UMass, finishing with 191 yards on 11-of-19 passing with one score and 66 yards on eight rushes.
• Weigman was a highly touted prospect out of Bridgeland High School and was rated the No. 1 quarterback by Rivals and ESPN ... He was named a 2022 Under Armour All-American and was a multi-sport athlete that was also rated as one of the top baseball prospects in Texas.

STEWART MAKES IMPACT

• Sophomore WR Evan Stewart has become a favorite target for Aggie quarterbacks after making an immediate impact in his debut season and continuing to shine this year.
• Stewart made it back-to-back 100-yard games as he set career highs with 11 catches for 142 yards against Miami ... He became the first A&M receiver to catch 10-plus passes in a game since the 2017 season when Christian Kirk (2015-17) and Jhamon Ausbon (2017-19) brought in 13 and 12 passes, respectively ...  Ausbson was also the last Aggie to record consecutive 100-yard games after racking up 109 against Lamar and 111 against Auburn in 2019.
• Stewart started his sophomore season in a big way, registering the third 100-yard game and first multi-touchdown game of his career, racking up 115 yards on eight catches and a pair of touchdown receptions.
• Stewart ranked eighth among all SEC receivers, averaging 64.9 yards per game last season, which led all FBS freshmen nationally ... He was also tied for 10th overall and led all freshmen in the league with 53 receptions.
• As a newcomer, he registered two 100-yard games, catching eight passes for 106 yards at Alabama and eclipsing the century mark with 120 yards on eight receptions against Florida.
• Stewart scored the first touchdown of this career on a 10-yard grab to put the Aggies on the board in the win over No. 10 Arkansas.
• A highly-touted recruit in A&M's top 2022 signing class, Stewart was an Under Armour All-American that was also a track standout ... He earned top-two finishes at the Texas 5A state championships in the long jump and triple jump, while also helping his 4x400m and 4x200m relay teams to medal finishes.

DEPTH ON THE D-LINE

• After entering the 2022 season with little experience but an abundance of talent on the defensive line, the group has remained intact for the 2023 season and has a full season of experience together under its belt.
• The line has been successful in limiting the run game early this season, holding both New Mexico (91) and Miami (77) to less than 100 yards on the ground, marking the first time the Aggies have done so since the 2021 season when they kept Missouri (98), South Carolina (71) and Auburn (73) under the century mark in cosecutive games.
• Senior McKinnley Jackson and juniors Fadil Diggs and Shemar Turner were all in their first year as starters last season ... The trio of upperclassmen combined to total 15.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks as each started at least eight games.
• Jackson came into his own last season, having a breakout game against Ole Miss as he racked up 12 tackles, including a solo sack for a loss of 9 yards.
• Diggs' season was cut short due to injury, but he made the most of the time he had on the field ... Diggs showed out at Alabama making six tackles, 3.0 for loss, while taking down the quarterback on two occasions and forcing two fumbles.
• In their debut seasons in 2022, Shemar Stewart, LT Overton and Walter Nolen made an immediate impact as each Aggie appeared in at least 11 of the team's 12 games and made the start on three-or-more occasions.