GAME PREVIEW: Aggies Take Two-Game Win Streak into Southwest Classic

Sep 29, 2023 | Football

By: Athletics Communications

Gameday: Arkansas

Saturday, Sept. 30 • 11:03 a.m. CT
AT&T Stadium • Arlington, Texas
Live Stats: Click Here

THE MATCHUP

Texas A&M: 3-1, 1-0
last: def. Auburn, 27-10
Arkansas: 2-2, 0-1
last: lost at LSU, 34-31
Game Notes: Click Here

RANKINGS

Texas A&M: RV (AP, Coaches)
Arkansas: NR

WATCH

TV: SEC Network
Play-by-Play: Dave Neal
Analyst: Matt Stinchcomb
Sidelines: Alyssa Lang

LISTEN

Radio: TAMU Sports Network
1620 AM/94.5 FM (local), SiriusXM 137/192
Play-by-Play: Andrew Monaco
Analyst: Dave Elmendorf
Sidelines: Will Johnson
Listen Live: 12th Man Mobile App

Spanish Broadcast: Click Here
102.7 FM (local)
Play-by-Play: Michel Gonzalez
Analyst: Pedro Luna
Analyst: Alejandra Dorbecker
Listen Live: 12th Man Mobile App

Longtime conference rivals Texas A&M and Arkansas will clash for the 80th time overall on Saturday morning in the 12th edition of the Southwest Classic presented by Cotton Holdings. Kickoff at AT&T Stadium is set for 11 a.m. and the game will be televised nationally by SEC Network.

The Aggies (3-1, 1-0) used a stout defensive performance and a strong third quarter offensively en route to a 27-10 win over the Auburn Tigers last Saturday at Kyle Field. The Razorbacks (2-2, 0-1), meanwhile, almost pulled the upset in Death Valley in their league opener but ultimately dropped a 34-31 decision to LSU.

Despite winning 10 of the last 11 against Arkansas, the series has almost always provided high drama, especially in the Metroplex. Since the Aggies joined the SEC, six of eight meetings at AT&T Stadium have been one-score games and three have gone to overtime. Last season, a late field goal miss by Arkansas helped A&M hold on for a 23-21 victory.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

The Aggies and Razorbacks meet for the 80th time in program history Saturday and the 12th time at AT&T Stadium as A&M has claimed 10 of the last 11 matchups with Arkansas.
Sophomore WR Evan Stewart returned to action against Auburn, catching all three passes that came his way, including a 37-yard touchdown grab early in the second half ... Stewart ranks 16th in the country and fifth in the SEC with 102.3 yards per games this season after starting the year with back-to-back 100-yard games.
Graduate WR Ainias Smith led the receiving corps for the second week in a row with five catches for 78 yards, tallying 44 yards after the catch ... Smith is just 116 receiving yards away from 2,000 for his career after recently joining the 3,000 all-purpose yards club against ULM.
Sophomore QB Conner Weigman has registered a pair of 300-yard passing games this season and is tied for eighth in the SEC, averaging 244.8 yards per game ... His eight touchdown passes on the year are good for fifth in the league.
Junior LB Edgerrin Cooper is tied for 13th in the country with 7.0 tackles for loss this season after posting 3.0 for the second this season in the win over Auburn ... As a unit, the linebackers accounted for 4.0 of the team's 7.0 sacks and 8.0 of the team's 15.0 TFL against the Tigers.
The Aggie defense has shut down opponents on third down early this season, ranking second nationally and leading the SEC with a 20.4 opponent conversion percentage ... The unit is also tied for seventh in the country allowing just 14.0 first downs per game.
A&M held its opponent under 100 yards through the air for the second straight week as it limited Auburn to just 56 passing yards ... After putting up impressive numbers in each category in the Week 4 victory, the Aggies are currently tied for 10th in the country with 34.0 TFL and 19th with 13.0 sacks, while also ranking 13th with 19 breakups on the year.

QUICK HITS

With the Aggies up by just a field goal at the half, sophomore QB Max Johnson spelled an injured Conner Weigman in the second half against Auburn and quickly connected on a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, finding his brother, Jake, on a 22-yard strike and dropping a 37-yard pass , A&M's longest TD pass on the year, right into the hands of sophomore WR Evan Stewart in the back of the end zone as he finished the win 7-of-11 for 123 yards.
The running back tandem of junior Amari Daniels and sophomore Le'Veon Moss impressed in the win over Auburn as they each set new career marks in the game and currently rank among the top 11 backs in the SEC averaging 58.5 and 56.3 yards per game, respectively.
With a catch against Arkansas, graduate WR Ainias Smith would extend his streak of games with at least one catch to 32 games ... 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.
As a unit, the Aggie offense boasts one of the most successful scoring rates in the red zone, ranking 10th nationally and first in the SEC converting on 95.2-percent of its chances ... The top-20 passing offense averages 301.8 yards through the air per game, while A&M's 12 passing touchdowns are tied for ninth in the country.
True freshman LB Taurean York had a breakout game against Auburn, tallying 11 tackles, including 2.0 for loss and was named SEC Freshman of the Week for his performance ... York leads all Power 5 true freshman linebackers with 22 tackles on the season and ranks fifth among all true freshman defensive players.
Junior PK Randy Bond made it back-to-back weeks with a 50-plus yard field goal when he sailed a 51-yarder through the uprights to put the Aggies on the board in the first quarter ... He ranks fourth in the nation with 44 total points and sixth in the country averaging 11.0 points per game ... Ranking in the top two in total points and points per game, Bond also leads the league with nine made field goals on the year.
Quick starts have been a harbinger of Aggie victories in the Jimbo Fisher era ... The Aggies are 33-5 when scoring first and are 31-2 when leading after the first quarter.
Graduate DB Sam Mathews was named the 12th Man ahead of the 2023 season, becoming just the fifth student-athlete in program history to hold the season-long honor.

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 in a tie for seventh with Mike Evans (2012-13) at 17 scoring receptions.
Smith is just three catches away from passing Jhamon Ausbon (2017-19) on the Aggies' career receptions list as Smith has tallied 145 catches to-date.
Already sitting in eighth all-time at A&M with 1,884 career receiving yards, Smith is in need of 116 yards through the air to become the eighth Aggie in program history to reach the 2,000 yard mark.
Smith is 12 punt return yards away from moving into eighth on A&M's all-time career list ... His 123 all-purpose yards against Auburn helped him make the jump to 17th on A&M's career list as he upped his total to 3,182, and he is currently 176 yards away from breaking into the top 15.
Sophomore QB Conner Weigman cracked the top 20 on A&M's all-time career passing touchdowns list in just seven career appearances and enters Week 5 in need of two touchdown passes to match Mark Farris' (1999-00) 18 career TD passes ... He is seven scoring strikes away from making his way into the top 15.
Weigman is also just eight completions away from making his way into the top 25 of A&M's career list with 155 entering the game, as he chases Lex James' (1970-72) mark of 162 career completions.
Junior WR Moose Muhammad III is on the verge of moving into the top 20 of A&M's all-time career receiving touchdowns list with nine career scoring receptions, while he is also 178 receiving yards away from reaching the 1,000-yard mark for his career.
Sophomore WR Evan Stewart, who started the season with back-to-back 100-yard games, needs just 44 receiving yards to reach 1,000 for his career and 10 receptions to crack A&M's all-time top 30.

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 recorded the fifth 100-yard game of his career when he led the offense with 127 yards on seven catches in the win over ULM.
Smith has etched his name into Aggie history as he has climbed into the top 10 on A&M's career receiving touchdowns (17), receiving yards (1,884), receptions (146) and punt return (70-637) lists, while also recently becoming the 20th Aggie in program history to rack up 3,000 all-purpose yards in their career.
Dating back to the 2019 LSU game, Smith has caught a pass in 31 consecutive games ... This streak is the 11th-longest active streak in the nation, sixth among Power 5 receivers, while it is also the longest streak by an Aggie since Christian Kirk (2015-17) had a string of 39 games.
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.
A true quadruple threat, Smith has gained more than 250 yards as a rusher (389), receiver (1,884), punt returner (637) and kick returner (272) ... 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.

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 and the first to record back-to-back 100-yard games since the 2019 season.
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.
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.

MAROON GOONS

The Texas A&M offensive line returns great experience from last season ... Led by graduate Layden Robinson, who has been a staple at right guard over the last two seasons, the Aggies return three of five starters from a year ago.
The Aggies rank fourth in the SEC, only allowing 6.0 sacks so far this season ... They are also among the top-five in the league, allowing 18.0 TFL on the year.
Robinson is in his third year as a starter after helping clear the way for one of the top running back tandems in the nation in 2021 and a 1,000-yard rusher last season.
The Aggies have seen Robinson, Trey Zuhn III, Mark Nabou Jr. and Chase Bisontis start all four games so far this season, while Bryce Foster, Kam Dewberry and Dametrious Crownover have had key roles on the line early on.

SEASONED SECONDARY

A&M boasts a seasoned secondary that is led by fifth-year starter Demani Richardson who has started a team-best 48 games, including 29 consecutive starts.
Graduate transfer Josh DeBerry burst on the scene in the season opener, filling out the stat sheet and leading the way in his first game in the Maroon & White ... DeBerry matched his single-game career highs from Boston College with 10 tackles, a solo sack, a pick and a hurry.
A&M is first in the SEC with 19 pass breakups on the season, while DeBerry leads the way as he is tied for second among league players with six passes defended and Chappell is tied for eighth in the SEC with three breakups on the year.
Under Coach Fisher, the Aggies have limited their opponent to less that 100 passing yards on 10 occasions, recently holding Auburn to just 56 yards through the air in the SEC opener after allowing just 95 passing yards in the win over ULM.
The A&M defense finished the 2022 season with the No. 1 passing defense in the nation as it gave up just 156.2 yards through the air, including an average of 5.7 yards per pass which ranked fourth nationally ... The Aggies also boasted a top-25 scoring defense, which was fourth among SEC teams, allowing 21.2 points per game.
Richardson leads all defensive players with two career touchdowns, both coming in 2022 ... He and junior DB Tyreek Chappell teamed up against Arkansas for the Aggies' first defensive touchdown of the season after DB Tyreek Chappell scooped up a loose fumble and later handed it off to Richardson, who took it 82 yards to the house and he capped off the season recovering a fumble and bringing it 27-yards to the house against LSU.

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 consecutive games.
As a unit the defensive line has been a key part of the Aggies' success in shutting down their opponents on third downs as they lead the league and rank third nationally allowing just seven conversions on 34 attempts this season, good for a 20.6 conversion percentage.
Senior McKinnley Jackson and junior Shemar Turner have logged the most starts on the line and bring great versatility in their abilities or play both inside and outside ... While Jackson serves as a disruptive pass rusher, Turner has shown great consistency this year in getting to the quarterback and creating turnovers, recording at least 1.0 tackle for loss in all four games and sitting in a tie for first in the SEC with two forced fumbles and a tie for fifth with 3.0 sacks.
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 ... Each of the three has started multiple games in their careers and the group continues to add reliable depth to A&M's rotation.