Saturday, September 17
Bryan-College Station
8:00 PM
Texas A&M
vs
Miami
Photo by: Kate Luffman/Texas A&M Athletics
No. 22 Football Welcomes 13th-Ranked Miami to Aggieland
Sep 16, 2022 | Football
No. 22 Texas A&M welcomes Miami to Aggieland for just the second time in history Saturday night when the Aggies battle the 13th-ranked Hurricanes at a sold-out Kyle Field.
GAME 3: #22 TEXAS A&M (1-1) vs #13 MIAMI (2-0)
- Saturday, September 10 • 8:10 p.m. (CT)
- Kyle Field (102,733)
- TV: ESPN (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Holly Rowe)
- Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network, SiriusXM 133 or 190 (Andrew Monaco, Dave Elmendorf, Will Johnson)
- Live Audio: 12th Man Mobile app
- Live Stats: Click Here
- Kickoff Forecast: low 80s, humid, light winds
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- The primetime clash between the Aggies and Hurricanes is the fourth all-time matchup between the two teams and the first since Miami traveled to Aggieland in 2008.
- Senior WR Ainias Smith looks to extend his streak of 25 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 responsible for 12 of A&M’s 14 points in Week 2, registering the seventh multi-touchdown game of his career while also scoring on a 90+ yard kickoff return for the second time in his career.
- Achane leads the SEC and ranks No. 2 nationally with a 48.0 kickoff return average (3-144 yards) in 2022 ... He trails only Key’Shawn Smith of Miami, who leads the way with 61.3 average (3-184)
- WR Evan Stewart is the SEC’s top freshman receiver with an average of 5.0 catches per game.
- 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 33 starts through 34 career games ... He filled out the stat sheet against App State, making five tackles, including 1.5 for a loss of 7 yards, while also adding a forced fumble and pass breakup.
Tyreek Chappell
QUICK HITS
- 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.
- Junior DB Antonio Johnson and senior LB Chris Russell Jr. rank among the top 10 in the SEC in tackles after each tallying double figures in the category against App State ... Johnson registered 13 takedowns to lead the Aggies and Russell Jr. added a career-high 10.
- A&M ranks third in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing just 8.5 points per game this season, and boasts the best passing defense in the league as it is giving up just 112.5 yards per game through the air ... In 2021, the Aggies finished the year atop the league and third in the nation, giving up just 15.9 ppg on the year.
- 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 22-5 (.815 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.
James Coley
A&M/MIAMI CONNECTIONS
- A&M offensive coordinator James Coley is a Miami native and coached at the high school, college and pro levels in the city, including serving as the Hurricanes’ OC from 2013-15.
- UM head coach Mario Cristobal is no stranger to Kyle Field after bringing his FIU Panthers to College Station in 2010 for a hard-fought 27-20 defeat.
- Charlie Strong, the Hurricanes’ co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, served as a graduate assistant coach under Jackie Sherrill in 1985.
- Texas A&M has six players from the state of Florida, including three from the Miami area -- Yulkeith Brown (Miami Central HS), Amari Daniels (Miami Central HS) and Shemar Stewart (Miramar Monsignor Pace HS) ... Other Floridians on the roster include Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy (Lakeland), Brian George (South Bay) and Tarian Lee Jr. (Tallahassee).
Ainias Smith
MILESTONE WATCH
- With his next catch, senior WR Ainias Smith will move into Texas A&M’s career receptions top 10, moving into a tie with Ricky Seals-Jones who made 123 grabs from 2013-16.
- Smith needs three TD catches to reach the 20-touchdown plateau, which has only been attained previously by Jeff Fuller (34), Josh Reynolds (30), Christian Kirk (26) and Ryan Swope (24).
- Smith is one punt return away from becoming the 10th player in school history to log 60 punt returns in his career.
- 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.
Ainias Smith
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 25 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.
Devon Achane
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.
- Despite a slow start in 2022, Achane still averages an impressive 6.9 yards per carry for his career (1,382 yards on 201 carries in 22 games) ... Among Aggies with more than 1,300 career yards, Achane is one of four that averaged 6.0 or more per carry -- Trey Williams (6.6), Johnny Manziel (6.3) and Trayveon Williams (6.0).
- Against App State, Achane’s two trips to the end zone marked the seventh multi-TD game of his career, when he scored on a 26-yard rush to put the Aggies on the board and later scored the second special teams touchdown of his career.
- With his 95-yard kickoff return against App State, Achane became the fourth Aggie with multiple kickoff return TDs of 95-or-more yards, joining Leeland McElroy (100 vs. Southern Miss, 1994 and 100 vs. Texas, 1994), Carl Roaches (100 vs. Boston College, 1973 and 97 at LSU, 1972) and Cyrus Gray (99 at Colorado, 2009 and 98 vs. Oklahoma, 2008).
- He tallied four 100-yard games as a sophomore to bring his career total to six through his first two seasons.
- Achane reached the end zone as rusher, receiver and returner in 2021, leading the offense with 10 touchdowns.
- 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.
- 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.
Deuce Fatheree and Layden Robinson
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.
Demani Richardson
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 55 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.
Antonio Johnson
JOHNSON EMERGES AS LEADER
- Junior DB Antonio Johnson emerged as one of the SEC’s top tacklers among DBs in his first season as the Aggies’ starter at nickel in 2021.
- Johnson registered the third double-digit tackle game of his career against App State, tallying 13 takedowns to lead the way for the Aggies.
- Johnson tallied 79 tackles on the year, which was the second most on the team ... He led the Aggies and was tied for 11th in the SEC with 53 solo takedowns.
- On the season, Johnson led the team in tackles in four games, including against Mississippi State when he tallied a career-high 15 ... He added 11 tackles at Ole Miss to record the second double-digit tackle game of his young career.
- Johnson was third on the team with five passes defended last season and recorded the first interception of his career when he picked off Missouri in the first quarter and returned the ball 6 yards.
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