No. 17 Football Heads to Starkville to Face Bulldogs

Saturday, October 1

Starkville, Miss.

3:00 PM

Texas A&M

Mississippi State

Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics

Sep 30, 2022 | Football

By: Athletics Communications

No. 17 Texas A&M plays its first true road game of the season on Saturday when the Aggies head to Starkville to battle Mississippi State (3 p.m., SEC Network).

GAME 5: #17 TEXAS A&M (3-1, 1-0) at MISSISSIPPI STATE (3-1, 0-1)

Saturday, October 1 • 3:01 p.m. (CT)
Davis Wade Stadium (61,337)
TV: SEC Network (Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb, Alyssa Lang)
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network, SiriusXM 106 or 192 (Andrew Monaco, Dave Elmendorf, Will Johnson)
Live Audio: 12th Man Mobile app
Live Stats: Click Here

GAME NOTES (PDF)

GAMEDAY CENTRAL

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

A&M takes on Mississippi State Saturday in its first true road game of the 2022 season ... The Aggies have taken two of the last three meetings with the Bulldogs, including a 28-14 win in their last trip to Starkville.
Junior RB Devon Achane has made at least one trip to the end zone in each of A&M’s first four games and is the only player in the nation to have scored a rushing, receiving and kickoff return touchdown already this season.
Achane ranks fourth in the SEC averaging 88.8 rushing yards per game and is tied for seventh in the league with 30 points so far this season.
Achane is second in the nation with a 39.60 kickoff return average (5-198 yards) in 2022 ... He scored the second KOR TD of his career with a 95-yard sprint to the end zone against App State.
Junior QB Max Johnson has helped the Aggies knock off back-to-back AP top 15 opponents after being named QB1 in Week 3 ... After defeating No. 13 Miami, Johnson completed 11-of-21 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown to lift the Aggies past No. 10 Arkansas.
• Senior DB Demani Richardson has put his veteran leadership and versatility on display this season, leading the team with 35 career starts ... He is tied for fourth nationally and paces the SEC with a pair of forced fumbles on the year and ranks second among league DBs with 2.5 tackles for loss.
• Junior DB Jaylon Jones made his 2022 debut in the win over Miami and led the Aggies with a career-high nine tackles, also adding a breakup.
• Junior DB Antonio Johnson and senior LB Chris Russell Jr. each registered their second double-digit tackle games of the season with 13 and 10, respectively, against Arkansas ... Johnson, who was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Razorbacks, ranks second in the SEC with 38 takedowns on the season, while Russell Jr. is tied for 10th with 29.

Edgerrin Cooper and Brian George

QUICK HITS

A&M remains as one of the best defenses in the country at limiting scoring for the second straight season, ranking eighth nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 11.8 ppg.
The Aggies boast one of the best passing defenses in the nation, sitting in 10th in the category giving up 153.3 yards per game ... They are also tied for the top spot in the SEC allowing just 5.2 yards per passing attempt.
Sophomore DB Tyreek Chappell leads the Aggies and ranks fourth in the SEC with four pass breakups on the season, while sophomore Edgerrin Cooper’s three breakups this year are tied for first in the SEC among linebackers ... As a team, A&M ranks 19th in the country with 18 pass breakups on the year.
After recording just six pass breakups in the first two games, the Maroon & White defense tallied eight against Miami, including two each from sophomores DB Tyreek Chappell, DB Jardin Gilbert and LB Edgerrin Cooper.
Graduate DB Myles Jones returned to the field for the Aggies for the first time since the 2021 Arkansas game, making the start and adding a tackle and a breakup ... His PBU in the victory moved him into eighth all-time at A&M in the category after upping his career total to 29.
The Aggies are 6-for-6 in the red zone this season after going 3-for-3 in the win over Arkansas.
A&M’s 23-21 win over No. 10 Arkansas marked the eighth victory for the Maroon & White over an AP top 15 team under head coach Jimbo Fisher, the fourth over an AP top 10 opponent.
Quick starts have been a harbinger of Aggie victories in the Jimbo Fisher era ... The Aggies are 28-4 when scoring first and a perfect 26-0 when leading after the first quarter.

Max Johnson

JOHNSON TAKES OVER AS QB

Junior QB Max Johnson came to Aggieland after spending two years at LSU, where he played in 18 games and made 14 starts ... He made his first start at A&M in Week 3, leading the Aggies to a 17-9 win over then-No. 13 Miami.
Johnson and the Aggies made it back-to-back victories over AP top 15 teams, following up the Miami win with a 23-21 upset of No. 10 Arkansas ... Johnson threw for 151 yards and a touchdown on 11-for-21 passing in the win.
Johnson connected on 10-of-20 pass attempts against Miami for 140 yards, including a 25-yard scoring strike to junior RB Devon Achane ... He was an effective scrambler with four rushes for 34 yards.
Johnson compiled an 8-6 record as the starter at LSU, surpassing the 300-yard plateau in passing yards six times in his two seasons in Baton Rouge, including career bests of 435 yards against Ole Miss in 2020 and five touchdowns against Central Michigan in 2021.
Johnson is joined in Aggieland by his brother Jake Johnson, who was a top-rated tight end in A&M’s historic 2022 signing class ... He is the son of Brad Johnson, a 17-year NFL veteran that helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII and is the nephew of former Georgia and Miami head coach Mark Richt.

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 6.8 yards per carry for his career (1,629 yards on 238 carries in 24 games) ... Among Aggies with more than 1,400 career yards, Achane is one of three that averaged 6.0-or-more yards per carry -- Johnny Manziel (6.3) and Trayveon Williams (6.0).
It took Achane just three games this season to show off his versatility and reach the end zone as rusher, receiver and returner, totaling a team-best five touchdowns so far this year ... He has scored a touchdown in each of A&M’s four games, marking the longest scoring streak by an Aggie since Trayveon Williams reached the end zone in each of the final five games of the 2018 season.
Achane racked up a career-high 156 yards on the ground, in the win over Arkansas to register his first 100-yard game of the 2022 season and the sixth of his career.
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 added the second special teams touchdown of his career.

Jaylon Jones and Antonio Johnson

SEASONED SECONDARY

A&M boasts a seasoned secondary that returns five Aggies that have tallied double-digit career starts, as Demani Richardson (35), Myles Jones (30), Jaylon Jones (24), Antonio Johnson (17) and Tyreek Chappell (12) have combined for 118 starts.
The A&M defense ranks eighth nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 11.8 points per game and 10th in passing defense (153.3 y/g) ... The Aggies did not allow a touchdown in the win over then-No. 13 Miami, keeping an AP top 15 team out of the end zone for the second straight season after topping then-No. 12 Auburn 20-3 last year.
Richardson and Chappell teamed up against Arkansas for the Aggies’ first defensive touchdown of the season after Chappell scooped up a loose fumble and later handed it off to Richardson, who took it 82 yards to the house.
Against Miami, A&M’s top five tacklers were all defensive backs, tallying six-or-more takedowns in the victory, while also adding 1.0 TFL and five breakups.
In the season opener against Sam Houston, two of A&M’s leaders in tackles were from the secondary with Richardson also 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 marked 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).

Demani Richardson

AJ, RICHARDSON LEAD DEFENSE

Senior DB Demani Richardson and junior DB Antonio Johnson have taken on the role of veteran leaders on the defense this season.
Richardson is in his fourth year as a starter at safety, leading all Aggies with 35 career starts, and has ranked among the top three on the team in tackles in two of his first three seasons ...
Richardson has been filling out the stat sheet in his final season in Aggieland as he ranks second among SEC DBs with 2.5 TFL and his two forced fumbles on the year are good for fourth in the country and first in the SEC ... He also adds 19 tackles and a pair of pass breakups.
Richardson helped turn the game around for the Aggies against Arkansas, successfully grabbing the handoff from a wrapped up Tyreek Chappell on a fumble return that was picked up on the 2-yard line and taking it 82 yards to the end zone to put A&M within one after trailing early.
Johnson cemented himself as one of the league’s top tacklers last season and has remained the same this year, currently ranking second in the SEC with 38 total takedowns so far this year.
Johnson registered the fourth double-digit tackle game of his career and second of the season against Arkansas, tallying 13 takedowns to lead the way for the Aggies.
Johnson tallied 79 tackles in 2021, which was the second most on the team ... He led the Aggies and was tied for 11th in the SEC with 53 solo takedowns.