The Opening Drive on Aggie Gameday gets you caught up on everything you need to know about the match-up between Texas A&M and Sam Houston State University.
Texas A&M
Players to watch - Offense
Johnny Manziel
When the Aggie offense hits the field all eyes will be on quarterback Johnny Manziel. The Heisman hopefully has thrown for 2,780 yards and run for another 1,014 yards. Johnny Football has scored 33 touchdowns this season,18 through the air and 15 on the ground. Manziel needs 34 yards to break the NCAA freshman record of 3,827 total offense yards set by Kentucky's Jared Lorenzen in 2000.
Players to watch - Defense
Sean Porter
Defensivley, the Aggies will need a solid game from linebacker Sean Porter as they try to slow down the Bearkats running attack. For the season, Porter has recorded 54 tackles, four and a half tackles for loss including two and a half sacks. He has also pikced off a pass.
Keys to the Game
The last seven weeks the Aggies have scored a touchdown on their opening drive. They need to keep that streak going Satruday afternoon. Scoring early and often Saturday would help to put this game away early and keep the Bearkats from believing they can pull of the upset.
The Aggie defense needs to be strong against the run. The Bearkats like to keep the ball on the ground. For the season, A&M is allowing just 131 yards a game rushing.
The Aggies have been better the last two weeks creating turnovers. They came up with four take aways against Mississippi State and Alabama. If the Ags can keep that up it will limit the chances the Sam Houston State offense has for explosive plays.
Sam Houston State University
Players to watch - Offense
Timothy Flanders
Sam Houston running back Timothy Flanders is a player to watch when the Bearkat offense is at work. Flanders leads the kats in rushing with 1,087 yards on the season. He has run for 16 touchdowns. Flanders also has a receiving touchdown.
Players to watch - Defense
Darnell Taylor
Safety Darnell Taylor leads the Bearkats in tackles with 64 this season. He has recorded two sacks, picked of a pair of passes and recovered a fumble. Don't be suprised to see Taylor make a big hit in Saturday's game.
Keys to the Game
The Bearkats will have to make a lot of plays defensively Saturday to try and slow down the Aggie offense. For the season, the Kats are giving up just 283 yards per game which if fifth best nationally in the football championship subdivision.
The Bearkats will have to keep ground attack going to Saturday to try and pull off the upset. For the season, Sam Houston is averaging 294 yards a game rushing. Keeping that up Saturday will help control the clock and keep the Aggie offense off the field.
The Bearkats should be able to play loose and have some fun Saturday. Not many people expect them to win Saturday and even with a loss Saturday the Kats season should continue in the FCS playoffs. In fact, both of these teams have bigger games ahead of them.
Aggies
It will be hard to top what the Aggies did last week when they went on the road to Tuscaloosa and knocked off number one Alabama at Bryant Denny Stadium. It was the program's first win over a top ranked team in ten years. As exciting as last week was this one will be big as well. The Aggies are coming back to Kyle Field for the first time since October 20th and will be here for the final two games of the season.
"To be back home at Kyle Field, I feel like it is about to get crazy because with the win last week everyone is trying to come to this game and I just feel like it is revitalizing to be back home," said Malcome Kennedy.
"Those road wins are great. It is always great to hear the crowd shut up and be able to hear the Aggie war hymn at the end of the game but we always love being in our own locker room being able to run out on Kyle Field and just play on Kyle Field, all of us love it. Senior class we only have two more opportunities left and we just want o finish them out the right way," said Jonathan Stewart.
Bearkats
Sam Houston State comes to Kyle Field ranked number three in this week's Football Championship Subdivision poll. The Bearkats are 8-2 on the season and have won seven straight games. This will be the second time this year the Kats have played a BCS conferecne team. They lost to Baylor 48-23 back in September. A&M is one of the hottest teams in the nation right now but, the Bearkats are still looking forward to their trip to Kyle Field.
"I think it is a big deal for our football program players and coaches. I have come up the hard way played in front of crowds of a hundred and two hundred people so it is going to be a neat deal for our football program to go over there and play in such a great stadium in front of great fans and we are looking forward to the opportunity," said Willie Fritz.
History
Saturday is the 11th meeting between Texas A&M and Sam Houston State on the football field. The Aggies have won all 10 previous meetings. The last match-up came back in 1997 here at Kyle Field. The Bearkats were down 7-6 in the second quarter before the Aggies went on a run and scored 52 unanswered points to pick up a 59-6 victory.
12th Man
The 12th Man for Saturday's game is defensive back C.J. Jones. This will be the seventh time this season Jones has been the 12th Man. He has wore the number 12 eighteen times is his Aggie career. This season, Jones has recorded eight tackles in 10 games.
