PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Kellen Mond completed 19 of 28 passes for 236 yards, with three touchdowns and one interceptions, against Ole Miss. He also ran for 19 yards and a touchdown. Mond’s performance was marred by two back-to-back turnovers on consecutive possessions, but Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher backed up his quarterback. “He made very few mistakes in the game,” Fisher said. “There were two big mistakes he made on turnovers, but the guy played an unbelievable football game.”
–WR Quartney Davis, a sophomore, had two touchdown grabs on three total catches, tallying just 25 yards, against Ole Miss. Davis’ two touchdowns proved to be a spark for the Aggies. Davis’ biggest game came earlier at South Carolina, where he had nine grabs for 127 yards. On the season, the second-year player has 35 catches for 408 yards and five touchdowns.
–LB Otaro Alaka: A senior linebacker and bona fide leader of Texas A&M’s defense, Alaka racked up a team-high 11 tackles with a sack against Ole Miss. Alaka’s effort against the Rebels was his second double-digit tackle effort of the season, the first coming against Clemson when he had 10 in the loss. He leads Texas A&M with 64 tackles this season.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas A&M and UAB have played only once before, with the Aggies defeating the Blazers 56-19 on Sep. 26, 2009.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We take it for granted because guys are so gifted. But the mental disposition to compete and play at a high level and win and come back from adversity when you know yourself and you’re mad at yourself … it takes very special types of people to be able to compete like that.” — Jimbo Fisher, on Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond