Nineteenth-ranked Tennessee football (4-1, 1-1 SEC) is gearing up to host the Texas A&M Aggies (4-2, 2-1 SEC) inside Neyland Stadium on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Tennessee is searching for their second consecutive SEC win, as the Vols have an opportunity to get their season fully back on track with a victory.
The situation sets up nicely for Tennessee. The Vols are coming off of a bye week, and head coach Josh Heupel is 7-1 coming off the open date, they’re playing at home, and they get A&M coming off the Alabama game, in which the Aggies lost close in a hard fought game.
There are plenty of interesting matchups to keep an eye on in the matchup. In RTI’s latest ‘Tale of the Tape,’ we take a look at each position group for each team and see which side has the advantage.
Quarterback
Tennessee: Joe Milton III
Season stats (5 games):
101 completions on 160 attempts, 1164 yards, 9 TD, 3 INT, 63% comp., 232.8 YPG, 11.5 yards per completion
24 rushes, 139 yards, 4 TD
Texas A&M: Max Johnson
Season stats (5 games, 2 starts):
51 completions on 84 attempts, 675 yards, 7 TD, 2 INT, 61% comp., 224.5 YPG in starts, 13.2 yards per completion
28 rushes, 49 yards, 0 TD
Advantage: Tennessee
Joe Milton has been far from excellent this season, but outside of a few mistakes, he has not been the biggest reason Tennessee’s offense has struggled at times. Sure, he’s limited, but, for the most part, he’s smart with the football and has been accurate on deep passes. We have a smaller sample size with Max Johnson’s play this season, but he struggled in the second half last week against Alabama. This Tennessee pass rush is no joke, and I expect Johnson to have his fair share of struggles. Tennessee has the edge at the most important position in football.
Running Back
Tennessee: Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small, Dylan Sampson
Tennessee rushing stats:
- 1st in SEC with 231.2 yards per game
- 1st in SEC with 6.18 yards per attempt
- 13 rush TD (4th in SEC)
Wright: 61 att., 435 yards, 1 TD, 7.1 YPC, 87 YPG
Small: 53 att., 317 yards, 2 TD, 6.0 YPC, 63.4 YPG
Sampson: 36 att., 248 yards, 6 TD, 6.9 YPC 62 YPG
Texas A&M: Le’Veon Moss, Amari Daniels
Texas A&M rushing stats:
- 9th in SEC with 144.83 yards per game
- 9th in SEC with 4.39 yards per attempt
- 8 rush TD (12th in SEC)
Moss: 62 att., 325 yards, 3 TD, 5.2 YPC, 65 YPG
Daniels: 53 att., 287 yards, 2 TD, 5.4 YPC, 47.8 YPG
Advantage: Tennessee
This is the biggest advantage Tennessee has in the game. The Vols have relied heavily on the run this year, and the three-headed monster of Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson have been massive in Tennessee’s wins, especially Wright and Sampson. It will be difficult for either of these teams to run the ball in this game, as each team’s rush defense is a strong-suit, but the Aggies won’t be able to hold all three of Tennessee’s backs for 60 minutes. I also expect Tennessee to lead the majority of the game, if not wire-to-wire, meaning the Aggies will be forced to throw more than Tennessee.
Pass Catchers
Tennessee: WRs Squirrel White, Ramel Keyton, Dont’e Thornton, TEs Jacob Warren, McCallan Castles
Tennessee stats:
White: 26 rec., 276 yards, 0 TD, 10.62 yards per reception, 55.2 YPG
Keyton: 14 rec., 230 yards, 3 TD, 16.43 yards per reception, 46 YPG
Castles: 7 rec., 100 yards, 1 TD, 14.29 yards per reception, 20 YPG
Thornton: 7 rec., 89 yards, 0 TD, 12.71 yards per reception, 22.25 YPG
Warren: 7 rec., 54 yards, 2 TD, 7.71 yards per reception, 10.8 YPG
Texas A&M: WRs Ainias Smith, Evan Stewart, Moose Muhammad II, Jahdae Walker, TE Jake Johnson
Texas A&M stats:
Smith: 26 rec., 431 yards, 0 TD, 16.58 yards per reception, 71.83 YPG
Stewart: 27 rec., 403 yards, 4 TD, 14.93 yards per reception, 80.6 YPG
Johnson: 17 rec., 156 yards, 2 TD, 9.18 yards per reception, 26 YPG
Walker: 9 rec., 148 yards, 1 TD, 16.44 yards per reception, 24.67 YPG
Muhammad: 12 rec., 119 yards, 1 TD, 9.92 yards per reception, 19.83 YPG
Advantage: Texas A&M
Tennessee would have the advantage if Bru McCoy was playing, but the Aggies are simply deeper at wide receiver. The Vols may have the best wide receiver on either team in Squirrel White, and I expect the sophomore to have a huge game against a poor A&M pass defense, but Stewart and Smith are a strong duo. If Max Johnson has time, expect to see some big plays from the Aggies’ aerial attack. Additionally, Johnson has leaned on his brother, TE Jake Johnson, so that is someone Tennessee must account for.
Without McCoy, Tennessee will lean on White and Keyton more, but a young player, or Thornton, must step up. Is it Kaleb Webb? Chas Nimrod? We’ll see, but Tennessee is going to need Webb, Nimrod, or Thornton, who is yet to live up to the preseason hype, to step up not only for this game, but moving forward, too.
More From RTI: Eric Berry’s Storied Tennessee Career By The Numbers
Offensive Line
Tennessee stats:
Joe Milton sacked five times.
Texas A&M stats:
Connor Weigman sacked three times.
Max Johnson sacked eight times, including five times against Alabama.
Advantage: Tennessee
Giving Tennessee the edge here. Johnson was sacked five times against Alabama, the same amount of times Milton has been sacked all year. The Vols’ offensive line is now fully healthy, as the optimal five in John Campbell, Ollie Lane, Cooper Mays, Javontez Spraggins and Gerald Mincey were all starting and playing nearly every snap against South Carolina. And they played well. It won’t be an easy day at the office for either offensive line, and Milton may get sacked once or twice against a great A&M front, but Tennessee’s offensive line will hold up better.
Defensive Line
Tennessee stats:
- 22 sacks (T-2nd in SEC & FBS)
- 4.4 sacks per game (1st in SEC, 1st in FBS)
- 47 TFL (2nd in SEC, 7th in FBS)
- 9.4 TFL per game (2nd in SEC, 3rd in FBS)
Texas A&M stats:
- 26 sacks (1st in SEC & FBS)
- 4.33 sacks per game (2nd in SEC & FBS)
- 57 TFL (1st in SEC & T-1st in FBS)
- 9.5 TFL per game (1st in SEC & T-1st in FBS)
Advantage: Texas A&M
The stats show that these are two of the best defensive lines in the entire country, but the Aggies have the slight edge. A&M’s No. 1 recruiting class from a couple of years ago that was chalked full of five-star defensive linemen is starting to pay off, which includes Knoxville native Walter Nolen who has 4 sacks on the year.
Tennessee’s D-line is also elite. James Pearce and Tyler Baron have nine sacks combined and have shown they can go toe-to-toe with any D-line duo in the league. Both units will have an affect on this game, but A&M gets the very slight edge based off of the numbers.
Linebackers
Tennessee: Aaron Beasley, Elijah Herring, Arion Carter
Tennessee stats:
Beasley: 33 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 2 sacks, 3 PBU,
Herring: 30 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 QBH
Carter: 13 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU
Texas A&M: Edgerrin Cooper, Taurean York, Chris Russell Jr.
Texas A&M stats:
Cooper: 41 tackles, 12 TFL, 6 sacks, 2 QBH, 1 FF, 1 FR
York: 32 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 sack, 2 QBH
Russell Jr.: 14 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 INT
Advantage: Texas A&M
Another slight advantage to Texas A&M, mostly because Edgerrin Cooper has been playing like the best linebacker in the SEC. Not only is Cooper second in the SEC in sacks and first in the league in TFLs, he’s top 10 in the SEC in tackles and is making an impact all over the field. Aaron Beasley has had a great year, too, but Cooper’s big start to the year gives the Aggies the win here.
Secondary
Tennessee stats:
- 27th in FBS in Opp. Passing YPG
- 4 INT (1 pick six)
- 17 pass deflections (12th in SEC)
- 3rd in FBS in yards per completion
Texas A&M stats:
- 21st in FBS in Opp. Passing YPG
- 3 INT (1 pick six)
- 24 pass deflections (2nd in SEC)
- 46th in FBS in yards per completion
Advantage: Tennessee
Giving Tennessee the advantage considering they haven’t had near the lows Texas A&M has had so far this season. In the Aggies pair of losses against Alabama and Miami, they’ve given up a combined 695 yards passing and eight touchdowns on 42 completions just one interception.
Tennessee’s secondary showed that they have improved from a year ago in their most recent performance against South Carolina, allowing Spencer Rattler to throw for just 169 yards and no touchdowns. If Kamal Hadden can continue to make plays and Doneiko Slaughter is back to 100 percent, Tennessee has a solid cornerback, and their safeties have played well up to this point.
From what A&M’s secondary has shown, if there is a game Joe Milton can break out on the stat sheet, it’s this one. Squirrel White is also poised have a big game on Saturday.
Special Teams
Tennessee: PR & KR Dee Williams
Tennessee Stats:
Williams punt returns: 9 returns, 151 yards (4th in SEC), 16.78 AVG (3rd in SEC), 55 long
Williams kick returns: 5 returns, 109 yards, 21.8 AVG (8th in SEC), 34 long
Texas A&M: PR Ainias Smith and KR Rueben Moss
Texas A&M Stats:
Smith: 13 returns, 263 yards (1st in SEC), 1 TD (82 yards), 20.23 AVG (2nd in SEC)
Moss: 7 returns, 137 yards, 19.57 AVG (9th in SEC), 29 long
Advantage: Tie
I can’t decide on who to give the nod to here. Ainias Smith has the touchdown, but Dee Williams has been extremely efficient with his returns for the second straight year. Both players are explosive and can break one at any moment. If Tennessee’s passing offense is slow and this game is a nail biter, a big play from either Williams or Smith could end up being the difference.
Total Score:
Tennessee: 4
Texas A&M: 3
