First Scouting Report: Kentucky at Texas A&M
An early look ahead to Kentucky’s next football game:
The opponent
No. 17 Kentucky (5-0, 3-0 SEC) will travel to College Station, Texas, to face conference rival Texas A&M (3-2, 1-1) at Kyle Field at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised by ESPN. Coach Jimbo Fisher’s Aggies defeated SEC West rival Arkansas 24-17 Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
This will be the first football meeting between Kentucky and Texas A&M since the Aggies entered the SEC in 2012. The two teams have met twice previously, with both winning once.
Most recent meeting
Texas A&M spoiled Bear Bryant’s final season opener as Kentucky head coach with a 7-6 victory over the Wildcats at Stoll Field on Sept. 19, 1953. After UK recovered from the opening loss to go 7-2-1, Texas A&M hurt Kentucky football much worse by luring Bryant away from Lexington as the Aggies’ new head coach. Bryant left Kentucky with a 60-23-5 overall record (1946-53) and remains easily the winningest coach in UK football history.
Know your foe
1. As Florida State head man, Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher was Mark Stoops’ boss for three seasons (2010-12) when the current Kentucky head coach was FSU’s defensive coordinator. The Seminoles went 31-10 over those three seasons.
2. Texas A&M’s two losses have come to football titans. The Aggies fell at home to then-No. 2 (and now No. 3) Clemson 28-26 in Week 2 and lost 45-23 at No. 1 Alabama on Sept. 22.
3. Going into the Arkansas game, Texas A&M boasted the most potent offense in the SEC statistically, averaging a robust 545.5 yards a game. Dual-threat quarterback Kellen Mond, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound sophomore, entered the Arkansas game having run for 201 yards and four touchdowns and having thrown for 1,020 yards and seven TDs with two interceptions. Mond did not have a stellar outing against the Razorbacks, throwing two interceptions and running for only 14 yards on 11 carries.
Mark Story: (859) 231-3230; Twitter: @markcstory
This story was originally published September 29, 2018 at 11:08 PM.