Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Junior running back Isaiah Spiller earned All-Southeastern Conference honors last season and was a Doak Walker Award semifinalist a er rushing for 1,036 yards. (AP photo)

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Spiller can’t rest on his laurels because of Devon Achane, who opened eyes in the Orange Bowl as the freshman rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns to be the game’s most outstanding player. The emergence of Spiller and Achane gives A&M the option of using versatile Ainias Smith more in the passing game. Smith, who moved to running back somewhat out of necessity late in the 2019 season, rushed for 300 yards on 49 carries with four touchdowns last season. He might have been more valuable in the passing game, with 43 receptions for 564 yards and six 10 | July 19, 2021

touchdowns. Smith and fellow junior tight end Jalen Wydermyer are difference-makers in the passing game. Wydermyer had 46 receptions last season for 506 yards and six touchdowns to be a finalist for the John Mackey Award, which goes to the nation’s top tight end.

Much is expected from A&M’s defense, which returns all but two starters from a unit that allowed only 317.3 yards per game to rank ninth in the country. The defense could have as many as five senior starters – tackle Jayden Peevy, end Micheal Clemons, linebacker Aaron Hansford, cornerback Myles Jones and safety Leon O’Neal Jr.

“The guys that we have coming in and the guys that we have that are staying, man, it’s going to be crazy,” junior defensive end DeMarvin Leal said. “I just can’t wait to see it.”

Leal blossomed last season with 37 tackles to lead the linemen. He also had several big plays, including a 43yard interception return against Alabama. The 6-4, 290-pounder is a tough matchup because he can play inside or on the edge.

“I feel very comfortable at playing both positions,” Leal said. “We have our packages, and certain packages require me to be in the inside.”

A&M’s defense was featured on the cover of this year’s Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine, which labeled it the “New Crew,” a spinoff of Aggie great defenses in the past called the “Wrecking Crew.” Sophomore tackle McKinnley Jackson, who showed flashes as a freshman, will join Leal, Peevy and Clemons in what should be an active and disruptive front four in the fourth year of defensive coordinator Mike Elko’s system. Clemons and Leal shared the spring training most valuable player award. The concern on defense is who replaces linebacker Buddy Johnson, who was the

AGGIELAND PRIMER

leading tackler and the unit’s heart and soul. Redshirt freshman Edgerrin Cooper had a good spring, but he has competition.

“Tarian Lee has played great all spring and Edgerrin Cooper,” Fisher said. “All of those guys have done a really nice job. They are the next generation of guys that have to step in and that’s what they’re here for. I think we have good talent there, we just have to get them to master everything that they’re doing, but you can see the ability they have.”

A ball-control offense has helped the defense stay on the sideline. The Aggies ranked third last year in the country in time of possession (34 minutes, 49 seconds), which helped an offense that averaged 32.6 points per game to rank 37th.

A&M will be able to continue to use a ballcontrol approach if the revamped offensive line pans out, but the Aggies could be able to become more of a big-play offense this year with so many veteran weapons.

“It’s crazy, and just to see their growth, both Isaiah and Ainias from their freshman to sophomore year,” Mond said. “One thing that’s pretty special and makes them a lot different from a lot of other people, they’re all versatile in both the pass and the run game. We were able to this year do a lot of diverse things with each one of those guys, and we were able to execute at a high level.”

Mond was a big factor in helping the offense limit mistakes. A&M had only eight turnovers to rank 19th in the country. Turnovers might rise with inexperience at quarterback along with A&M possibly willing to take more chances.

A potential plus for A&M this season could be a favorable schedule that includes playing defending national champ Alabama at Kyle Field on Oct. 9. The Aggies’ only road games before that are facing Colorado in Denver on Sept. 11 and Arkansas at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium on Sept. 25. Those teams were a combined 7-9, which is why many believe the Aggies will be 5-0 when the Crimson Tide comes to town.

BASKETBALL/SOCCER

BY ROBERT CESSNA • ROBERT.CESSNA@THEEAGLE.COM

The challenge for the Texas A&M basketball teams is moving forward from vastly diff erent roller-coaster seasons.

The women had one of the more memorable seasons in school history, going 25-3 and reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. The Aggies won their fi rst Southeastern Conference regularseason title, highlighted by a 65-57 victory over fi fth-ranked South Carolina that made A&M 9-0 against ranked teams. As sports was recovering from COVID-19, the Aggies opened the season 12-0, and after a loss at unranked LSU, they bounced back to win 11 straight for the best start in school history. A&M put itself in position to win a national championship and opened the NCAA tournament by beating Troy 84-80 and Iowa State 84-82 in a pair of thrillers, only to fi zzle in a 74-59 season-ending loss to Arizona.

The men had a diff erent kind of fi zzle, having eight SEC games canceled because of COVID-19. The Aggies fi nished 8-10, including 2-8 in league play, fi nishing 13th in the 14-team league, ahead of only Vanderbilt. A&M lost six of its last seven games as interest in the program faded.

“We’ve got to get better,” A&M head coach Buzz Williams said after a season-ending 79-68 loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament.

The team stayed in the spotlight and not in a good way: In less than two months, nine players entered the NCAA transfer portal with all but walk-on guard Jackson Young fi nding new homes. Finding new teams were guards LaDamien Bradford (Louisiana Tech), Jaxson Robinson (Arkansas), Savion Flagg (Sam Houston State), Cashius McNeilly (TCU) and Jay Jay Chandler (South Alabama), forward Emanuel Miller (TCU) and center Kevin Marfo (Quinnipiac).

A&M also lost assistant coach Jamie McNeilly, his highly touted nephew Cashius McNeilly, who signed with A&M but never played, taking a medical redshirt as a freshman and then opting out of the last season because of COVID-19.

“Players having the ability to change, I think there is no problem with that,” Williams said.

The mass exodus allowed Williams to revamp his roster.

Plano shooting guard Manny Obaseki from John Paul II and point guard Wade Taylor from Lancaster are incoming

Senior Kayla Wells has made 94 career starts, including 92 straight. She’s made 305 of 379 free throws (80.5%). (Eagle photo/Cassie Stricker)

four-star freshmen along with 6-9 center Ashton Smith from Legacy the School of Sport Sciences in Spring. Williams hit the transfer portal hard, adding Wyoming point guard Marcus Williams, 6-11 center Javonte Brown-Ferguson from Connecticut, and 6-8 power forwards Henry Coleman III from Duke and Ethan Henderson from Arkansas along with junior college shooting guard Aaron Cash from Grayson College.

“Are we choosing and recruiting the right ones in the portal? I hope so,” Williams said.

All the newcomers along with a handful of returning players led by junior guard Andre Gordon and sophomore guard Hassan Diarra will try to help Williams fi nd the magic he had in his fi rst season when the Aggies were 16-14, including 10-8 in the SEC, capped by seasonending back-to-back victories at 17th-ranked Auburn and at home against Arkansas on Senior Day.

It’s certainly been one of the more topsy-turvy off season Williams said after the season-ending loss to Vandy that they’d diagnose every part of the program “because A&M deserves better.”

That’s what women’s coach Gary Blair has been able to deliver in been able to deliver in his 18 seasons at A&M, his 18 seasons at A&M, making 15 straight NCAA tournaments. Last season was one of his most rewarding following the 2019-20 NCAA tournament being canceled by COVID-19. The 2020 tournament was played, but confi ned to the San Antonio area with no fans allowed to attend until the Sweet 16.

“This year [meant] more to me as a coach than any team I have ever coached because of what these young people had to go through,” Blair said. “Winning the national championship [in 2011] was great, but that championship team did not have to go through what these young ladies and all the people in our country have had to go through.”

A&M climbed to a program-record second during the season in the Associated Press’ Top 25 and ended at No. 4 in the fi nal regular-season poll, another progam best. And its .893 winning percentage was the program’s highest.

Some thought A&M should have been a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament, which would have been another fi rst. The Aggies settled for a No. 2 seed and didn’t live up to expectations. A&M was 2-2 in its last four games, also losing to