CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2020 Texas A&M

9–⁠1 (8–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Jimbo Fisher, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Texas A&M in 2020, game by game: won vs. Vanderbilt 17–12; lost at No. 2 Alabama 24–52; won vs. No. 4 Florida 41–38; won at Mississippi State 28–14; won vs. Arkansas 42–31; won at South Carolina 48–3; won vs. LSU 20–7; won at Auburn 31–20; won at Tennessee 34–13; won vs. No. 16 North Carolina 41–27+45−28Won 17–12 vs. Vanderbilt+5VanderbiltLost 24–52 at No. 2 Alabama-28No. 2 AlabamaWon 41–38 vs. No. 4 Florida+3No. 4 FloridaWon 28–14 at Mississippi State+14Mississippi Sta…Won 42–31 vs. Arkansas+11ArkansasWon 48–3 at South Carolina+45South CarolinaWon 20–7 vs. LSU+13LSUWon 31–20 at Auburn+11AuburnWon 34–13 at Tennessee+21TennesseeWon 41–27 vs. No. 16 North Carolina+14No. 16 North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26vsVanderbiltW 17–⁠1279%
Oct 3at2AlabamaL 24–⁠5225%
Oct 10vs4FloridaW 41–⁠3843%
Oct 17atMississippi StateW 28–⁠1456%
Oct 31vsArkansasW 42–⁠3182%
Nov 7atSouth CarolinaW 48–⁠359%
Nov 28vsLSUW 20–⁠754%
Dec 5atAuburnW 31–⁠2048%
Dec 19atTennesseeW 34–⁠1372%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs16North CarolinaOrange BowlW 41–⁠2759%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 41–⁠27 in the Orange Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 13
  2. Wk 3: 10
  3. Wk 4: 10
  4. Wk 5: 13
  5. Wk 6: 21
  6. Wk 7: 11
  7. Wk 8: 7
  8. Wk 9: 8
  9. Wk 10: 7
  10. Wk 11: 5
  11. Wk 12: 5
  12. Wk 13: 5
  13. Wk 14: 5
  14. Wk 15: 5
  15. Wk 16: 5
  16. Final: 4

Consensus All-AmericanKenyon Green, OL

Record
9–⁠1
Conference
8–⁠1 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 4
Points
326–⁠217
Coach
Jimbo Fisher
Elo
1748 +157 this season
SP+ rating
16.2 No. 14 of 130; offense No. 15, defense No. 25
SRS
14.3 No. 8 of 77 in FBS
Returning
80% of last season’s EPA, No. 26 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 6 roster talent No. 6 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Darrell Dickey
Defensive coordinator
Mike Elko
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense14th of 127
  • Defense46th of 127
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted16th of 127
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted33rd of 127
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2650%1.2414th of 127
Defense0.0839%1.3846th of 127
Opponent-adjusted0.21 off
0.06 def		47% off
38% def		—16th off
33rd def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.9own 3013% allowed
Defense3.6own 2619% caused

CORE rating 19.2, 8th of 127 (offense 11.9, defense -7.3).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsKellen Mond QB2,208 yds
Passing touchdownsKellen Mond QB19 TD
Rushing yardsIsaiah Spiller RB1,040 yds
Rushing touchdownsIsaiah Spiller RB9 TD
Receiving yardsJalen Wydermyer TE506 yds
Receiving touchdownsAinias Smith WR6 TD
TacklesBuddy Johnson LB85 tkl
SacksBobby Brown III DL5.5 sacks
InterceptionsLeon O’Neal Jr. DB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2020 class

Jaylon Jones S★★★★★No. 21
Demond Demas WR★★★★★No. 25
Donell Harris WDE★★★★No. 49
McKinnley Jackson DT★★★★No. 62
Antonio Johnson S★★★★No. 78
Antonio Doyle Jr. ILB★★★★No. 89
Chris Morris OG★★★★No. 119
Haynes King DUAL★★★★No. 131

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2020 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.940
Running backs33.30.893
Receivers43.80.918
Offensive line53.40.891
Defensive line53.80.930
Linebackers43.50.886
Defensive backs34.30.950
Whole class253.70.912

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2021

The 2021 draft
Rd 3Kellen Mond QBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 4Bobby Brown III DTLos Angeles Rams
Rd 4Dan Moore Jr. OTPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Buddy Johnson ILBPittsburgh Steelers

Roster 138

The 2020 roster

138 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2020 line; 48 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2020 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2020 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama10–⁠013–⁠01
Texas A&M8–⁠19–⁠14
Florida8–⁠28–⁠413
Georgia7–⁠28–⁠27
Auburn6–⁠46–⁠5
LSU5–⁠55–⁠5
Missouri5–⁠55–⁠5
Ole Miss4–⁠55–⁠5
Kentucky4–⁠65–⁠6
Mississippi State3–⁠74–⁠7
Arkansas3–⁠73–⁠7
Tennessee3–⁠73–⁠7
South Carolina2–⁠82–⁠8
Vanderbilt0–⁠90–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.