Texas A&M Football: 3 key things to keep an eye on week 1 vs. Kent State

The day that Texas A&M Football fans have been waiting for is finally among us. Opening night for the Aggies will be on Saturday, September 4th against the Kent State Golden Flashes.

The game itself should be a relatively simple one for Jimbo Fisher and his team. Despite the fact that Kent State could pose a challenge to Texas A&M defensively, there’s a clear talent gap between these squads. You can expect a double-digit victory for A&M. Still, there are things to be learned from this game.

Today, I’m going to be discussing three things that you should keep an eye on during the Aggies’ game against Kent State. I’d also like to note that even though Haynes King’s performance won’t be mentioned, it’s still arguably the most important part of this upcoming game to keep an eye on.

Keep an eye out for who gets reps at the runningback position for the Texas A&M Football team

Last season, the Texas A&M Football team’s rushes were relatively spread out. There were four players with at least 40 attempts on the ground. Players on that list include Isaiah Spiller, Kellen Mond, Ainias Smith, and Devon Achane.

In 2021, that is set to change. Here’s why.

For starters, Ainias Smith is expected to move into a more permanent wide receiver role. This doesn’t mean that he’ll be completely removed from the runningback rotation, he’ll just likely have less than 49 touches on the ground next season.

Moving into the mix to offset this is Devon Achane, who received a solid amount of snaps near the end of the 2020 season. Achane led the team with 8.5 yards per carry last year, and even though he only had a small sample size, he looked like the team’s most explosive option.

There’s also an interesting option in LJ Johnson, who was a highly-touted 4-star prospect. He was the 46th-best overall player in his class and the 5th-best runningback. It’ll be interesting to see if he receives any touches this weekend.