QB: #11, Kellen Mond (Jr.; 6-2, 217; ProFootballFocus season score of 81.3)

#8 Connor Blumrick (RS-So.; 6-5, 210; n/a) OR #4 James Foster (RS-Fr.; 6-3, 217; n/a) OR #10 Zach Calzada (Fr.; 6-3, 209; 65.9)

RB: #7, Jashaun Corbin (So.; 6, 207; 78.1)

#23 Jacob Kibodi (RS-So.; 6-2, 218; 60.3) OR #28 Isaiah Spiller (Fr.; 6-1, 220; 66.5) OR #25 Cordarrian Richardson (RS-So.; 6, 240; 76.4); OR #21 Deneric Prince (RS-Fr; 6-1, 209; n/a)

FB: #43 Cagan Baldree (RS-Jr.; 6-4, 260; 59.5)

TE: #86 Glenn Beal (So.; 6-5, 260; 57.9) OR #85 Jalen Wydermyer (Fr.; 6-5, 260; 64..6)

WR: #1, Quartney Davis (RS-Jr.; 6-2, 200; 68.5)

#14 Camron Buckley (Jr.; 6-2, 190; 46.2)

WR: #2, Jhamon Ausbon (Jr.; 6-2, 218; 63.2)

#5 Jalen Preston (RS-Fr.; 6-2, 214; 76.6)

WR: #13, Kendrick Rogers (RS-Jr.; 6-4, 204; 47.5)

#81, Caleb Chapman (RS-Fr.; 6-5, 214; 53.5)

LT: #65, Dan Moore (Jr.; 6-5, 325; 53.7)

#74, Kellen Diesch (RS-Jr.; 6-5, 298; 68.9)

LG: #73, Jared Hocker (Jr.; 6-5, 323; 73.9)

#71, Grayson Reed (RS-So.; 6-5, 305; n/a)

C: #76, Colton Prater (Sr.; 6-4, 298; 65.2)

#77, Ryan McCollum (RS-Jr.; 6-5, 305; 61.7)

RG: #55, Kenyon Green (Fr.; 6-4, 330; 73.4)

#75, Luke Matthews (RS-Fr.; 6-4, 315; 59)

RT: #54, Carson Green (Jr.; 6-6, 315; 69.6)

#53 Blake Trainor (Fr.; 6-7, 330 n/a)

DE: #34, Logan Rudolph (RS-So.; 6-2, 245; 69.7) OR #35, Justin Foster (Jr.; 6-2, 265; 44.3)

DT: #13, Tyler Davis (Fr.; 6-2, 295; 74.5) OR #59, Jordan Williams (RS-So.; 6-4, 310; 71.4)

DT: #44, Nyles Pickney (RS-Sr.; 6-1, 295; 55.6)

#90, Darnell Jefferies (RS-Fr; 6-2, 280; 46.6)

DE: #3, Xavier Thomas (So.; 6-2, 265; 59.7) OR #34, Logan Rudolph

SLB/NB: #11, Isaiah Simmons (RS-Jr.; 6-4, 230; 67.7)

#6, Mike Jones Jr. (RS-Fr.; 6, 225; 44.7)

MLB: #47, James Skalski (RS-Jr.; 6, 235; 63.6)

#15, Jake Venables (RS-Fr.; 6-1, 230; 59.1)

WLB: #43, Chad Smith (RS-Sr.; 6-3, 240; 62.7)

#10, Baylon Spector (RS-So.; 6-1, 230; 56.9)

CB: #1, Derion Kendrick (So.; 6, 190; 66.8)

#26, Sheridan Jones (Fr.; 6, 180; 71.3)

SS: #12, K’Von Wallace (Sr.; 5-11, 205; 54.4)

#14 Denzel Johnson (RS-Sr.; 6, 205; 76)

FS: #19, Tanner Muse, (RS-Sr.; 6-2, 230; 80.7)

#24, Nolan Turner (RS-Jr.; 6-1, 195; 70.9)

CB: #8, A.J. Terrell (Jr.; 6-1, 190; 52.3)

#31, Mario Goodrich (So.; 6, 190; 68.8)

Rushing: Spiller, 7 carries for 106 yards

Corbin, 22 carries for 103 yards and 1 TD

Mond, 5 carries for 25 yards and 1 TD

Passing: Mond, 19-27 (70.4%), 194 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT

Calzada, 4-9 (44.4%), 38 yards

Receiving: Davis, 6 catches for 85 yards and 1 TD

Ausbon, 6 catches for 75 yards and 1 TD

Corbin, 4 catches for 12 yards

Tackles: Simmons and Turner, 9

Skalski, 8

Tackles for loss: Thomas, 1.5

4 with 1 each

Sacks: Henry and Pickney, 1

4 with .5 each

Interceptions: Muse and Johnson, 1

Forced fumbles: Smith, 1

Recovered fumbles: Kelly, Spector 1

Scoring offense: 41 PPG (33rd nationally, 3rd SEC)

Rushing offense: 246 YPG (27th, 3rd)

Passing offense: 232 YPG (64th, 8th)

Total offense: 478 YPG (43rd, 5th)

First downs: 22 (65th, 6th)

3rd down conversions: 54.5% (23rd, 3rd)

4th down conversions: 0% (74th, 10th)

Red zone conversions: 75% (81st, 9th)

Turnovers lost: 2 (64th, 7th)

Sacks allowed: 0 (1st)

Turnover margin: +2 (12th, 1st)

Time of possession: 35:46 (20th, 2nd)

Scoring defense: 14 PPG (36th nationally, 3rd ACC)

Rushing yards allowed: 157 YPG (83rd, 9th)

Passing yards allowed: 137 (27th, 1st)

Total defense: 294 YPG (52nd, 5th)

3rd down conversion defense: 31.3% (46th, 4th)

4th down conversion defense: 0% (1st)

Red zone defense: 50% (15th, 2nd)

Sacks: 4 (13th, 3rd)

Turnovers forced: 4 (5th, 2nd)

Turnover margin: +1 (31st, 8th)

A&M put up 516 yards on Clemson last year, but that’s probably not the way they want to do things this weekend. Mond threw for 430 of those yards, and the running game never really got on track. They need to be more balanced this weekend, even if that means Mond runs more himself.

The Aggies currently have their best personnel out on the field when they operate in a four-wide set with Davis, Ausbon, Rogers and Buckley. The grouping split snaps about evenly with the combination of a 3-wide, 1-tight end set (Glenn Beal) and a 2-wide, 2-tight end set (Beal and Wydermyer). When Beal was on the field, they ran nearly twice as much as they threw (26 snaps to 15).

A&M picked up 246 yards on the ground against Texas State and averaged better than 5 yards a carry in the process. They also held onto the ball for more than 35 minutes, even more than they did last year, when they were 2nd in the nation in time of possession. They’ll need to grind it out against the Tigers and home for similar results. Even though they rallied being one-dimensional last year, it’s not the best way to do business.

There are three major differences in A&M’s offense this year compared to last. First, Ausbon is a much more dangerous player. Second, Mond is more decisive and accurate, especially on longer passes. Third, Jace Sternberger is gone (and Baylor Cupp is hurt), so the four-wide set is being used a lot more than 2018. Mond can make just about any throw, but the Aggies like really like the intermediate passing game more than anything. That means the offensive line, which didn’t give up a sack but wasn’t great either against Texas State, will have to hold up. Clemson may not have four All-American caliber defensive linemen this year, but they can still get after the passer -- and they did against Georgia Tech.

The best way for A&M to keep Clemson’s offense in check is to not let them have the football. That means the Aggies need to grind things out, stay ahead of the sticks and take their shots when they can. Balance and controlling the clock are key. They have the skill position talent to give Clemson’s defense trouble -- but the offensive line must be more assertive than they were last weekend. If they aren’t physical and aggressive, the speed of Clemson’s front seven will cause havoc.

By now, we’ve got a pretty good idea of what Brent Venables wants to do: he’s going to attack. That’s how he rolls. Frequently, he’ll have eight men in the box and five or six right up at the line of scrimmage. Sometimes they’ll back off; most of the time, they won’t, looking to overwhelm a gap with numbers and get into the backfield. There’s no intention of holding up offensive linemen with this scheme; all four linemen are going upfield, with a lot of spins and stunts from the defensive tackles when they rush.

Georgia Tech is a triple-option team trying to remake itself into a spread offense on the fly, so they moved their quarterback around a lot (some by design, some by necessity). The speed of the Clemson defensive ends and the linebackers -- Thomas especially -- made that very difficult to do. Still, Tobias Oliver got loose a few times and made big plays. But the pressure came from all angles, as Venables is wont to do.

Tech’s passing attack was terrible, completing 7 of 18 passes and getting picked off twice. As a result, the corners were barely tested -- even though three of Tech’s completions were for 54, 34 and 28 yards, respectively. The safeties, on the other hand, were superb. They played frequently in the box and were able to attack, largely due to the lack of respect for the Yellowjackets’ passing game.

Clemson came after Mond frequently last year and had mixed success. The names may have changed, but the plan of attack probably won’t. The Aggies will see a lot of man coverage on the outside and a lot of movement in the interior. The Tigers will look to stop everything at the line of scrimmage. They had a lot of success against Georgia Tech, but the Aggies aren’t Georgia Tech. Then again, Texas State isn’t exactly Clemson, so both sides will have a lot to prove against the other.