COLLEGE STATION -- Texas A&M was short more than a dozen players in its two deep for Friday night's spring game, but that doesn't mean it wasn't entertaining.
Junior quarterback Kellen Mond threw for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns as the White team withstood a late rally from the Maroon squad to win the Maroon & White Game 17-14.
The game started inauspiciously enough, with the Maroon team going 3 and out with Connor Blumrick at QB, only for Mond to underthrow a pass to Camron Buckley that was picked off by Clifford Chatmann. The Maroon team responded with another 3 and out and was forced to punt.
The White team then got on a roll, with Mond completing all six of his passes on a drive that ended with a 25-yard TD pass to Buckley. The Maroon team struggled under Blumrick, with its best drive short-circuited when a pass to freshman Baylor Cupp was stripped of the ball by sophomore safety Leon O'Neal. Things improved when freshman Zach Calzada took over and, after a quick 3 and out, Calzada threw a 31-yard touchdown to Cupp to tie the game at 7.
The White team got the lead back after a 45-yard field goal by another freshman, Caden Davis. The lead was extended to 10 when Mond hit the other scholarship tight end, Glenn Beal, for a 29-yard score. The touchdown passes to both tight ends came on the same play, where the quarterback rolled to the right and threw back across the field to a wide open tight end.
The White Team's field goal was set up by an interception of Blumrick by Moses Reynolds, the first of two he would grab on the evening. After not seeing the field at all for three seasons, his performance drew plenty of attention.
“When Moses is locked in, he’s as talented as anybody on this football team,” Head Coach Jimbo Fisher said. Fisher also had plenty of praise for Mond and Calzada, who may now go into the summer as 1 and 2 on the depth chart.
"(Mond) played outstanding in the game. He moved the ball very well, had two TD throws and managed the game well," he said. "(Calzada) made some nice plays, and you see some of his talent.”
Running backs Deneric Prince and Jacob Kibodi took nearly all the carries Friday night, and with reason -- they were the only two scholarship backs available. With Jashaun Corbin out with a hamstring injury, Cordarrian Richardson missing the game due to a death in the family and Vernon Jackson's career possibly over due to a neck injury, Prince got the carries for the White team while Kibodi carried the load for the Maroon. Both responded well, with Prince racking up 90 total yards and Kibodi going over 100 yards on the ground on 20 carries.
Kibodi scored the game's last touchdown late in the fourth quarter when he punched it in from 3 yards out after White Team QB James Foster threw an interception deep in his team's own territory. But with Mond back at the helm, the White team was able to run out the clock and take bragging rights for 2019.
“It was a good, solid spring,” Fisher said. “Now we just get ready for a challenging season. I’m excited about it. I thought things went well this spring.”
Maroon & White Game Top Performers
Passing:
Mond, 14-26, 172 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Calzada, 8-21, 139 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing:
Kibodi, 20 carries for 106 yards, 1 TD
Prince, 12 carries for 91 yards
Receiving:
Cupp, 5 catches for 88 yards, 1 TD
Beal, 5 catches for 70 yards, 1 TD
Buckley, 3 catches for 54 yards, 1 TD
Defense:
Hansford, 9 tackles
Chattman, 7 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 INT
Reynolds, 2 INT
Jayden Peevy, 2 sacks
Mohamed Diallo, 3 tackles, 1 sack
Micheal Clemons, 3 tackles, 1 sack
