Each Monday during the 2023 Texas A&M football season, we’ll identify a first or second-year Aggie player who delivered an exceptional performance over the weekend and earned the distinction of being the week’s ‘Overnight Sensation.’
A third-down threat.
Noah Thomas's trio of drive-altering catches gave Texas A&M's offense a chance in a 20-13 loss to Tennessee on Saturday.
A&M's lone touchdown of the game would not have happened without the heroics of Thomas.
Just before Max Johnson's rushing score, Thomas converted a massive third down with a leaping 29-yard grab to keep the Aggies' opening drive moving. Without #3's first grab of the day, A&M would have settled for a field goal and would not have had a shot in this game.
The significance of Thomas' receptions kept increasing as the game progressed. After Johnson took a massive sack for a loss of eight, A&M needed an answer on third-and-17.
Look no further than #3.
A catch by the sophomore gave the Maroon & White a desired 18 yards and a chance to pull ahead with a lead. A&M failed to capitalize in the red zone, but a field goal put the Aggies up 10-7. It was another scoring march that seemed inconceivable, lacking Thomas' performance.
Thomas' third and final reception of the game came at another critical moment in which #3 did his job, again.
Needing five yards, the Pearland native got the Aggies 28. The sizeable gain also came with a roughing the passer penalty to put A&M at Tennesseee's 11-yard line. The trend of failed red zone attempts continued as A&M settled for a field goal to make it a one-point game.
A&M only converted five of its 15 third-down opportunities, with three of those coming from Thomas.
It begs the question: Why Thomas was not targeted more?
The answer may lie in the fact that Johnson was terrorized the whole game as A&M's offensive line failed to protect. Johnson didn't necessarily have time to look 20 yards downfield, where Thomas was waiting to make a play. As a result, seven of A&M's third-down attempts resulted in negative or no yardage.
All in all, the fact is that Thomas has been targeted 21 times this season. Of those handful of times, Johnson or Conner Weigman was hurried three times, and Thomas has made 14 catches.
He did leave in the first quarter of the ULM game due to injury and missed Auburn the next week, but 21 targets through 21 quarters of football for a big-play weapon like him?
Make of that what you will.
Thomas did make the most of what he got in Knoxville, posting a career-high 75 yards and averaging 25 yards a catch. He is one of the tallest receivers in college football, standing at 6-foot-6, and has no problem high-pointing the ball over DBs beneath him.
Let's hope to see more of just that with more than half of the season in the rearview.
Thomas’ stats vs. Tennessee
Receptions: 3
Targets: 3
Yards: 75
Touchdowns: 0
Average yards per catch: 25
Thomas’ 2023 stats
Receptions: 14
Targets: 21
Yards: 193
Touchdowns: 4
Average yards per catch: 13.78
Thomas' 2023 statsRule Number 32 said:
These threads were a lot more fun when it was players putting up actual awesome and sensational stats.
How many football games do you think are in a season? Why would you multiply by 3?Meximan said:Thomas' 2023 statsRule Number 32 said:
These threads were a lot more fun when it was players putting up actual awesome and sensational stats.
Receptions: 14
Targets: 21
Yards: 193
Touchdowns: 4
Average yards per catch: 13.78
A nearly 14 YPC average, 1 TD for every five targets, and basically 200 yards on only 14 catches isn't sensational? You need to check your standards, if you extrapolate those out by 3 you get 12 TDs against 600 yards at only 52 catches. That's insane production for how few times he's getting targeted. That would be a national award worthy season on TDs alone.
Yes it sucks that the offense is floundering, but let's give respect to a player who's earned some.
