In a decade of football from 2010 to 2019, Texas A&M posted 84 victories, beat opponents that were ranked in the Top Ten and notched six bowl wins.
The Aggies did that in two conferences and with three coaches. Mainly, they did that with a lot of great players making big plays in stellar careers.
With that in mind, here’s the Texas A&M All-Decade football team as chosen by TexAgs.com.
QB: Johnny Manziel (2012-13): The 2012 Heisman Trophy recipient and 2013 finalist passed for 7,820 yards and 63 touchdowns in his two-year career. He also rushed for 2,169 yards and 30 touchdowns. He led the nation in total offense in 2012 and was third in 2013.
RB: Cyrus Gray (2010-11): An All-Big 12 selection in 2011. Gray led the Aggies with 1,133 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in ’10 and again in ‘11 with 1,045 rushing yards and 12 TDs.
RB: Trayveon Williams (2016-18): All-American and All-SEC in 2018. Williams set an A&M single-season rushing record that year with 1,760 rushing yards. He completed his three-year career with 3,615 rushing yards — the third most in school history. He also had 34 career rushing touchdowns.
WR: Mike Evans (2012-13): All-American and All-SEC in 2013 when he set a single-season school record with 1,394 receiving yards. In his two year career, Evans had 151 receptions for 2,499 yards and 17 touchdowns.
WR: Christian Kirk (2015-17): A three-time All-SEC selection. Kirk completed his three-year career with 234 receptions for 2,856 yards and 26 touchdowns. He’s second in A&M career receptions and third in career receiving yards and career receiving touchdowns.
WR: Ryan Swope (2010-12): All-Big 12 in 2011 and All-SEC in 2012. During his four-year career, Swope set A&M records for career receiving yards (3,117) and career receptions (252). Most of that was done in his last three seasons. In three seasons this decade he had 233 catches for 2,945 yards and 23 touchdowns.
TE: Jace Sternberger (2018): In his one season at A&M Sternberger earned All-American and All-SEC recognition. he caught 48 passes for 832 yards and had 10 touchdowns, which matched a school record for tight ends.
T: Luke Joeckel (2010-12): A starter since his freshman season, Joeckel was All-Big 12 in 2011 and All-SEC in 2012. He was also All-American and the Outland Trophy recipient in 2012.
T: Jake Matthews (2010-13): A starter since his freshman season, Matthews was a two-time All-American (’12 and ’13). He was also a two-time All-SEC selection.
C: Erik McCoy (2016-18): Though he was astonishingly overlooked for all-conference recognition, McCoy was one of the best centers in the country, which was evidenced by him being a second-round selection in the 2019 NFL draft. He was the best blocker on the 2018 offensive line which enabled Trayveon Williams to set the A&M single-season rushing record.
G: Cedric Ogbuehi (2011-14): He began his career at guard and later shifted to tackle. Ogbuehi was named All-American and All-SEC in 2014.
G: Germain Ifedi (2013-15): As a redshirt freshman he started all 13 games at guard in 2013 on a line that was part of a Top 10 offense. He was named Freshman All-American. He played at tackle the next two seasons.
DE: Myles Garrett (2014-16): Two-time All-American and three-time All-SEC. He posted 12.5 sacks in 2015 and finished his three-year career with 31 — the sixth-highest sack total in school history. He also had a blocked kick. He’s the only Aggie to be the first overall selection in the NFL draft.
DE: Damontre Moore (2010-12): An All-American and All-SEC selection in 2012. Moore posted 26.5 sacks in his three-year career. He had 12.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss in ’12.
DT: Kingsley Keke (2015-18): Keke played defensive tackle his first three seasons before shifting out to end as a senior. He posted 150 tackles in his career. That included 21 tackles for loss and 12 sacks.
DT: Justin Madubuike (2017-19): An All-SEC selection in 2019. Opting to enter the NFL draft following his junior season, Madubuike completed his three-year career with 105 tackles 24.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and 5 forced fumbles.
LB: Von Miller (2010): A two-time All-American in his career, Miller earned All-American and All-Big 12 status in 2010. He also won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker in 2010. That season, he 68 tackles with 10.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss. He also had an interception.
LB: Sean Porter (2010-12): An All-Big 12 selection in 2011, Porter played a key role in A&M’s successful move to the SEC in 2012. That year he posted 66.5 tackles, 3.5 sacks, had an interception and forced a fumble. During his three seasons of the decade, he accumulated 219 tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks.
LB: Otaro Alaka (2014-18): After earning Defensive Player of the Game in the 2014 Liberty Bowl, he was granted a medical redshirt in 2015. Alaka came back and closed his career with strong performances in ’16, ’17 and ’18. He completed his career with 276 tackles (40 for losses), 11.5 sacks, an interceptions and 5 forced fumbles.
CB: DeShazor Everett (2011-14): A three-year starter at cornerback and safety. Everett played in 50 games throughout his four-year career. He accumulated 218 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and had five interceptions. His interception at the goal line clinched a 29-24 upset victory over Alabama in 2012. He also returned a blocked field goal by Myles Garrett for a touchdown in a 41-38 victory over Auburn in 2014.
CB: Terrence Frederick (2010): An honorable mention All-Big 12 cornerback as a senior in 2010. That season he posted 57 tackles, had an interception, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. He also had 8 tackles for loss and a sack. He broke up 9 passes.
S: Justin Evans (2015-16): The heavy-hitting junior college transfer made an immediate impact. In two seasons he posted 165 tackles, intercepted 5 passes and broke up 16 passes. He had two interceptions and broke up the final pass in a 31-24 overtime victory over UCLA in the 2016 season-opener.
S: Armani Watts (2014-17): In the starting lineup from the first game of his freshman season, Watts was an All-SEC and All-American selection in 2017. That year he had 87 tackles, 10 for loss, 4 interceptions, 5 passes broken up, recovered 2 fumbles and blocked 2 kicks. For his career, he had 328 tackles, 24 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 10 interceptions, 29 passes broken up, 6 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 2 blocked kicks. His interceptions clinched overtime wins over Tennessee in 2016 and Arkansas in 2017.
DB (nickel): Donovan Wilson (2014-2018): A three-year starter who received a medical redshirt after suffering a season-ending injury in the 2017 season-opener. Wilson posted 207 career tackles with 21.5 coming for losses. That included 5 sacks. He also had 8 interceptions, 1 of which was returned for a touchdown, and 16 passes defended. He forced 4 fumbles and recovered 2.
K: Randy Bullock (2010-11): Named All-Big 12 and All-American and received the Groza Award as the nation’s premier place kicker in 2011. That season he converted 29 of 33 field goal attempts. In his two seasons of the decade, Bullock converted 45 of 54 field goal tries. He set an A&M career scoring record with 365 points and a single-season scoring record with 142 points in 2011.
P: Braden Mann (2016-19): The No. 1 punter in his last two seasons, Mann earned All-American honors, All-SEC recognition, received the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter and set several records in 2018. That season he averaged 51.0 yards on 50 punts and set an NCAA record for the highest single-game punting percentage in a game with a 60.8-yard average against Alabama. He also set an NCAA record with 14 punts of 60 yards or more. He averaged 48.9 yards per punt over his career with 46 kicks killed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. He had 57 punts of 50 yards or more, and only one punt was blocked.
KR: Christian Kirk (2015-17): Kirk scored a 79-yard touchdown on the first punt return of his career. That was an indication of what was to come. He earned All-American and All-SEC honors as a punt returner. In his three-year career, Kirk set A&M records for the highest punt return average at 22.0 and career punt returns for touchdowns with six. He also set a single-season record with three returns for touchdowns in 2015. Kirk also averaged 21.8 yards on kickoff returns. He returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against Arkansas in 2017.
Cullen Gillaspia (2015-18): An emotional leader as the 12th man, Gillaspia excelled on special teams and made contributions offensively and defensively, too. He completed his career with 25 tackles, a forced fumble and recovered fumble and 2 blocked kicks. He also had a kickoff return for 27 yards. Though most of his tackles were recorded on special teams, Gillaspia also saw action at linebacker before switching to fullback in 2018. He ended the ’18 season and his career with a 13-yard touchdown run in a 52-13 Gator Bowl victory over North Carolina State.
Quote:
Cullen Gillaspia (2015-18).... Though most of his tackles were recorded on offense,....
Guessing kickoff team tackles = offense.leardriver said:Quote:
Cullen Gillaspia (2015-18).... Though most of his tackles were recorded on offense,....
Is that correct? Amazing to get 25 tackles on offense, even if you're playing full time on 'O',
CB, '67
We should regularly have Thorpe Award finalists at CB. We haven't had guys at that level in 25 years, unless I've forgotten someone. Sammy Davis was a great player, but he wasn't as good as Ray Mickens, who wasn't as good as Aaron Glenn or Kevin Smith.W said:
you know...looking at that list...it really highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the A&M program during the decade --- especially the SEC years.
for example at WR...Josh Reynolds and Jeff Fuller did not make the list and they had some great seasons for the Ags.
but at RB and OL...there wasn't much competition or other names to consider IMO. Those units have struggled in the SEC.
also at linebacker and corner. Nothing against the players from the first 2 or 3 years of the decade, but A&M should have been able to recruit more impactful players at those positions. The program did not and has suffered defensively for years
