The other guys All-Stars, Round 2
During the first bye week, AY took a look at opposing players who had stood out in their losses to Texas A&M. Now that we’re at the second bye, we’re taking another run at it. The starters are in bold.
Quarterback
Taylen Green, Arkansas: 19-32, 256 yards, 3 TD passing; 12 carries, 85 yards, 2 TD rushing
Green has had a solid 2025, but he was a wizard when the Aggies came to town two weekend ago. He was virtually unstoppable, no matter what Texas A&M threw at him. It was a virtuoso performance.
CJ Carr, Notre Dame: 20-32, 293 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Carr had the best game, statistically, of any opposing quarterback A&M has faced so far.
Running back
Robert Henry, UTSA: 16 carries, 177 yards, 2 TD
Henry set the tone for his 2025 season with his performance in the opener against the Aggies. He now has 868 rushing yards, just 2 yards off the national lead, and is averaging 8.3 yards per carry.
Mike Washington, Arkansas: 16 carries, 147 yards
Washington ripped off one big run after another against the Aggies, but didn’t get into the end zone.
Tight end
Eli Raridon, Notre Dame: 4 catches, 85 yards
Raridon started the season like a house on fire, with 182 yards in Notre Dame’s first two games. Since then, he hasn’t even doubled his receiving totals, but did have 7 catches for 109 yards against NC State.
Trey’dez Green, LSU: 6 catches, 54 yards, 1 TD
Started off the game hot and then was largely held in check until garbage time.
Wide receiver
O’mega Blake, Arkansas: 7 catches, 118 yards, 1 TD
Vernell Brown III, Florida: 6 catches, 77 yards
Brady Boyd, Utah State: 6 catches, 87 yards
Malachi Fields, Notre Dame: 6 catches, 77 yards
Blake was a machine against A&M, just finding ways to get open repeatedly. Brown had a couple of big catches on great throws from DJ Lagway, while Boyd was easily Utah State’s best weapon.
Offensive line
The entire Arkansas offensive line. I’m sure this overlooks someone, but the Razorbacks easily had the best group A&M has played this season.
Defensive line
DE: Chris Murray, Auburn; 4 tackles, 1 sack
DT: Jacobian Guillory, LSU; 4 tackles, 1 TFL
DT: Bobby Jamison-Travis, Auburn; 5 tackles
DE: Jack Pyburn, LSU; 5 tackles
Keyron Craword, Auburn: 2 tackles, 1 sack
Jamari Lyons, Florida: 4 tackles
It was hard to put together a defensive front because the Aggies have battered every one they’ve played. Murray had vitually half of his season production (9 tackles, 1.5 sacks) against A&M; Guillory had his best game statistically as well (he has 12 tackles on the year). Travis has 24 stops on the year, and Pyburn has 33 tackles and a career high 1.5 sacks so far this season.
Linebacker
Xavier “Deebo” Atkins, Auburn: 10 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 INT
John Miller, Utah State: 7 tackles, 2 sacks
Drayk Bowen, Notre Dame: 6 tackles,
Jaylen Sneed, Notre Dame: 4 tackles, 1 sack
If Green didn’t have the best single player performance against A&M this year, Atkins did. He did virtually everything for Auburn and single-handedly kept the game close. Miller is the only player with more than one sack against the Aggies this year, and Bowen will go down in history as the guy Nate Boerkircher beat for the game-winning touchdown.
Secondary
CB: Leonard Moore, Notre Dame; 2 passes broken up, 1 INT
S: Jahron Manning, Mississippi State: 13 tackles
Tae Johnson, Notre Dame: 6 tackles, 1 pass broken up, 1 fumble return, 1 TD
S: AJ Haulcy, LSU: 12 tackles, 1 pass broken up, 1 INT
Adon Shuler, Notre Dame: 7 tackles
CB: Mansoor Delane, LSU; 5 tackles, 1 pass broken up
NICKEL: Hensley Louidor-Faustin, Auburn: 4 tackles, 1 TFL
Moore was easily the best defensive back A&M played against, as he shut down both KC Concepcion and Mario Craver when he was against them. Delane wasn’t that effective, but did deflect a pass that was picked off. Haulcy had a huge game for LSU, and Manning may have been the only Mississippi State defender to have a decent game against the Aggies.
