Texas A&M boasted a much-improved team in year one under the leadership of Jimbo Fisher, who guided the Aggies to a 9-4 record that was good enough for a second-place finish in the SEC West. Now they enter the 2019 season as a top-15 football team and potential top-10 team.

Clemson had their hands full in College Station last season as the Kelly Bryant-led Tigers escaped with a 28-26 victory after a late surge was halted with an interception in the end zone by K’Von Wallace with just 45 seconds to play.

Aggie quarterback Kellen Mond was spectacular in the contest and couldn’t seem to miss, with every tipped ball seemingly landing in friendly hands for positive yards. He finished that game with 430 yards on 23-of-30 passing with three touchdowns.

Offensively, Texas A&M returns Mond — who was fourth in the SEC last year with 3,581 total yards — as well as its entire receiving corps in Quartney Davis, who led the team with 45 catches and seven touchdowns, Jhamon Ausbon and Kendrick Roders. Mond looks to cement himself as an elite SEC quarterback and he has the tools and talent to do so.

Major losses on that side of the ball include All-American tight end Jace Sternberger and All-SEC running back Trayveon Williams. Blue-chip true freshman Baylor Cupp will compete with sophomore Glenn Beal, and the winner will have some big shoes to fill at tight end. The new running back will most likely be sophomore Jashaun Corbin, who brought explosiveness in a backup role last season, and they also add a bruiser in transfer Cordarrian Richardson from UCF.

The Aggie offense looks set to bring power to the table, has the tools Fisher needs to make an impact in the SEC West, and will bring a test to Death Valley in Week 2 of the 2019 season.

On defense, Texas A&M struggled in pass defense, finishing near the bottom of the SEC in that category, and needs to show vast improvement in that area to be successful this season. They also only return one starter in the entire front seven in Justin Madubuike, who brings 5.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss to the table.

The Aggies brought in five new freshmen to assist the linebacker corps with the most starts of any backer coming from Buddy Johnson, who has four and 47 career tackles. Sophmore Anthony Hines III is also returning from an injury that took him out for the majority of last season, and Ikenna Okeke moves over from safety and will enter the year fresh off an injury.

At defensive end, Micheal Clemons is back from a foot injury and showed significant progress in practice late last season and had a fantastic spring. He has tremendous edge speed and was unstoppable on the practice field. Tyree Johnson has good reports out of spring practice in College Station as well and the Aggies also add five-star freshman Demarvin Leal.

The secondary returns its entire squad and needs to show improvement from an abysmal year in 2018. They also have cornerback Clifford Chattman back after missing the last two years, and some highly touted recruits will add to the competition and potentially get playing time.

The Aggies will bring another stiff test to the Tigers, but this time Clemson gets the home field advantage, and Texas A&M only got a preview of Trevor Lawrence in 2018. Look forward to an exciting matchup in week two, but the Tigers’ offense squares up nicely against a slightly improved secondary, while the youthful front seven bodes well for a dynamic Clemson offense.

Either way, Clemson and Texas A&M always bring an exciting matchup to the table and will likely do the same with a pair of top-15 teams.