Three Aggie Football Players Earn SEC Player of the Week Honors

Story courtesy of Southeastern Conference

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Three Aggies earned Southeastern Conference player of the week honors after the Texas A&M football team took down top-ranked Alabama on Saturday, 41-38. The league office announced Monday that Zach Calzada was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week, Tyree Johnson brought home SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week and Devon Achane garnered Special Teams Player of the Week accolades.

Calzada completed his first 10 passes against the Crimson Tide in just his fourth career start, throwing for 123 yards before his first miscue. On the day, the sophomore from Sugar Hill, Georgia, was 21-of-31 for 285 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception. In the fourth quarter, Calzada tied the game with a 25-yard touchdown strike to junior Ainias Smith with three minutes remaining. After an Aggie defensive three-and-out series, Calzada led the offense 54 yards on eight plays to set up a game-winning 28-yard field goal as time expired.

Johnson posted his best numbers of the season as the senior defensive end from Washington, D.C., was credited with four stops on the day. He recorded 2.0 sacks for a loss of 9 yards. The Aggie defense compiled 4.0 sacks in the game, the most against Alabama since the 2018 season. As a team, A&M currently ranks 11th in the nation with 19 sacks on the season and its 3.17 sack per game average is good for 14th in the country.

After Alabama had blocked a punt and recovered for a touchdown to cut A&M’s lead to 24-17, Achane took the ensuing kickoff at the 4-yard line and raced 96 yards to extend the Aggies’ lead to 31-17 with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. The sophomore Missouri City, Texas, native scored a touchdown on a kickoff return for the first time since the 2018 season. Achane and the kickoff return team rank second nationally, averaging 45 yards per return.

The No. 21 Aggies return to action Saturday, Oct. 16 as they travel to Missouri for an 11 a.m. kick on SEC Network.

OFFENSIVE

Zach Calzada, QB, Texas A&M

DEFENSIVE

Brandon Turnage, DB, Tennessee

SPECIAL TEAMS

Devon Achane, KR, Texas A&M

DEFENSIVE LINE

Tyree Johnson, DL, Texas A&M

Octavious Oxendine, DT, Kentucky

OFFENSIVE LINE

Nick Broeker, OL, Ole Miss

Eli Cox, OG, Kentucky

FRESHMAN

Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia