Week 1 of college football is only a few days away. For Texas A&M football, it will be up against the New Mexico Lobos, who are coming off a 2-10 season.
Despite the 2022 record, the Lobos brought in some transfers and returned some super seniors that will be looking to improve on a poor season last year.
Here are some players to watch for at Kyle Field on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m.
Evan Stewart, WR (Texas A&M)
In Bobby Petrino’s offense, A&M will look to give its most dangerous weapons the ball. Like Petrino said in his media day press conference, they are going to feed the studs.
“We talk about offensive philosophy, and I always say ‘FTS,’ which is to feed the studs,” Petrino said. “The quarterbacks and the coaches need to understand how we get the ball to our best guys.”
One of those studs is sophomore wide receiver Evan Stewart, who’s coming off a productive freshman campaign that saw him be named Freshman All-American by ESPN, The Athletic and FWAA. Stewart played in 10 games last season, racking up 649 yards on 53 receptions and hauling in a pair of touchdowns.
Living up to the hype of a five-star recruit can be difficult, but Stewart has shown that it is not too much of a challenge for him with his athleticism, route running and ability to go up and make a catch when needed. Aggie fans are hoping he can start off his second season with an impressive performance against the Lobos to set the tone in Year 2.
Dylan Hopkins, QB (New Mexico)
After playing three seasons at UAB, redshirt senior quarterback Dylan Hopkins transferred to New Mexico in the offseason for his super-senior year. Hopkins played in 32 games during his tenure with the Blazers, completing 318 out of 508 career passing attempts for a total of 4,472 yards.
The Aggie defense could have a tough time creating turnovers against Hopkins, as he has only thrown 16 interceptions during his career. Only four of those picks came in his 10 games in the 2022-23 season.
It will be interesting to see how the maroon and white secondary can limit the passing attack from Hopkins and force the Lobos to rely on their running game.
Edgerrin Cooper, LB (Texas A&M)
One of the major questions surrounding the Aggies’ defense this offseason is how the linebackers will perform and how much depth A&M will have at the position. Leading the charge will be redshirt junior Edgerrin Cooper.
Cooper has shown throughout his career that he is not scared of delivering a hard hit when he needs to, racking up 121 total tackles in 33 games played. The Aggies will rely on Cooper a lot throughout the season to improve the run defense that allowed 208.8 yards per game in 2022.
Aggie fans would love to see a step up from Cooper in his fourth season as the uncertainty at the position still looms. A big performance from Cooper in Week 1 would be enough to calm the nerves of the fans just a little.
Donte Martin, CB (New Mexico)
Redshirt senior cornerback Donte Martin is back for his sixth year with New Mexico. During his tenure with the cherry and silver, Martin has played in 39 games and started in 35.
Martin has a career 109 tackles with a pair of interceptions. With his experience and play on the field over his career, Martin is the leader of the Lobos’ secondary and should be tasked with facing the Aggies most dangerous weapons at receiver.
In the 2022-23 season, Martin finished with 25 pass breakups, which tied for fifth on the all-time list at New Mexico.