A&M’s fall camp kicked off Monday in the sweltering heat of the Texas summer. Despite the less than ideal conditions, the Aggies were eager to hit the field and begin initial preparations for the Sept. 3 season opener, as UCLA and star sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen travel to College Station.
Immediately after his first fall practice with Texas A&M, incoming graduate transfer and now starting quarterback Trevor Knight was eager to discuss the team’s opening week opponent and what a win could mean for the Aggies.
“It’s a very good opponent in UCLA,” Knight said. “We’ve started watching them a little bit, not really diving into it but watching them over the summer and they’re extremely talented. It’s going to be a tough matchup Week 1 and that’s what you want. Strength of schedule and all that stuff. We want to come out and start with a bang and show people who we are is who we are and if we play really well and if we play well in that game, it’s going to set the tone for the rest of the season.”
Of course a fast start hasn’t been the Aggies issue the last two seasons, as Texas A&M has started 5-0 both years before losing consecutive games following the hot starts. After a rocky finish to 2015 and arguably a tougher offseason of distractions, junior defensive end Myles Garrett was asked to comment on A&M being picked to finish fourth in the West by the media heading into the season.
“We know what our goal is: To win it all. It doesn’t matter what (they think),” Garrett said. “We have the same mentality, it just increases. It’s not like the mentality changes, everybody wants to win a championship. Start with an SEC championship, win every game, that’s everybody’s goal.”
For both Knight, who is a senior, and Garrett, who is projected as potentially the No. 1 overall draft prospect for the 2017 NFL Draft, this season will likely be both player’s last chance to win big on the college stage.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
