HOT: WR MALCOME KENNEDY

The 6-foot, 205-pound receiver is not as fast as Speedy Noil and LaQuivonte Gonzalez and not as big as some of the other pass-catchers (see below). But he’s made himself into Texas A&M’s most valuable target.

Kennedy led the Aggies with seven catches for 88 yards against Rice and has collected 24 receptions this season, nearly twice as much as any other player.

WARM: TEXAS A&M OFFENSIVE LINE

Kevin Sumlin, Kenny Hill and the receivers get plenty of (justifiable) credit for A&M’s continued success on offense. But the real hero of the system is the offensive line. After producing Top 10 picks at left tackle in consecutive seasons, the team may make it three consecutive with Cedric Ogbuehi.

Even without Mike Matthews at center on Saturday, the Aggies had little trouble with the Rice defense. The team also is averaging 5.6 yards per carry, an underreported strength.

COLD: TE CAMERON CLEAR

The 6-foot-6, 274-pound target has just four career catches, including one this season. He’s a senior, so as physically talented as he is, his opportunities to make a major impact are dwindling. While Ricky Seals-Jones (6-foot-5, 225 pounds) is thriving, Clear spent the last two games on the sideline nursing an injury.

Saturday would be a good opportunity for Clear to prove he deserves targets before SEC play starts.

FROZEN: DEFENSE AGAINST MOBILE QUARTERBACKS

Rice quarterback Driphus Jackson is a junior who entered Saturday’s game with less than 70 career pass attempts. Yet he completed better than 65 percent of his passes against a Top 10 team in the country.

Jackson accounted for nearly 300 yards of total offense.

“Any time you have a guy who can run around, it creates problems for the defense. We saw that for two years here with Johnny Manziel. We emphasized not breaking out of coverage, and that opened up some lanes for him,” defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said, according to the Houston Chronicle.