Opponent Preview: Texas A&M’s Special Teams

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State Bulldogs host the No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT inside Davis Wade Stadium.

The Aggies come in tied for 21st for field goals per game with 1.33. Junior kicker Seth Small has made 4 of his 5 field goal attempts so far in 2020. Last week, Small made all five extra-point kicks and both of his field goal attempts. His 29-yard field goal as time expired was the difference in Texas A&M’s 41-38 upset win over No. 4 Florida. Small’s performance was a redemption after missing an early field goal against Alabama in Week 2.

Redshirt freshman kicker Caden Davis, who serves as Texas A&M’s kickoff specialist, has seen 14 of his 16 kickoffs result in a touchback. The kickoff defense has allowed two 18-yard returns, which ranks tied for 23rd in the nation.

Texas A&M comes into this week’s contest rated No. 40 in net punting with a net average of 38.80. Redshirt freshman punter Nik Constantinou has punted the ball five times for 205 yards. Just one of his punts has been returned, which was an 11-yard return. Constantinou made his way to Texas A&M all the way from Australia. He began playing Australian rules football before he was even 10 years old with Aberfeldie in the Essendon District Football League. Aberfeldie is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, which is on the southeastern coast of the country. He played there as well as with the Doutta Stars of the same league during his junior career.

You can catch the contest on SEC Network.