Week One's Overnight Sensation: Isaiah Spiller, Running Back
Each Monday during the 2020 Texas A&M football season, we’ll identify a first or second-year Aggie player who delivered an exceptional performance and earned the distinction of being the week’s ‘Overnight Sensation.’
When you're a tenth-ranked team that struggles with lowly Vanderbilt, it's tough to find the positives. When your offense is finally expected to hit its stride but only scores 17 on lowly Vanderbilt, it's tough to find the positives.
Enter running back Isaiah Spiller.
Last year, the sophomore from Klein Collins shined in his A&M debut against Texas State en route to being named last year's Week One Overnight Sensation. The next week, he was thrust into action when starting tailback Jashaun Corbin suffered a season-ending hamstring injury against Clemson. In 13 games in 2019 — the final 11 as the Aggies' feature back — Spiller ran for nearly a thousand yards along with 10 touchdowns. All of that as a true freshman.
Following his first offseason in the program (albeit, a very odd offseason), Spiller came into Saturday's season opener looking faster and stronger as he rushed for a game-high 117 yards on just eight carries.
Read that again: Just EIGHT carries.
Of course, the plan coming into this season was for Spiller to split touches with dynamic playmaker Ainias Smith (another sophomore who enjoyed a nice night against Vanderbilt). However, when Spiller had already amassed 93 yards on just six carries in a tight ballgame (an average of 15.5 yards per carry), one has to wonder why the Aggies weren't giving him more touches down the stretch.
In 2019, Spiller fumbled three times, resulting in three turnovers. On Saturday, he did not put the ball on the turf once. Meanwhile, his counterparts in the backfield — Smith and quarterback Kellen Mond — fumbled four times, two of which the Aggies lost (a third A&M lost fumble came from wide receiver Jalen Preston).
Sure, nearly half of Spiller's yards came on a 57-yard run on the Aggies' first play from scrimmage in the second half, but he also had carries of 30 and 24 yards, showcasing some big-play ability. For comparison's sake, Smith only had two carries go for more than six yards: a 25-yard touchdown run for A&M's first score and an 11-yard carry early in the fourth quarter.
While it might have been "just" Vanderbilt, the Aggies will need to rely on some semblance of a capable rushing attack in the coming weeks. Isaiah Spiller will play a huge part in any success A&M has in the ground game, and in an overall disappointing showing from the Aggies' offense, it's good to know Spiller is off on the right foot.
Spiller's stats against Vanderbilt:
Carries: 8
Rushing Yards: 117 yards
Yards/Carry: 14.6
Long Run: 57 yards
Touchdowns: 0
Spiller's 2019 stats:
Carries: 174
Rushing Yards: 946 yards
Yards/Carry: 5.4
Long Run: 85 yards
Touchdowns: 10
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