TaxAct Texas Bowl

Texas A&M (7-5) vs. No. 20 Oklahoma State (9-4)

8 p.m. CST Wednesday (ESPN)

NRG Stadium in Houston

2 First-team all-conference players apiece for Oklahoma State and Texas A&M in 2023. RB Ollie Gordon II and LB Nickolas Martin were first-team All-Big 12 for the Cowboys. WR Ainias Smith (as the all-purpose player and return specialist) and LB Edgerrin Cooper were first-team All-SEC for the Aggies. The Oklahoma State all-stars are playing in the Texas Bowl. The Texas A&M all-stars are not.

2 Previous bowl meetings between Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. The Aggies defeated the Cowboys 33-16 in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 12, 1981, and 24-21 in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27, 2019. The latter is the teams’ most recent meeting.

3 Games as Texas A&M’s interim head coach for Elijah Robinson, who will be leaving the Aggies to become Syracuse’s defensive coordinator after the Texas Bowl. Robinson took the reins after Texas A&M fired coach Jimbo Fisher with two games remaining in the regular season. Under Robinson, the Aggies defeated Abilene Christian 38-10 and lost to LSU 42-30 to close the regular season. Former Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko will become the head coach for the Aggies after the bowl. He’s been the head coach at Duke for the past two seasons. Robinson’s opposing coach in the Texas Bowl, Mike Gundy, will be guiding Oklahoma State for his 245th game.

3 Victories and one loss for Texas A&M against Big 12 opponents since the Aggies left the league to join the SEC in 2012. All the meetings have come in bowls. The Aggies defeated Oklahoma 41-13 in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 4, 2013, West Virginia 45-37 in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 29, 2014, and Oklahoma State 24-21 in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27, 2019, and lost to Kansas State 33-28 in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 28, 2016.

3 Quarterbacks started games for Texas A&M this season, with Jaylen Henderson set to start under center for the Aggies in the Texas Bowl. Henderson started the final three games of the regular season. In victories over Mississippi State and Abilene Christian and a loss to LSU, Henderson competed 52-of-77 passes for 704 yards with six TDs and two interceptions and ran for 97 yards and two TDs on 40 carries.

5 Consecutive games have featured at least 30 points for Texas A&M. The Aggies haven’t scored at least 30 points in six consecutive games since a seven-game streak ended during the 2014 season. Oklahoma State has yielded at least 30 points in its past four games. The Cowboys have had only four longer streaks – three of five games and one of nine games during the 2018 season.

6 Victories and 13 losses for Oklahoma State against SEC opponents. Seven of the past 10 meetings have come bowls, with the Cowboys posting a 2-5 record in the postseason games. The Texas Bowl will be Oklahoma State’s first game against an SEC opponent since the Cowboys lost to Texas A&M 24-21 in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27, 2019. OSU’s most recent victory over an SEC opponent is a 38-33 decision against Missouri in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31, 2018.

8 Tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks have been averaged for Texas A&M this season. Nationally, the Aggies rank fifth in tackles for loss per game and fourth in sacks per game. Texas A&M will play in the Texas Bowl without consensus All-American LB Edgerrin Cooper, who leads the SEC with 17 tackles for loss and recorded eight sacks this season. Cooper is skipping the game to prepare for the NFL Draft.

9 Consecutive Texas Bowls have matched SEC and Big 12 teams, including Wednesday’s game. Texas Tech defeated Ole Miss 42-25 in last season’s game to boost the Big 12′s record to 5-3 in the meetings with the SEC.

10 Consecutive games with at least 210 passing yards for Oklahoma State QB Alan Bowman after he had 225 passing yards three games into the 2023 season. In the past 10 games, Bowman has completed 240-of-400 passes for 2,814 yards with 13 TDs and 11 interceptions after going 30-of-52 for 244 yards with no TDs and one interception against Central Arkansas, Arizona State and South Alabama.

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18 Victories for Texas A&M and 10 victories for Oklahoma State in the Aggies-Cowboys series. The teams met annually from 1996 through 2011 as Big 12 rivals.

20 Victories and 22 losses for Texas A&M in bowls. The Aggies have won their past three bowl outings, including a 24-21 victory over Oklahoma State in the 2019 Texas Bowl. Texas A&M also defeated Northwestern 33-22 in the 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl (the forerunner of the Texas Bowl) in the Aggies’ final game before joining the SEC and lost to Kansas State 33-28 in the 2016 Texas Bowl.

21 Victories and 12 losses for Oklahoma State in bowls. The Cowboys lost their only previous appearance in the Texas Bowl 24-21 to Texas A&M on Dec. 27, 2019. OSU’s .636 winning percentage is the best for any program with at least 30 bowl appearances.

53 Receptions and 795 receiving yards and a 14.3-yard punt-return average will be missing for Texas A&M after WR Ainias Smith fractured a finger in the regular-season finale, knocking him out for the Texas Bowl.

77 Solo tackles for Oklahoma State LB Nickolas Martin this season, the most in the Big 12 and the fourth-most in the nation. Martin has 133 total tackles this season.

220 Points have been scored and 143 points have been given up by Oklahoma State after halftime this season after the Cowboys were outscored 234-163 in the first half in 2023. Texas A&M has outscored its opponents 232-115 in the first half and 178-141 in the second half this season.

267.5 Passing yards per game has been yielded by the Oklahoma State defense this season, the worst average in the Big 12. OSU also has given up 27 TD passes. The Texas A&M offense has averaged 262.3 passing yards per game with 24 TD passes.

295 Yards per game have been yielded by the Texas A&M defense this season, the best average in the SEC. The Oklahoma State offense has averaged gaining 421.2 yards per game in 2023.

1,614 Rushing yards for Oklahoma State RB Ollie Gordon II in 2023, the most in the nation entering the bowl season. Gordon has averaged 6.26 yards on 258 rushing attempts and run for 20 TDs this season. Gordon was a unanimous All-American and won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back this season. He also was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.