A chane treats A&M to a fast glimpse at future with Orange Bowl showing
COLLEGE STATION — After Texas A&M running back Devon Achane wowed a national audience Saturday by running a tightrope on a 76-yard touchdown dash along the left sideline, teammate Ainias Smith offered a history lesson on Achane’s longtime slipperiness.
“He’s been doing this since high school, really,” Smith said. “Since forever.”
Smith’s reminisce to Achane’s impressive high school career at Fort Bend Marshall stretched all the way back … to 377 days prior to Achane’s game-changing sprint in No. 5 A&M’s 41-27 victory over No. 13 North Carolina in the Orange Bowl.
That’s why when longtime A&M sports information boss Alan Cannon tugged on Achane’s jersey with an important message at game’s end, Achane could not believe his ears.
“When he told me was I was MVP, I was a little nervous,” Achane readily admitted with a grin. “I had to get up on that stage. I’m a freshman, so it was a lot to process.”
Achane’s entertaining appearance on the Orange Bowl’s temporary stage, where he received the game’s most outstanding player trophy after rushing 12 times for 140 yards and two TDs, was prompted by his showing on the national stage with the game on the line.
The Orange Bowl was tied at 27 with four minutes remaining when A&M quarterback Kellen Mond received a snap out of the shotgun formation from his
24-yard line, stepped to his right and handed off to Achane cutting left.
“A counter play, something we ran a lot this season, and Jalen (Wydermyer) actually gave him a great block,” Mond said of the Aggies’ rangy tight end. “Devon came in and gave us a great spark.”
That might be what excites A&M fans the most moving forward. The 5-9, 185-pound Achane was simply subbing for starter Isaiah Spiller, who had collected 50 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries in the first three quarters.
The sophomore Spiller, a grinder who had a limp much of the game when he wasn’t taking handoffs, gave way to the fresh-legged freshman Achane, and the Tar Heels weren’t sure what hit them based on the sudden change of pace.
“(Spiller) was a little banged up, and (Achane) hit it really hard a good two or three times,” A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said. “With Isaiah, there was no reason to hurt him. We kept it going, and Devon did one heck of a job.”
North Carolina coach Mack Brown dubbed Achane’s startling dash to glory “the big play in the running game” that proved the difference in the outcome — A&M’s most electrifying run in years.
Once Achane received the handoff on the counter, he followed Wydermyer’s block and
nearly tripped over the fallen tight end en route to the left sideline. But in an eye-widening balancing act Marshall fans witnessed for years, Achane somehow stayed on his feet and even shook free of a would-be tackle from a North Carolina defensive back while regaining his balance.
From there, and following a desperation dive by a Tar Heels linebacker, Achane saw nothing
but green between him and the end zone. It was no contest.
“He’s pretty fast,” Mond said with a smile. “I mean, he’s running track (at A&M) for a reason.”
Following’s Achane’s go-ahead score with 3:44 left in the bowl, the Aggies defense stopped North Carolina on fourth down, and A&M put the game out of reach on Achane sprints of 11 and
22 yards. His 1-yard blast into the end zone with 1:34 left gave the season finale its final score.
“We grinded it out,” Achane said of the game and the Aggies’ 9-1 season.
Achane, the Chronicle’s offensive player of the year a year ago, collected 115 career touchdowns in high school in a handful of manners. He also won a state title in the 200-meter dash and ran the ninth-fastest high school 200-meter dash of all time (20.46 seconds) en route to track and football stardom.
Last year, he was named Gatorade’s track athlete of the year in Texas following a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fort Bend Marshall football coach James Williams routinely put it succinctly: “Devon is Devon.”
A&M fans have found out as much, especially those who tuned in for the Aggies’ finale, and the one-two punch of Spiller and Achane at running back likely will be rated among the nation’s best entering 2021.
One more thing Aggies will appreciate concerning the new star back: Achane’s willingness to wait his turn for a shot at college greatness.
“I’m a freshman,” Achane once again reminded, “so I know I’m not going to come in here and just get all the carries I want. It’s all about being patient and waiting on my time.”
His time arrived sooner than anticipated Saturday — and it was perfect timing for the Aggies.