Another epic battle to occur in College Station

A battle of top 10 teams will happen at Kyle Field where the 12th Man will be waiting.

Tennessee (5-0, ), ranked No. 9, visits Texas A&M (5-0, 3-0), ranked No. 8, at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 8 on CBS.

Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin didn’t give an update on the status of defensive end Myles Garrett, receivers Speedy Noil and Ricky Seals-Jones and offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor when he met with reporters Oct. 4.

But he advised people not to buy into the thought that simply because the Volunteers had to rally to beat Florida, defeated Georgia on the last play of the game, and beat Appalachian State in double overtime, that Tennessee got lucky.

“No they haven’t gotten lucky,” Sumlin said.”One of the top special teams in league. Great speed across field. When you have a team like that you’re explosive. When you combine that with quarterback who’s been there and done that, you’re a confident unit. We have a huge challenge this weekend. Have to put things together all four quarters. Quarterback can put points up all kind of ways. Is confident and he should be, based on how he’s played.”

That quarterback is Josh Dobbins, who has completed 77 of 133 passes for 1,035 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. He is fifth overall in passing yards.

“Whether he’s throwing it, he’s running it, whatever he’s doing, he’s the No. 1 guy for points in this league,” Sumlin added. “That gives you a chance to have those types of games and to win every game. He’s been through it before. Been in bunch of different stadiums. Done it on the road. He’s going to come in here, and he’s seen all this. Because of that, creates confidence in football team with a really good defense, with high level athletes, with a lot of speed.”

But the Aggies haven’t been shabby on offense either. They are the No. 1 overall offense thanks averaging 521 yards of total offense.

Quarterback Trevor Knight ranks third in the conference with 98 completions for 1,261 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Sumlin said the quarterback’s best quality, however, is winning.

“What he brings to table is that kind of leadership,” he said. “Made good decisions. Can he be better? Yes. He’ll be first to tell you that. Still some things we’re working at. All in all been very, very effective. Go back to work productive, that’s what he’s done.”

Sumlin was equally impressed with Vols defensive end Derek Barnett, who is tied for third in the SEC with four sacks.

“Athletically one of tops in country,” Sumlin said. “But from production standpoint his numbers with sacks are comparable. That’s what I see. See lot of guys that can be disruptive and who are athletic and who are great players. But productivity is a big deal to me. That’s where he stands out.”

Meanwhile, Texas A&M is first in tackles for loss and sacks per game.

Dobbs said his awareness is always high, but there’s no question Garrett and Deashon Hall, have his attention, calling them “two high caliber defensive ends.”

“They also have some very good interior defensive linemen across the board,” he said. “They have some depth, and we understand we’re going to have to execute and play our game if we’re going to be successful.”

This marks the third year the Aggies have started the season 5-0. But unlike the last two years, the players say it feels different this time. Sumlin said a win over Tennessee will heat up the conversation. And a loss doesn’t indicate anything either, he added.

One reason for the success, Sumlin said, is because the players “have really done a great job of blocking out noise, when people talked about program in disarray, talked about uncertainties, they blocked that out.”

“This team has done great job focusing on little things day to day,” he said. “Great leadership from coaching staff and internally from our team, guys across the board. Got real good nucleus of guys who’ve played lot of football here. Been real important. Have continued to play a high level of football and tried to get better every week and focus on little things. When people ask me what’s different — how they’ve gone about business has been different. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon.”