Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond was named the Reese’s Senior Bowl MVP after his final performance of his collegiate career on Saturday. Mond, who was playing for the American team, was 13-for-25 and threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns in the 27-24 losing effort against the National team.
Mond had a huge third quarter when he passed for 141 of his 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns after a slow start.
“It was a great feeling whether it was a simple drop back or making an insane play,” the former Aggie starter said. “Everything was kind of rolling my way. Obviously, it was kind of shaky at the beginning, but it definitely shows a lot of poise to be able to bounce back.”
Mond completed 13 of 25 passes for 173 yards, leading an American squad comeback from a 13-0 deficit to a 16-13 lead with two third-quarter TD passes, prompting NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah to say Mond “is making a little money today,” during the broadcast of the game.
One of those scores was perhaps Mond’s best throw of the game, to Clemson WR Amari Rodgers, threading a throw over the middle between defensive backs Darren Hall of San Diego State and Thomas Graham Jr. of Oregon. Hall was also involved in Mond’s worst throw, dropping a would-be interception that bounced off his chest.
Mond’s head coach this week, the Carolina Panthers’ Matt Rhule, liked what he saw from the QB.
“We’re talking about a really, really football-smart guy here,” Rhule said after the game. “He’s got one of those memories. You give him a play and he knows it. He kind of got into a rhythm there in the third quarter, just ripping some seam balls, making some plays. I think he’s got a bright future.
Mond also converted on a two-point conversion in the midst of the American team’s comeback attempt when down 13-0 in the second quarter. The team would go on to take a 16-13 lead but never regained it after the National team answered with a touchdown to end the third quarter.
“It’s a huge sign of everything I’ve worked for,” Mond said. “Obviously I’ve had some ups and downs during my career, but to finally come out here on a huge stage and perform the way I wanted to and execute, it was definitely huge.”
Mond is a record-breaking quarterback that Texas A&M will surely miss in 2021. The six-foot-three senior led the Aggies to a 9-1 record with their only loss coming to eventual national champion Alabama 52-24 back in October and holds the school record for passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions and attempts.
Mond’s MVP performance will surely help his draft stock. Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings has Mond going in day two of the NFL Draft, but by no means will he hear his named called during day one. Still, Mond’s illustrious career ended on a high note.
With the Reese’s senior bowl MVP under his belt, the 217-pounder finds himself as the sixth consecutive quarterback to win the award and joins the ranks of NFL starters like Daniel Jones, Dak Prescott and Justin Herbert who have recently won the award.
WHO IS KELLEN MOND
Kellen Louis Mond (born June 22, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Texas A&M Aggies.
High school career
Mond originally attended Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas before transferring to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida prior to his senior year. As a senior, he passed for 1,936 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 775 yards and 18 touchdowns. Mond was rated by the Rivals.com recruiting network as a five-star recruit and was ranked as the number one dual-threat quarterback in his class. He committed to Texas A&M University to play college football under head coach Kevin Sumlin.
College career
Mond entered his freshman year at Texas A&M in 2017 as a backup to Nick Starkel, but took over as the st
arter after Starkel was injured during the first game of the season against the UCLA Bruins. In his first career start, he completed 12-of-21 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. Prior to Texas A&M’s first game of the NCAA 2018-2019 season, Jimbo Fisher, who was in his first year as Texas A&M’s head coach, replacing Kevin Sumlin, announced that Kellen Mond would be the starting quarterback for the season opener. Despite an initial feeling that Mond and Nick Starkel would continue to battle for the job after a long competition over the summer, Mond held on to the starting position for the remainder of the season, guiding the Aggies to an 8–4 record and a #19 ranking in the regular season College Football Playoff rankings. The Aggies’ season culminated in a historic 74–72 seven-overtime win over SEC rival Louisiana State University (LSU). This game set several records, including the most points ever scored in a game in the FBS era, and tied a handful of other games for longest college football game of all time with seven overtimes. Mond was named the most valuable player of the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Statistics
| Year | Team | GP | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 2017 | Texas A&M | 10 | 117 | 227 | 51.5 | 1,375 | 6.1 | 8 | 6 | 108.8 | 89 | 340 | 3.8 | 3 |
| 2018 | Texas A&M | 13 | 238 | 415 | 57.3 | 3,107 | 7.5 | 24 | 9 | 135.0 | 149 | 474 | 3.2 | 7 |
| 2019 | Texas A&M | 13 | 258 | 419 | 61.6 | 2,897 | 6.9 | 20 | 9 | 131.1 | 126 | 501 | 4.0 | 8 |
| 2020 | Texas A&M | 10 | 188 | 297 | 63.3 | 2,282 | 7.7 | 19 | 3 | 146.9 | 74 | 294 | 4.0 | 4 |
| Career | 46 | 801 | 1,358 | 59.0 | 9,661 | 7.1 | 71 | 27 | 132.0 | 438 | 1,609 | 3.7 | 22 | |
Biography
2019 Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl MVP
2020 (SENIOR): Has started all nine games … Holds the all-time program records for career passing TDs (71), passing yards (9,429), completions (785), attempts (1,332) and total offense (11,001) …. Served as team captain in the season opener … Threw for 189 yards and a touchdown in the victory over Vanderbilt … Recorded the sixth 300-yard passing game of his career, throwing for 318 yards and three touchdowns at Alabama … Moved into first all-time at A&M in career completions and attempts at Alabama … Made it back-to-back games with over 300 yards passing for the second time in his career, going 25-for-35 with 338 yards and three touchdowns, including a 51-yard bomb to Caleb Chapman to tie things up late and eventually lead A&M to victory over No. 4 Florida … Became A&M’s all-time career passing yards leader in the Florida game … Earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week, Davey O’Brien Great 8, Manning Award Starts of the Week and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Honorable Mention honors for his performance against the Gators … Threw another 51-yard scoring pass, finishing the win at Mississippi State with 139 yards and two touchdowns … Became the Aggies all-time leader in total offense with 10,015 career yards, after his 292 yard and three touchdown performance to give A&M the win over Arkansas … Earned Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Honorable Mention honors for his performance against the Razorbacks … Broke the Aggies all-time career passing touchdown record as he threw for 224 yards and four touchdowns to bring his career total to 68, in the 48-3 onslaught at South Carolina … Earned Davey O’Brien Great 8 and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Honorable Mention honors for his performance at South Carolina … In the victory at Auburn, became just the third quarterback in SEC history to pass for over 9,000 yards and rush for 1,500 or more yards in their career, joining Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott and Florida’s Tim Tebow … With two TDs passing & one rushing against Auburn, Mond also joined the elite club of Prescott, Tebow and Johnny Manziel as the only SEC quarterbacks to pass for 60 touchdowns and rush for 20 more in their careers … Earned Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Player of the Week Honorable Mention honors for his performance against the Tigers … Against Tennessee, Mond passed and rushed for a touchdown in the same game for the 18th time in his career … Finished the 30th win of his career as a starting QB with 281 yards through the air and 59 on the ground against the Vols, tallying at least 200 passing yards and 50 rushing yards in a game for the fifth time in his career … Named a Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award finalist and O’Brien Award semifinalist … Named to the SEC Football Community Service Team … Prior to the season, was named to the Manning Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Wuerffel Trophy and Maxwell Award Watch Lists prior to the season … Was honored by the league’s coaches and media, being named to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team by both.2019 (JUNIOR): Started all 13 games … Ranks in the top five all-time at A&M in career wins, passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions and attempts … Joined Johnny Manziel as the only Aggies to throw for over 7,000 yards and rush for 1,000 more in their career … Leads all SEC QBs throwing and rushing for a touchdown in the same game 14 times in his career … Was 19-for-27 throwing for 194 yards and three touchdowns, adding 25 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground … Threw for 236 yards and a touchdown at No. 1 Clemson … Threw for a career-best 71.4 completion percentage (20-28), finishing with 317 yards and scoring through the air and on the ground against Lamar … The victory over Lamar tied Mond for 10th on A&M’s all-time winningest quarterbacks list … Recorded the fifth 300-yard passing game of his career, going 31-for-49 with 335 yards and two touchdown against Auburn … Was 23-for-35 throwing for 251 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Arkansas … Threw for 264 yards and two touchdown, also rushing for 90 yards and a touchdown against Alabama … Was 16-for-28, throwing for 172 yards and a touchdown, while adding 76 yards on the ground in the win at Ole Miss … Rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns, going 17-for-23 with 234 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air against Mississippi State … Was 16-for-21 with 211 passing yards and a touchdown, adding a score of his own on the ground against UTSA en-route to the 20th victory of his career as a starter … Threw for 221 yards and a touchdown on 20-for-33 passing, adding 47 yards and a touchdown of his own on the ground against South Carolina … Was 25-for-42, passing for 275 yards and a touchdown at Georgia … Threw for 95 yards and a touchdown, while tallying 117 yards on the ground and scoring a touchdown of his own in the Texas Bowl win over Oklahoma State … Was named the Academy Sports & Outdoors Texas Bowl MVP … Earned the Offensive MVP and Offensive Top Conditioned Athlete Award at the annual team banquet.
2018 (SOPHOMORE): Started all 13 games… recorded a 134.99 QB rating … completed 238-of-415 passes for 3,107 yards and 24 touchdowns, while also rushing for 474 yards and seven touchdowns … finished sixth in the SEC in passing yards … was 17-for-25 with 184 yards and two touchdowns against Northwestern State … threw for a season-high 430 yards on 23-of-40 attempts with three touchdowns against No. 2 Clemson … threw for 330 yards in the second half vs. Clemson, the most ever by an Aggie quarterback in school history … threw for 210 yards and rushed for 67 with three total touchdowns against ULM … completed 16-of-33 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 98 yards against No. 1 Alabama … threw for 201 yards on 17 completions, and rushed for 32 yards on 11 attempts against Arkansas … completed 18 passes on 29 attempts, throwing for 226 yards and two touchdowns against No. 13 Kentucky … completed 25-of-37 pass attempts, throwing for 353 yards and a touchdown against South Carolina … earned honorable mention accolades for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award for his performance against South Carolina … threw for 232 yards and one touchdown against Mississippi State … completed 16-of-32 pass attempts for 220 yards and a touchdown, rushing for 68 yards on 18 attempts against Auburn … threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns on 19 attempts against Ole Miss … threw for 192 yards and two touchdowns against No. 25 UAB … completed 23 passes for 287 yards and six touchdowns, rushing for 80 yards to score once on the ground against No. 7 LSU … threw for 140 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown on five attempts, one of which was an 65 yard rush for an touchdown on the second play of the game, against NC State … given the Most Improved Award, Offensive MVP Award and Top Conditioned Athlete Award at the team’s annual banquet.
2017 (FRESHMAN): Appeared in 11 games, starting eight … threw for 1,375 yards on 117-of-227 passing … rushed for 340 yards with three touchdowns on 89 attempts … threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns against Louisiana … named to the Davey O’Brien Award “Great 8” list and was Star of the Week by the Manning Award after throwing for 216 yards with two touchdowns and rushing for 109 yards against Arkansas … threw for 237 with a touchdown and also rushed for a touchdown against Alabama … scored on a 9-yard run at Florida … threw for a touchdown against Nicholls and New Mexico.
HIGH SCHOOL: Coached by Kevin Wright at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. … Under Armour All-American … set the IMG Academy season records for passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns as a senior in 2016 … passed for 1,936 yards and 20 TDs and rushed for 775 yards and 18 scores … Lettered as a sophomore and junior at Reagan High School in San Antonio before transferring to IMG … was the District 26-6A Offensive MVP as a junior after passing for 1,991 yards and 26 TDs on 137-of-243 passing, while also rushing for nearly 900 yards … earned second-team all-district honors as a sophomore … rated a four-star recruit by PrepStar … named to PrepStar Top 150 Dream Team … ranked the No. 133 overall national recruit … four-star recruit by Scout … rated the nation’s No. 209 recruit and No. 13 quarterback … rated the No. 1 QB in the state of Florida and No. 3 in the South Region … five-star prospect by Rivals … rated the nation’s No. 1 dual-threat quarterback … ranked the No. 21 overall prospect in the nation … No. 4 recruit in the state of Florida … four-star by ESPN … rated the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the nation and No. 59 on the ESPN 300 list … No. 13 in the state of Florida and No. 27 in the Southeast Region … four-star by 247Sports … rated the No. 3 dual-threat QB and No. 108 overall prospect in the nation … No. 20 player in Florida.
