HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – With the close of the 2021-22 campaign, the Alabama A&M Sports Information Office is producing a Season in Review for each of the program's 16 sports from the past year.
 
That series will begin with the fall season before progressing to the winter and spring campaigns. Each week reviews will be released on Mondays and Wednesdays until concluding with the final spring sport on Monday, July 18 and a Department Season in Review on Wednesday, July 20. Today we take a look back at the Fall 2021 Football season.
 
Fall 2021 Football
Conference Affiliation: Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC)
Overall/Conference Finish: 7-3, 5-3 (3^rd East)
Final National Ranking: N/A
NCAA: N/A
All-Americans: 8 (5 Postseason/3 Preseason) – STATS Perform FCS (Third-Team: Aqeel Glass), BOXTOROW-Postseason (First-Team: Aqeel Glass, Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, Odieu Hilaire, Honorable Mention: Gary Quarles), BOXTOROW-Preseason (Aqeel Glass, Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, Jonathan Williams)
All-Region/District Selections: 1 – CoSIDA Academic All-District (Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim)
All-Conference Selections: 15 – All-SWAC (First-Team: Aqeel Glass, Gary Quarles, Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, Odieu Hilaire, Second-Team: Dee Anderson), Phil Steele All-SWAC: First-Team: Aqeel Glass, Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, Odieu Hilaire (WR), Gary Quarles, Second-Team: Dee Anderson, Third-Team: Odieu Hilaire (Ret.), Kendric Johnson, Jonathan Williams, Fourth-Team: Armoni Holloway, Abram Jones
Conference Weekly Honors: 5 – Player of the Week: Aqeel Glass (Sept. 6, Oct. 15, Nov. 11), Gary Quarles (Sept. 20), Dee Anderson (Nov. 8 – Co-P-of-W)
Major Awards and Honors: 17 – Black College Hall of Fame National Player of the Year (Deacon Jones Award): Aqeel Glass, BOXTOROW National Player of the Year: Aqeel Glass,
Walter Payton Award Finalist (FCS Heisman) - 9th: Aqeel Glass, SWAC Offensive Player of the Year: Aqeel Glass, Preseason SWAC Offensive Player of the Year: Aqeel Glass, BOXTOROW National Player of the Week (9/7): Aqeel Glass, Inaugural HBCU Legacy Bowl Selection: Aqeel Glass, 2022 Senior Bowl Watch List: Aqeel Glass, NFLPA Collegiate Bowl Selection: Aqeel Glass, NFL HBCU Combine Invitees: Aqeel Glass, Dee Anderson, NFLPA Collegiate Bowl Offensive Coordinator: Duane Taylor, Phil Steel SWAC Offensive Player of the Year: Aqeel Glass, Black College Hall of Fame National Player of the Year (Deacon Jones Award) Watch List: Aqeel Glass, Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, CoSIDA Academic All-District: Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim,
AFCA Minority Offensive Staff of the Year: Alabama A&M Offensive Staff
 
Fall 2021 Season in Review

• Won first three games, including 42-41 thriller over South Carolina State (9/4) in season opener and 30-27 win in a driving rainstorm at Bethune-Cookman (9/16). Latter was aired live on ESPNU and was the first meeting between the clubs in recorded program history while S.C. State game was the first at Louis Crews Stadium in 651 days (W, 30-13 over Mississippi Valley State on November 23, 2019). Safety Trenell Troutman sealed both games with an interception
• Closed season with four straight wins, averaging 47 points per game. Stretch began with 42-28 victory over Alabama State (10/30) in the Magic City Classic and included a 52-49 come-from-behind win at Texas Southern (11/13) and a 52-24 whitewashing of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/20).
• The 52 points against UAPB marks the 11^th time since moving to DI in 1998 that the program has hit the 50-point threshold, including back-to-back games for the first time since 2003. It is the fifth highest total in that time and pushed A&M's record in these games to a perfect 11-0. Additionally, three of those games came in a roughly seven month stretch over the past two seasons. The only other tighter grouping is three such games during the 2003 campaign.
• Offensive coordinator Duane Taylor was named OC for the American team in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. He was the only member of either staff, the majority of which were former National Football League (NFL) players or coaches, from a Historically Black College or University (HBCU).
• A&M was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Offensive Staff of the Year.
• Bulldogs' offense notched six marks within the Top-15 in the NCAA National Stats, with four of those coming in the Top-10. Leading the way was a No. 3 ranking in Fourth Down Conversion (.727) followed by the No. 4 Passing Offense (367.2) and No. 7 Scoring Offense (37.9).
•  Also ranked No. 5 in Passing Efficiency (159.42), No. 13 in Passing Yards Per Completion (13.86), No. 23 in First Down Offense (252) and No. 18 in Red Zone Offense (.875). Every single one of those categories also led the SWAC. For good measure, A&M finished No. 21 in Completion Percentage (.624), good for second in the league, and No. 19 in Time of Possession (32:17) which was third in the SWAC.
• Scored at least 30 points in eight of 10 games on the season.

 
Individual Achievements/Honors

• Aqeel Glass finished his career with 12,136 yards and 109 passing touchdowns to place in the Top-15 all-time at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. Those numbers placed him fourth all-time among HBCU quarterbacks, trailing NFL legend Steve McNair (Alcorn State), Bruce Eugene (Grambling) and Willie Totten (Mississippi Valley State).
• Glass finished with 3,568 yards passing, 36 passing touchdowns, went 259-of-414 with an average of 356.8 yards per game and finished with a passer rating of 160.27 in 10 games and starts, leading to a bevy of honors from all levels.
• Among those honors were repeating as the Deacon Jones Award Winner as the Black College Football Player of the Year and SWAC Offensive Player of the Year and was a Stats Perform FCS Third-Team All-American.
• Glass becomes just the fourth individual to earn two SWAC Offensive Player of the Year Honors in the past 23 years, joining Grambling's Devonte Kincade (2016, 2017) and Eugene (2002, 2005) and Corey Holmes (1999, 2000) of Mississippi Valley State. Additionally, he is just the third player to do so in consecutive seasons, along with Kincade and Holmes, and will be the only one to have accomplished the feat in the same calendar year, having done so following the Spring 2021 campaign.
• Glass also repeated as BOXTOROW National Player of the Year, finished 9-of-25 in the Walter Payton Award voting (FCS Heisman) and was the Phil Steele SWAC Player of the Year. Was also a three-time SWAC Offensive Player of the Week (joined by Gary Quarles and Dee Anderson for a total of five) and was the BOXTOROW National Player of the Week (9/7).
• As not just the top signal caller in A&M history but one of the best in the country, Glass was also the first selection to the Inaugural HBCU Legacy Bowl and was selected to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Was also SWAC Preseason Player of the Year and on Deacon Jones, Reese's Senior Bowl and CFPA FCS National Performer of the Year watch lists.
• Wide receiver Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim was named to the Deacon Jones Watch List and was selected as College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District. Latter made him just the fifth selection, and fourth individual, to accomplish the feat for the football program in the 70-year history of the award.
• Earned four BOXTOROW All-Americans (First-Team: Aqeel Glass, Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, Odieu Hilaire, Honorable Mention: Gary Quarles) and three BOXTOROW Preseason All-American honors (Aqeel Glass, Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, Jonathan Williams).
• Picked up five All-SWAC honors with Aqeel Glass, Gary Quarles, Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, Odieu Hilaire landing on the First-Team. Dee Anderson was named to the Second-Team, giving the Bulldogs three of the four wideouts on the All-SWAC teams. It also marked a 22^nd straight season (every year at Division I) that A&M has had at least one selection and the 14^th year in that time that they had at least five honorees.
• Added 10 Phil Steele All-SWAC selections (First-Team: Aqeel Glass, Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, Odieu Hilaire (WR), Gary Quarles, Second-Team: Dee Anderson, Third-Team: Odieu Hilaire (Ret.), Kendric Johnson, Jonathan Williams, Fourth-Team: Armoni Holloway, Abram Jones).
• Glass recorded five games with at least 400 air yards, including resetting the program's NCAA Division I Era record twice with 446 and four touchdowns at Grambling (10/2) and 462 with five scores at Texas Southern (11/13). Additionally, he added a pair of games of more than 300 yards passing with four TDs in each.
• Gary Quarles delivered an impressive 2021 campaign, leading the SWAC in yards per game (95.5) and rushing touchdowns (10) while third in yards (955), accomplishing that in just 10 games.
• The 5-6 tailback also accounted for 1,179 all-purpose yards and topped the 100-yard rushing plateau five times on the year. Those would include the first three games with 129 yards and a touchdown against South Carolina State (9/4), 101 and a score at Bethune-Cookman (9/16) in a driving rainstorm and a career-high 164 yards and a pair of TDs against Tuskegee (9/25) in Mobile, Alabama.
• Quarles also had 126 yards in a victory over Alabama State (10/30) in the Magic City Classic and 162 on a career-best 35 carries at Texas Southern (11/13), scoring a pair of touchdowns in each game. In the latter, he also caught four balls for a personal best 80 yards to account for 242 scrimmage yards in a 52-49 victory.
• Ibrahim delivered his second career 1,000-yard season, finishing with 1,008 and finishing the year as one of just 16 individuals to accomplish the feat at the FCS level. Finished 15^th in the country, do so in just 10 games while every other player in front of him played at least 11 games.
• Former walk-on, tryout player was also the only individual in the SWAC to hit triple digits in receiving yards per game, finishing at 100.8 and led the league in receiving by nearly 100 yards. Fueling that total were eight catches and 177 yards against Tuskegee (9/25), 176 and two touchdowns at Texas Southern (11/13) and 133 yards on a career-high 10 catches at Grambling (10/2).
• Dee Anderson exploded onto the scene with 12 touchdowns and 493 yards on just 33 catches in his one year as a Bulldog. At one point late in the season he tied for the national lead in receiving scores before finishing tied for eighth. Every other player ahead of him played at least two more games to get to their total and he was just three behind the national leader.
• Anderson made full use of his 6-6 frame, snagging three touchdowns in a game three times, including against Tuskegee, Grambling and Mississippi Valley State. The latter would see him snag a career-high seven catches for a personal best 122 yards.
• Fellow "Outlaw", the moniker that the Bulldog wide receiver corps adopted, Odieu Hilaire led the SWAC in receptions (71) and catches per game (7.1) and finished second in yards per game (91.8) and total yards (918), both of the latter to his teammate Ibrahim.
• On the year Hilaire finished fifth in catches per game at the FCS level and was 13th in receiving yards per game and 22^nd in total receiving yards. Additionally, his nine receiving touchdowns tied for fourth in the league and were 19^th in the country.
• Individual NCAA statistical rankings saw A&M with 12 Top-10 rankings, including nine from Glass. He would hit in the following: Points Responsible For Per Game (22.6 - No. 4), Passing Yards Per Game (356.8 - No. 5), Yards Per Pass Attempt (8.62 - No. 5), Passing Efficiency (160.3 - No. 6), Passing Touchdowns (36 - No. 6), Passing Yards (3,568 - No. 6), Points Responsible For (226 - No. 7), Total Offense (348.3 - No. 7), Completions Per Game (25.90 - No. 8).
• The Bulldogs also saw Hilaire (7.1 - No. 5) and Ibrahim (6.7 - No. 8) rank in the Top-10 in   Receptions Per Game and Anderson (12 – No. 8) in receiving touchdowns.

 
Schedule of Season in Review Releases
Football (May 25)
Women's Cross Country (May 30)
Women's Volleyball (June 1)
Women's Soccer (June 6)
Women's Basketball (June 8)
Men's Basketball (June 13)
Men's Indoor Track & Field (June 15)
Women's Indoor Track & Field (June 20)
Bowling (June 22)
Women's Tennis (June 27)
Men's Tennis (June 29)
Men's Outdoor Track & Field (July 2)
Women's Outdoor Track & Field (July 6)
Men's Golf (July 11)
Baseball (July 13)
Softball (July 18)
Athletics (July 20)