The second half of the regular season gets started tomorrow, and Texas A&M (4-2) plays the first of three consecutive road games against South Carolina (3-2) at 2:30 PM on the SEC Network. I still don't have a firm grip on the Aggies. They lost a game they could've won (against Clemson), and won two games they could've easily lost (against Arkansas and Kentucky). They seem to be sticking close to the formula for winning games in the SEC: run the football on offense, stop the run on defense.
The guys who talk about Aggie football on the radio generally agree that A&M could go 3-0 on the road against South Carolina, Mississippi State and Auburn. But they could go 0-3 just as easily. The Aggies are a slight favorite (two points) tomorrow, and College Football News predicts they'll cover the spread in a 24-20 struggle.
Update 4:15 PM Saturday: Another struggle, with A&M leading 13-0 at halftime. This should probably be a 20-0 lead, but missed field goals and missed TD opportunities in the red zone continue to be an issue. The defense is playing well, and got an interception in the end zone to keep the shutout alive.
Update 5:06 PM Saturday: End of third quarter, score tied 16-16. Got outplayed on both sides of the ball. Shit.
Update 6:04 PM: Texas A&M won 26-23 in a third consecutive game that looked like it would get away from them late in the 4th quarter. After I thought the Aggies had iced the win at 26-16 with under two minutes to play, their penalty yardage helped the Gamecocks score a last minute TD that made it scary at the end.
The penalties against A&M gave Gamecocks 36 of the 78 total yards on the drive, plus three automatic first downs, and the drive only used 48 seconds of the remaining 1:36 in the game. To sum it up, the Aggies are good enough to win SEC games, but not good enough to win them easily.
Of the four SEC teams that A&M plays after the Gamecocks, one (Mississippi State) has an open date this weekend. The other three will be on television, and here's how College Football News expects them to finish:
The guys who talk about Aggie football on the radio generally agree that A&M could go 3-0 on the road against South Carolina, Mississippi State and Auburn. But they could go 0-3 just as easily. The Aggies are a slight favorite (two points) tomorrow, and College Football News predicts they'll cover the spread in a 24-20 struggle.
Update 4:15 PM Saturday: Another struggle, with A&M leading 13-0 at halftime. This should probably be a 20-0 lead, but missed field goals and missed TD opportunities in the red zone continue to be an issue. The defense is playing well, and got an interception in the end zone to keep the shutout alive.
Update 5:06 PM Saturday: End of third quarter, score tied 16-16. Got outplayed on both sides of the ball. Shit.
Update 6:04 PM: Texas A&M won 26-23 in a third consecutive game that looked like it would get away from them late in the 4th quarter. After I thought the Aggies had iced the win at 26-16 with under two minutes to play, their penalty yardage helped the Gamecocks score a last minute TD that made it scary at the end.
The penalties against A&M gave Gamecocks 36 of the 78 total yards on the drive, plus three automatic first downs, and the drive only used 48 seconds of the remaining 1:36 in the game. To sum it up, the Aggies are good enough to win SEC games, but not good enough to win them easily.
Of the four SEC teams that A&M plays after the Gamecocks, one (Mississippi State) has an open date this weekend. The other three will be on television, and here's how College Football News expects them to finish:
- Tennessee (2-3) at Auburn (4-2) at 11:00 AM on SEC. Auburn is favored by 15.5 points, and should cruise past the Vols easily, 34-16. Update: Tennessee pulls off the stunning upset of the day in the SEC, winning 30-24.
- Georgia (6-0) at LSU (5-1) in the CBS showcase game at 2:30 PM. The Bulldogs are 7.5 point favorites, and will have a hard time covering the spread, winning a 27-19 slug fest. Update: LSU may be more than A&M can handle after beating Georgia convincingly, 36-16.
- Ole Miss (4-2) at Arkansas (1-5) at 6:30 PM on SEC. The Razorbacks are 6.5 point underdogs at home, and will lose 41-31. It will be interesting to see if Ole Miss has an easier time with them than A&M did. Update: Ole Miss scored more points against the Arkansas defense than A&M did, but Arkansas scored more points against Ole Miss than they scored against A&M. The Rebels won a 37-33 shootout. Does this tell me anything about Texas A&M vs Ole Miss? Probably not.
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