Football 2024: Tenth Week (at Gamecocks)

The win over LSU at home last week might have made the season for Texas A&M. Now the Aggies (7-1) travel to play South Carolina (4-3), which got an impressive (35-9) road win against Oklahoma in their latest game. Are the Gamecocks that good, or are the Sooners pathetic this season?

The A&M game will be on ABC at 6:30 PM Central, and the Aggies are a 2.5 point favorite. It's not clear whether Conner Weigman will return as the starting quarterback, but comparing their accomplishments against LSU, I think Marcel Reed has earned another look as the starter tomorrow.

College Football News predicts Texas A&M should be able to pull out a 24-21 win on the road tomorrow. 

Update 10:09 AM Sunday: Daylight saving time might have ended before midnight for Texas A&M, or maybe the team was overconfident after steamrolling LSU last week. Whatever the reason, they weren't ready for what South Carolina was using against them. Aggie fans can stop daydreaming about A&M being undefeated in SEC games after the Gamecocks turned a 20-20 tie at halftime into a 44-20 embarrassment. A&M has been a team that has trouble managing success for most of the years I've been watching their games.

Football 2024: Ninth Week (LSU)

Texas A&M begins the roughest part of its schedule tonight with a home game against LSU (ABC at 6:30 PM Central). The Aggies have been playing games against LSU off and on for decades, and have lost most of them (23-36-3 overall). Both teams have 6-1 records, with LSU ranked 8th and A&M ranked 14th. The Aggies are a 2.5 point favorite, presumably due to home field advantage?

College Football News forecast?  LSU holds the advantage with a better DL pass rush and better OL pass protection. In SEC West games against LSU since 2012, Texas A&M has struggled to win three times (3-9 overall), with all three wins at Kyle Field. CFN expects LSU to achieve a minor 27-26 upset, possibly with a late field goal.

 I usually dislike Aggie night games on TV because the only ones worth watching generally run long and interfere with my bedtime routine. If A&M is going to lose tonight, I hope it doesn't happen on the final play in the third overtime period. 

Updated 10:53 PM Saturday: My usual procedure is to stay with the Aggies in each football game until they fall behind on the scoreboard by more than ten points. In the first half, A&M stumbled around and was behind LSU 17-7 at halftime. I decided to stick with them in the second half as long as they stayed within ten points. By the time I got back to the game, Conner Weigman was on the sideline and Marcel Reed was playing quarterback. All of a sudden, the Aggies were on fire, making big plays on offense and defense, and they outscored LSU in the 3rd and 4th quarters 31-6, for a final score of 38-23. The Aggies are the only SEC team that hasn't lost a conference game yet, and I'm just glad I didn't stop watching the game at halftime.

Football 2024: Eighth Week (at MSU)

Oklahoma couldn't hold down the score (lost 34-3) against Texas U. last weekend, so college football wasn't a factor in my Saturday time-killing. The Aggies (5-1) are back in business tomorrow, with a road game against Mississippi State (1-4) on SEC Network at 3:15 PM Central.

As discussed earlier (see previous post), playing MSU on their home field is usually a risky proposition for A&M, but the Aggies are favored by 15 1/2 points this week. The College Football News preview indicates the Aggie rushing offense should dominate time of possession against a defense allowing rushing yardage in big chunks this season. Even worse for the Bulldogs is the loss of their starting quarterback in this game, and substitution of a relatively untested freshman QB. When these factors are combined, the result is a CFN prediction that A&M will win 37-20. That would be entertaining.

Update 4:52 PM Saturday: The Aggies are ahead 21-17 at the half, and it's another hard test for A&M in a game played in Starkville.

Final update 7:26 PM Saturday: There were plenty of reasons to be frustrated during this game because the Aggies kept MSU in the game with penalties that nullified big plays on offense and defense, and turnovers that gave MSU chances for easy touchdowns. Texas A&M won't finish the season unbeaten in SEC games unless the coaches can eliminate sloppiness. The Aggies got away with a 34-24 win because MSU didn't take advantage of every freebie.

Football 2024: Seventh Week (Open Date)

There's no A&M football game on TV this week, which gives Mike Elko and his team an opportunity to rest, recover and prepare for next week's road game against Mississippi State, a team that usually gives visiting A&M headaches. The Aggies are 9-8 against MSU all-time, but their first game against the Bulldogs in this century was the 2000 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, commonly remembered as the Snow Bowl due to the weather conditions that night. The whole game was played in a snowstorm, and Jackie Sherrill's MSU team beat R.C. Slocum's Aggies 43-41. 

Mississippi State and A&M now play each other every year as members of the SEC West. The Aggies are 4-2 in games played at Kyle Field, and MSU is 4-2 in games played in Starkville.

Since A&M isn't playing today, I've considered alternatives and decided to watch new SEC rivals Texas U. (5-0) and Oklahoma U. (4-1) in their annual meeting (on ABC at 2:30 PM Central). Texas U. is a 14.5 point favorite, and they've already beaten Michigan. I'll probably watch this game as long as the Sooners are ahead or tied, but if they get behind by ten points or more, I'll be saying, "Hasta la vista, losers."

Football 2024: Sixth Week (Mizzou)

Texas A&M plays its first 2024 SEC home game tomorrow on ABC at 11:00 AM Central. The opponent will be Missouri (4-0), a former Big 12 rival that moved to the SEC at the same time A&M did. Over the years, the Aggies have played Mizzou sixteen times, and won nine times. Since 2000, these teams have played ten games in two conferences, with Mizzou having the advantage in most of them, and the Aggie record in the 21st century being a poor 3-7.

So far in 2024, Mizzou is unbeaten, with the best wins against Boston College (27-21) and Vanderbilt (30-27). The Aggies are slightly favored at home by 2 1/2 points, and College Football News is predicting a narrow 26-23 win that will keep A&M unbeaten in conference games a while longer.

Update 12:41 PM Saturday: Texas A&M will usually have at least one game each season in which offense, defense, and special teams all perform at a highly effective level and win a game against a good opponent. At halftime, the Aggies lead #9 Mizzou 24-0, and if the second half is like the first, this could be the special game for this season. Conner Weigman is healthy and started at quarterback, and has done very well both passing and running. The defense has kept Missouri off the scoreboard so far, and the kicking game (punts and field goals) has been excellent.

Final update 2:36 PM Saturday: The Aggie defense held # 9 Mizzou to one TD and one FG, and the offense scored 17 points to produce a 41-10 blowout full of highlights.

Football 2024: Fifth Week (Hogs)

About every ten years, I need to replace my central air & heat system after it starts needing repairs every few months. That's where most of this day's been spent, and the job's nearly done. Now I have time to think about another Texas A&M football game.

This week, A&M's opponent is Arkansas (3-1) and the venue is Arlington, as it has been for most of the UA games played since 2009. Television coverage on ESPN begins at 2:30 PM Central. The Aggies are 11-1 versus the Hogs since joining the SEC in 2012, and are slight favorites at 3 1/2 points to win tomorrow. In the old SWC years, Arkansas was usually the stronger team, so watching the Aggies kick asses and take names is really enjoyable now.

According to College Football News, these teams are comparable because both have effective running games on offense, and both have defenses that can limit rushing offenses. This indicates the game could be a low-scoring slugfest. The Arkansas quarterback can create problems when he scrambles, and Mike Elko is apparently undecided about Conner Weigman returning as his starter. In my opinion, Marcel Reed seems like a bigger threat than Conner as both a runner and passer, but I'm not buying tickets. CFN prediction: Aggies gain a slight advantage in turnover margin and escape with a 27-23 win.

Update 4:15 PM Saturday: Both teams have made a few very good offensive plays and some very good defensive plays, and both have looked average the rest of the time. That's resulted in a 14-14 tie at halftime.

Final update 6:03 PM Saturday: Trailing 17-14 in the fourth quarter, the Aggies put together a few more good offensive and defensive plays and pulled out a 21-17 win. This will be the last game in Arlington for awhile. 

Football 2024: Fourth Week (Bowling Green)

Yesterday was another one of those stinkers when it seems like eight things out of ten are trying to go wrong, and enough of them did to keep me away from my laptop and the internet. That's my excuse for not finding out which team Texas A&M will play today until a few minutes ago.

Last week, A&M dominated the Florida Gators on their home field until things got messy late in the second half. Today, the Aggies (2-1) will play Bowling Green, a MAC team A&M hasn't played until now. The Falcons (1-1) were competitive against Penn State last week in a 34-27 road loss. Their game at Kyle Field will be streamed at 6:30 PM Central on SEC Network, with A&M favored by 22 1/2 points. As usual, A&M's ability to cover the spread will depend on which quarterback on the roster plays most of the offensive snaps.

College Football News predicts the Aggie advantage in the running game will produce a 38-16 win tonight.

Update 9:48 AM Sunday: Too many promising A&M drives ended in field goal attempts (four of which were scores), and Bowling Green never considered a premature surrender. When those two factors are combined, the result is a game that was more suspenseful than most of us were prepared to watch. The Aggies survived the struggle with a 26-20 win. Marcel Reed played well at quarterback, but wasn't perfect.

Football 2024: Third Week (Gators)

 I spent most of Friday the 13th (yesterday) being seen by (or waiting to be seen by) medical specialists (audiology and ENT). That kept me away from my computer and the internet, so I'm getting a really late start on this week's statement of personal opinions regarding A&M football.

This afternoon (2:30 PM Central on ABC), Texas A&M begins playing conference games on the road at Florida as a four-point favorite. The Aggies and Florida are both 1-1 so far. Both lost their hard game and won their easy one.

Conner Weigman, the starting QB for the Aggies, is apparently on the Injured, Probably Won't Play list. Based on his performance at Kyle Field against Notre Dame, having Weigman miss this game might not be such a bad thing. The Aggies have two other quarterbacks (Jaylen Henderson and Marcel Reed) who've looked capable when they've had an opportunity to play.

College Football News thinks Florida's defense could be tested by the A&M running game and predicts a 30-17 road win for Mike Elko's team.

Update 5:13 PM Saturday: There was a 47-minute game delay due to bad weather, but Texas A&M has played pretty well on offense and defense, and leads 20-0 at the half. Marcel Reed is handling QB duties efficiently with Conner Weigman on the bench. 

Final update 7:16 PM Saturday: The game on TV kept moving from channel to channel for various reasons, and I didn't see the last few minutes of the 4th quarter. A&M let a big lead get away near the end, but still won 33-20.