Now that Texas A&M has obviously withered and died, there's less to be excited about in college football. For some reason, the SEC showcase game at 2:30 on CBS features Texas A&M visiting Auburn as a 21.5 point underdog. Anyone who saw the last four games the Aggies played must be wondering why Auburn is only favored by about three TDs, when Alabama won 59-0 and A&M barely survived La-Monroe in a 21-16 nailbiter.
College Football News predicts a final score of 41-20, and based on everything I've seen so far, a result that close might qualify as a moral victory for the Aggies.
The real SEC showcase game on CBS is the 7:00 PM contest featuring Alabama at LSU. These teams look evenly matched in 2014, and the Crimson Tide is a 6.5 point favorite. CFN doesn't think it'll be that close, and anticipates a 31-17 Alabama victory.
Over in the Big Dumpster Fire, Baylor visits Oklahoma, and West Virginia tries on the stronghorns in Austin. I'll watch parts of these games if it looks like the Sooners and Mountaineers are winning. OU is favored by 5 at home, and West Virginia by 3 as a visitor, but both might be prime candidates for upsets.
Added 4:26 PM Saturday: At the half, Texas A&M leads 35-17, scoring a touchdown on the return of a blocked FG on the last play of the half. So far, the Aggies have looked very good on offense, more than adequate on defense, and excellent on special teams. This is the first time since the first game against SC that A&M has looked like a team capable of playing competitive football in the SEC West. Kyle Allen should be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season, and whether A&M wins at Auburn or not, the Missouri and LSU games no longer look like definite losses.
Added 5:28 PM: Texas A&M still leads 38-24 at the end of the third quarter. Goddammit, this is tense.
Added 6:28 PM: The Aggies hold on for a 41-38 win that may have saved the season (at least in terms of preserving Texas A&M's relevance in the SEC West as a possible spoiler). Maybe some of the highly-rated recruits reconsider their thoughts of changing their commitments, which also qualifies as a save.
A team like Texas A&M (unranked, on a four-game streak of bad performances) doesn't upset a number three team like Auburn on the road without at least one or two lucky breaks. Tonight, Auburn mishandled the ball twice, and alert Aggie defenders recovered both fumbles. The first fumble ended a potential scoring drive on the lip of the Aggie end zone. The second gave A&M possession with Auburn in range for a tying FG and less than a minute remaining. If A&M can continue to play as well as they did today, and continue to take advantage of the breaks when they come along, they might finish with a few victories that I never expected last summer. Finally, I've been having serious doubts that a Sumlin-coached team would ever try to play what I consider to be SEC football, with a strong running game and a defense that doesn't allow the opposing offense to score at will.
The game against Auburn resembled what I think SEC football should look like.
Added 11:12 PM: It's over. LSU is tough, but Alabama is a little tougher. The Tide wins a defensive gut check in overtime 20-13.
College Football News predicts a final score of 41-20, and based on everything I've seen so far, a result that close might qualify as a moral victory for the Aggies.
The real SEC showcase game on CBS is the 7:00 PM contest featuring Alabama at LSU. These teams look evenly matched in 2014, and the Crimson Tide is a 6.5 point favorite. CFN doesn't think it'll be that close, and anticipates a 31-17 Alabama victory.
Over in the Big Dumpster Fire, Baylor visits Oklahoma, and West Virginia tries on the stronghorns in Austin. I'll watch parts of these games if it looks like the Sooners and Mountaineers are winning. OU is favored by 5 at home, and West Virginia by 3 as a visitor, but both might be prime candidates for upsets.
Added 4:26 PM Saturday: At the half, Texas A&M leads 35-17, scoring a touchdown on the return of a blocked FG on the last play of the half. So far, the Aggies have looked very good on offense, more than adequate on defense, and excellent on special teams. This is the first time since the first game against SC that A&M has looked like a team capable of playing competitive football in the SEC West. Kyle Allen should be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season, and whether A&M wins at Auburn or not, the Missouri and LSU games no longer look like definite losses.
Added 5:28 PM: Texas A&M still leads 38-24 at the end of the third quarter. Goddammit, this is tense.
Added 6:28 PM: The Aggies hold on for a 41-38 win that may have saved the season (at least in terms of preserving Texas A&M's relevance in the SEC West as a possible spoiler). Maybe some of the highly-rated recruits reconsider their thoughts of changing their commitments, which also qualifies as a save.
A team like Texas A&M (unranked, on a four-game streak of bad performances) doesn't upset a number three team like Auburn on the road without at least one or two lucky breaks. Tonight, Auburn mishandled the ball twice, and alert Aggie defenders recovered both fumbles. The first fumble ended a potential scoring drive on the lip of the Aggie end zone. The second gave A&M possession with Auburn in range for a tying FG and less than a minute remaining. If A&M can continue to play as well as they did today, and continue to take advantage of the breaks when they come along, they might finish with a few victories that I never expected last summer. Finally, I've been having serious doubts that a Sumlin-coached team would ever try to play what I consider to be SEC football, with a strong running game and a defense that doesn't allow the opposing offense to score at will.
The game against Auburn resembled what I think SEC football should look like.
Added 11:12 PM: It's over. LSU is tough, but Alabama is a little tougher. The Tide wins a defensive gut check in overtime 20-13.
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