There won't be many interesting SEC games on TV this weekend, since Auburn, Ole Miss and LSU have bye weeks. The SEC showcase game at 2:30 PM on CBS features Florida vs Georgia, two 6-1 teams ranked in the AP top ten this week. Georgia is favored by a touchdown, and College Football News expects the Bulldogs will cover the spread easily with a 30-17 win. Update: No surprises here. Georgia rolls over the Gators, 36-17.
Texas A&M plays at Mississippi State (4-3) on ESPN at 6:00 PM. The Aggies are a slight underdog on the road (2.5 points), but CFN thinks they'll win 20-17 because the MSU passing game isn't effective enough to take advantage of A&M's most obvious weakness on defense (the secondary). I'm nervous about this matchup because A&M has wobbled on the brink of disaster against Arkansas, Kentucky, and South Carolina. And since Johnny Manziel's last season (2013), Mississippi State has gone 3-1 against A&M, with the only loss at Kyle Field in 2015.
The losses against MSU in 2014 and 2016 were pivot points that turned promising 5-0 and 7-1 seasons into sickening 8-5 disappointments. Last year, the defeat began the skid that turned a semi-respectable 5-2 start into a 7-6 finish and the end of the Sumlin era.
Jimbo Fisher is already proving that A&M football during his tenure won't look like what we saw throughout Sumlin's post-Manziel fade into obscurity. Maybe he'll initiate a winning streak against Mississippi State this weekend.
Update 10:31 PM Saturday; In the old Southwest Conference and later in the Big 12, there were a few teams that seemed to be a regular pain in the ass for Texas A&M in football. Three that stick out in my memory were Missouri, Kansas State, and especially Texas Tech. Now, in the SEC West, the nemesis role is being filled by Mississippi State. I had a feeling all week long that A&M would find a way to embarrass themselves in Starkville, so I didn't watch the game on TV. Sure enough, they got rolled 28-13 in what was apparently a discouraging exhibition of incompetence. So much for those daydreams about a 9-3 season record.
Added 7:42 PM Sunday: Correction after re-reading my original post. Jimbo's team looked exactly like Sumlin's teams against Mississippi State, making the defeat even harder to stomach.
Texas A&M plays at Mississippi State (4-3) on ESPN at 6:00 PM. The Aggies are a slight underdog on the road (2.5 points), but CFN thinks they'll win 20-17 because the MSU passing game isn't effective enough to take advantage of A&M's most obvious weakness on defense (the secondary). I'm nervous about this matchup because A&M has wobbled on the brink of disaster against Arkansas, Kentucky, and South Carolina. And since Johnny Manziel's last season (2013), Mississippi State has gone 3-1 against A&M, with the only loss at Kyle Field in 2015.
The losses against MSU in 2014 and 2016 were pivot points that turned promising 5-0 and 7-1 seasons into sickening 8-5 disappointments. Last year, the defeat began the skid that turned a semi-respectable 5-2 start into a 7-6 finish and the end of the Sumlin era.
Jimbo Fisher is already proving that A&M football during his tenure won't look like what we saw throughout Sumlin's post-Manziel fade into obscurity. Maybe he'll initiate a winning streak against Mississippi State this weekend.
Update 10:31 PM Saturday; In the old Southwest Conference and later in the Big 12, there were a few teams that seemed to be a regular pain in the ass for Texas A&M in football. Three that stick out in my memory were Missouri, Kansas State, and especially Texas Tech. Now, in the SEC West, the nemesis role is being filled by Mississippi State. I had a feeling all week long that A&M would find a way to embarrass themselves in Starkville, so I didn't watch the game on TV. Sure enough, they got rolled 28-13 in what was apparently a discouraging exhibition of incompetence. So much for those daydreams about a 9-3 season record.
Added 7:42 PM Sunday: Correction after re-reading my original post. Jimbo's team looked exactly like Sumlin's teams against Mississippi State, making the defeat even harder to stomach.
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