Last week's Texas A&M game against Arkansas was a major disappointment. Since joining the SEC West in 2012, the Aggies have been able to say, regardless of how their season ended, at least they were better than the fucking hogs. Those days are over.
Tomorrow brings another challenge, against a division opponent that has typically been harder to beat than Arkansas. Mississippi State (2-2) plays at Kyle Field at 6:00 PM on SEC Network. Since the beginning of college football, A&M is 7-7 against MSU, including 5-4 as an SEC member. The Aggies are a 7-point home favorite at 3-1, coming off a 20-10 loss last week. MSU is coming off consecutive losses to Memphis (by two points) and LSU (by three points). At this point, it's hard to know how impressive a close loss against LSU really is.
During the Sumlin era, A&M could usually score points against anybody, but often couldn't score enough to overcome the points the mediocre defense was giving up. This season is different, since the Aggie D has been formidable, but the offense, particularly with Zach Calzada at QB, has been anemic. In the last game, Arkansas got two quick scores on an 85 yard pass and a 48 yard pass. The rest of the time, the Aggie D held the hogs to a pair of field goals, and still lost by 10 points.
College Football News thinks MSU can win the game if they get a quick early lead (as Arkansas did), forcing A&M to play come-from-behind. On the other hand, if the Aggie D asserts itself and allows the O to play the ball control offense Jimbo prefers, the prediction is a low-scoring (23-17) win for Texas A&M. Powerful defense and a productive running game will be keys to success, but depending on Calzada to win an aerial shootout is probably a home loss waiting to happen.
Bottom line: Take MSU and the points on the road.
Added 12:42 PM Saturday: At halftime, Georgia's kicking the crap out of Arkansas 24-0. Hooray for Georgia. (The final score was 37-0, meaning A&M lost last week to a poor Arkansas team).
Update Sunday 12:09 AM: I only saw part of the first half on TV, enough to realize A&M would struggle the entire game to keep the final result a close loss. Life's too short to waste watching A&M play offense, truly an exercise in futility. If Arkansas and MSU can handle the Aggies, I imagine the rest of the SEC teams on the schedule will be able to whip them as well. Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina, Auburn, Ole Miss, LSU are all ahead, and I don't see more than one or two wins in the bunch. Welcome to the hot seat, Jimbo. For the record, MSU embarrassed A&M, 26-22.
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