The Tennessee Volunteers head west to do battle with the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field on Saturday, October 8th. The match-up begins at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be shown on CBS. The Aggies are a -7 point favorite and the total is now placed at 57. This will the first meeting between the two schools in over ten years.
The Volunteers are coming off a 34-31 win over the Georgia Bulldogs in a wild fourth quarter that seen two touchdowns inside the last 20 seconds. The Aggies went into South Carolina and handled the Gamecocks 24-13 last Saturday.
#9 Tennessee (5-0):
The Volunteers have trailed in four of their first five games and barely squeaked past Appalachian State in their opener. The play of Josh Dobbs in the second half of football games has been a big reason why their still undefeated. This year, Dobbs has completed 77 balls for over 1,000 yards with 13 touchdowns and six picks.
Work-horse running back Jalen Hurd is questionable and he was dearly missed in the second half against the Bulldogs. He has rushed the pigskin 101 times in 2016, for over 400 yards and two scores. Dobbs has pitched in another 267 yards and an impressive five touchdowns via his feet.
Three receivers pitch in through the air for Tennessee. Since the start of the season, they have accumulated just under 40 catches for over 600 yards and 10 touchdowns. Josh Malone leads this group with a 20.7 average yards per catch and five scores.
The Volunteer defense still hasn’t shored up the front half as teams are averaging 150 on the ground against them. They have steadied the ship overall, ranking in the lower half of the country in points allowed per contest (23).
#7 Texas A&M (5-0):
The Aggies have turned into the physical and consistent football squad with a balanced offense and a tough defense. Oklahoma transfer Trevor Knight has certainly brought his share of those qualities to the offense.
Knight has thrown the ball for 1261 yards in just under 100 completions for seven touchdowns and no picks. He also has ran the ball another 50 times for over 400 yards and six more trips to the promise land.
Two running backs handle the work-load out of the back field for the Aggies. Together, they have almost 100 carries for over 600 yards and seven touchdowns. Obviously, the contribution made by Trevor Knight gives the ground game a huge boost.
The physical Aggie defense might get a boost if defensive end Myles Garrett returns to action from an ankle injury. He is listed as questionable for this game. Although Texas A&M has just average stats against the run and pass, they are outstanding in the red zone. The Aggies are only surrendering 15.4 points a game which is 12th best in the nation.
Trends and Notes:
The Volunteers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games.
The Under is 8-1-1 in the Aggies last 10 games overall.
The Aggies are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
The Over is 5-2 in the Volunteers last 7 games overall.
Game Predictions:
The Aggies get the 12th man and all that goes with home field advantage. They are balanced and have proven they can put points up and keep opposing teams out of the end.
Tennessee keeps getting getting off to slow starts and that’s not good for this match-up with Texas A&M. If Jalen Hurd can’t go, that will be a huge loss to the Volunteers. Either way, he is banged up and the Aggies are a physical group of defenders.
The Aggies offense is heating up, and are more balanced than the Volunteers. Tennessee needs a big defensive break-out to keep this close, and I think they will get it. Texas A&M should win this game but the seven points has push written all over it.
We at GMS like the Aggies stout red zone defense and Tennessee needs to come up big against Trevor Knight or it’s all she wrote. Take the under 57, in a close game or jump on the Aggies half time by a touchdown. The Volunteer’s slow starts are a good way to cash a quick ticket.
