College Football Predictions – Texas A&M Aggies 2020 College Football Preview
August 28, 2020
2019 Recap
Record – 8-5
ATS – 7-6
It was an interesting year.
The Aggies beat everyone that they should have taken care of, and lost to the teams that you would expect (Clemson, LSU, ROLL TIDE, Auburn, Georgia). That makes it hard to know how good they really were. They finished the season with a bowl win over Oklahoma St (W 24-21) and that makes it a 17-9 start in the JIMBO ERA.
Do they have a chance to compete for the SEC West in 2020? Let’s take a look.
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
West Division – TBD
SEC – TBD
Texas A&M Aggies 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
It was hit and miss last year for the Aggies as they struggled with consistency for good parts of the campaign. They scored fewer than 30 PPG for the first time since 2015 and finished the year ranked #8 in the SEC in rushing offense and #4 in passing offense. QB Kellen Mond is back for his senior season (62%, 20-9 TD to INT, 8 rushing TD LY) and he’s certainly one of the better signal callers in the SEC. #1 WR Jhamon Ausbon (872, 5 TD LY) is back in the mix and the Aggies boast one of the best TE combinations in college football in Jalen Wydermyer (447, 14.0 6 TD LY) and highly-touted specimen Baylor Cupp who missed LY due to injury. Bad news was received recently when the Aggies found out that projected starting WR Cameron Buckley suffered a season-ending injury. Depth is a question at RB but we really like the potential of sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller who booked four 100+ yard games on the ground in 2019. His workload increased in the 2nd half of the campaign and we project a 1,000-yard season in 2020 (946, 10 TD, 5.4 LY). The offensive line looks rock solid with four returning starters but we hope they can clean up the pass protection (34 sacks allowed LY, 2nd worst SEC).
We project moderate improvement this year and fully expect them to score more than 30PPG. The only missing ingredient appears to be a legit home run hitter in the WR group.
DEFENSE
The Aggies played some SNEAKY GOOD defense a season ago. They finished the year ranked #5 in the conference in run defense (131 YPG) and #7 in pass efficiency D (#3 completion %), but the numbers look a lot better when you consider that they had to face LSU, ROLL TIDE, and Clemson, among others. They bring back nine starters on defense including an impossible 15 of their top 18 tacklers from the 2019 squad. The DL has size and talent and they return their top-two tacklers in LBs Buddy Johnson and Anthony Hines who also combined for 19 TFL LY. The secondary boasts experience and size and sophomore Demani Richardson is one of the most talented safeties in the conference. After achieving impressive PENETRATION from 2016 to 2018 (39,43,37 sacks) the Aggies only booked 29 of those bad boys in 2019 (#8 SEC). If they can find a way to get more pressure on the QB the stop unit has a shot to be really, really good.
This looks like one of the better defenses in the SEC and we expect them to post improved finishes is most of the major defensive statistical categories.
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK Seth Small connected on 18/23 FG attempts LY (3/7 from 40+) but the Aggies will miss star punter Braden Mann who is off to the NFL (Jets). They could use some additional spice at PR and KR.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – 10 SEC games, baby. They draw some toughies out of the SEC East in Florida (H) and South Carolina (A), and don’t sleep on those Volunteers (A). They avoid Georgia. It’s good to have a FREE SQUARE to open the season and get the juices flowing (Vanderbilt) but their next two games are vs ROLL TIDE (A) and Florida (H). The Aggies finish with LSU (H) and Auburn (A). (!)
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Mississippi St (October 17th)
This road trip comes after the aforementioned brutal EXACTA of Alabama and Florida, and Mike Leach’s offense is not easy to handle. Not likely we’ll be in the road chalk in this spot, yo.
Season Win Total
Over 7 -110
Under 7 -110
MEGALOCKS says:
Our COLLEGE STATION INSIDERS set the number right at the current market price. This team is very talented but the schedule is really tough (again).
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Texas A&M has posted an impressive 10 consecutive winning seasons.
The Aggies are a combined (-13) in turnover margin in two years under the watch of JIMBO (-6,-7).
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
The Aggies are gonna GET IT ON early when they face ROLL TIDE on the road in week two, and the home game the following week vs the Gators is MUST SEE TV. There’s potential to get on a major roll during the middle of the schedule and it’ll be interesting to see if they can stay in the mix for the SEC West crown heading into the final two games.
The roster is one of the most impressive in the conference but they’ll need to pull a rabbit out of the hat to get to the SEC Championship Game.
#GigEm !
Want more Texas A&M football ?
WEBSITE
https://12thman.com/sports/football
FORUM
http://www.secrant.com/rant/texas-a-m-sports/
http://tamu.247sports.com/Board/Texas-AM-Aggies-Forum-20
http://www.agtimes.com/boards/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=777feca6e4d61449845913658cb011c2
NEWS
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/
http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/245/texas-a&m-aggies
TWITTER
Hashtag – #GigEm
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