Then there's A&M, which might be the most frustrating 4-5 team in the country. The Aggies outgained South Carolina with 457 yards, held a 9-7 lead going into the 4th quarter, and lost 17-9. They never reached the end zone. David Olano kicked 3 field goals, and LaNorris Sellers ended it with a 41-yard touchdown run with 1:19 left. Rueben Owens II ran for a season-high 137 yards on 19 carries, and the defense held the Gamecocks to 4-of-12 on third down. For most of that game A&M played well enough to win. It just couldn't finish drives.
The Citadel41-0
Look at A&M's last 5 games and the pattern repeats: the Aggies have either blown somebody out or barely scored. They beat Arkansas 34-7 and The Citadel 41-0. In their 3 losses they scored 6 at Missouri, 20 at Alabama and 9 at South Carolina, and all 3 of those came on the road. Now they're back home, where the offense has looked like a different unit. A&M ranks 17th in FBS in time of possession at 32:26 per game, so its best plan is to run Owens, keep Bishop on the sideline and turn this into a short game.
That's the real matchup here. Tennessee has the better run game and the better defense, and both of those travel. A&M needs long drives and needs to turn them into touchdowns, which it couldn't do last time out. The early forecast for College Station is mostly sunny, around 69 degrees with a light wind, so weather shouldn't decide anything. Tennessee has more to lose. A&M has a home crowd and, if it can finish drives, the yardage to make this a game.
