Texas A&M
vs
Ole Miss
College Football
Pick – Analysis
10/12/13
Ole Miss hosts Johnny Football and Texas A&M on Saturday and the Aggies are currently -6 point road favorites at most top offshore sportsbooks.
Ole Miss is in off a 30-22 loss at Auburn (as -3 point favorites) and quarterback Bo Wallace struggled throughout. His numbers look fine with 336 yards and two TDs, but if you watched the Game, his accuracy was off for much of the contest as seen in the two interceptions and 52 percent completion rate. Not only that, but even in a close Game, the running Game did nothing. Mississippi’s leading running back Jeff SCott, only had six carries for 66 yards. Give the man the ball.
The Rebels have played three straight road Games, and are now back at home. But without consistent quarterback play, it doesn’t matter where the Game is played.
With Manziel, the Aggies have one of the most potent offenses in the nation. Manziel is accurate (71.4 percent) and fills up the stat sheet with 1,489 yards and 14 TDs on the year. Along with that, no one can stop him on the ground with 314 rushing yards and three more TDs. Mike Evans has been one of the best receivers in the nation and has 691 yards and five TDs. It’s unlikely anyone on Ole Miss is going to stop that duo from connecting. Ben Malena and Tra Carson also help out in the running Game with a combined 532 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
Ole Miss has a solid defense, but it probably won’t matter. We already saw what Manziel did to Alabama, putting 42 points on the board. It’s unlikely Texas A&M is going to take this Game lightly and we could expect a similar result much like their Game two weeks ago at Arkansas. The Razorbacks stayed in the Game solely because of the Aggies defensive issues. In the end, Arkansas still couldn’t Scoreenough. In addition to that, Texas A&M is coming off a bye week.
The Rebels are starting a stretch which includes six straight home Games and back-to-back Games against Top 10 teams. Will this defense be enough to stop Manziel at least a couple times?
That was the case in last year’s Game, also at Ole Miss. The Aggies rushed for 290 yards, but Manziel wasn’t all that great in the passing Game. Granted, he’s better now than he was a year ago, but that’s where the Ole Miss hope comes from. Texas A&M needed two late touchdowns to win that Game, 30-27. Still, the Rebels are arguably better this season, as well. Bo Wallace has to limit turnovers and Jeff SCott needs plenty of touches (had 21 carries for 108 yards last year) for the Rebels to upset.
The Aggies are 4-1 ATS in their last five road Games and 5-1 ATS in their last six Conference Games. The Rebels are just 1-4 ATS in their last five home Games against a team with a winning road record. The total is huge sitting around 74/75 points, but people are still counting on it.
Check back on Friday afternoon for a pick on this Game.