Ole Miss
vs.
Texas A&M
College Football Pick
11/12/16
Unexpectedly, Texas A&M was placed in the top Four of the first College Football Playoff rankings. It didn’t come without warrant, as their only loss was at Alabama, but not many predicted the Aggies to get that Fourth spot. After losing to Mississippi State last Game, their hopes of the CFP are all but gone.
There were a number of reasons A&M didn’t deserve that No. 4 spot and it showed against the Bulldogs. They barely got by UCLA in the opener, needed overtime to take down Tennessee after the Vols came back, and while they won at Auburn, it was before the Tigers really figured things out. Once a legit threat to Alabama, the Aggies already have two Conference losses.
Things haven’t gone great for the Rebels, still being unable to beat any team of relevance, unless Georgia can be considered relevant. They fought against Florida State and Alabama early on, and more recently just didn’t have enough against LSU and Auburn.
The main problem for the Rebs is that their defense can’t stop anyone, often giving up 35-plus points to any mediocre offense. It’s a complete turnaround from last year when Ole Miss won this Game 23-3 as the defense was lights out. Things should be much different in this Game and that starts with Trevor Knight at quarterback.
Knight has been fine, and that’s about all you can describe him as. He’s completing the worst percentage of passes in his college career with the main positive being that he has 13 TDs to only 6 INTs. His legs are what’s keeping this offense going, though, as he has rushed for 529 yards and nine touchdowns. But it’s not just him as Trayveon Williams and Keith Ford have been great, namely Williams who’s rushing for almost eight yards per clip.
It helps that the Aggies have some of the best receivers in the conference, but this offense goes through the running Game and that’s why they still only have two losses. Defensively, A&M is a bit better, but still can be beat as seen in that Game against the Volunteers and Bulldogs.
And one area Ole Miss has been able to keep up is on the offensive end behind Chad Kelly, the quarterback that many believe is the best in the SEC. Kelly was just announced as OUT FOR THE SEASON which should be the final nail in the Ole Miss coffin for 2016-2017.
Texas A&M has shown they can be beat, but relying on this Ole Miss defense to pull out a win on the road against a team like the Aggies will be tough. A watered down Ole Miss offense with a backup QB doesn’t figure to be able to keep up with the Aggies.
The Rebels are 1-6 ATS in their last seven road Games, while the Aggies are 6-13 ATS in their last 19 home Games.
Our Pick – This Game is off the board on Tuesday as this is being written. Please check back later when lines are posted for this Game.