AutoZone Liberty Bowl

AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Dec. 29
Texas A&M vs. West Virginia

– Completely forgotten about after a 5-0 start and a dynamic breakout first half from Kenny Hill, the Aggies have a new starting quarterback and come into the bowl season losing five of the last seven games including close losses to Missouri and LSU. This is still a dangerous offense with a great passing attack, but the defense needs to start playing far better against the run and needs to put Kyle Allen in good positions. Inconsistent, after all the issues in the second half of the season, getting to eight wins wouldn’t be a bad way to push forward.

– There was a time midway through the season when West Virginia seemed like something special. It beat Baylor, whacked around Oklahoma State, and battled TCU in a 31-30 loss, but then the wheels came off losing three straight. The Mountaineer passing game has been terrific, and the defense has been the best yet in the Dana Holgorsen era, but a loss would make it four in the last five to close things out. It would still be a good year, but from the end of October on would be a thud.

First Reaction: Be extremely disappointed if there are fewer than 700 yards of combined passing offense. West Virginia will want to run a bit on the porous Aggie run defense, but it’ll revert back to passing mode as this turns into a shootout. A&M’s offense will rise up and do more in crunch time, even though the Mountaineers will have their moments.
First Prediction: Texas A&M 44 … West Virginia 30