Texas A&M Aggies visit the Alabama Crimson Tide October 18
By Ian Palmer
The Texas A&M Aggies head out on the road this Saturday, October 18 as they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in a classic NCAA football showdown. A couple of weeks ago it looked like this game would be between two unbeaten squads, but that’s not the case anymore since they’ve both been beaten recently. The Aggies and Crimson Tide both need to win this game at the Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa badly if they hope to take the national title this season.
The college football betting line from Bovada currently has Texas A&M getting 12 points at Alabama this weekend. Visit Bovada to bet on the game!
Texas A&M has seen their SEC championship hopes take a huge blow lately. They were beaten 48-31 at Mississippi State and then dropped a 35-20 decision to Ole Miss at College Station. The Aggies were rolling along at 5-0 and are now just 2-2 in their conference. They need a huge rebound game here to get their season back on the right track. The Aggies still have a strong offense and good quarterback in sophomore Kenny Hill. He passed for four TDs and 365 yards against Mississippi State and the next week against Ole Miss he added two more TDs and 401 yards as he went 79 per cent in passing.
If there is a weakness in Hill’s game then it’s is interception rate. He’s been picked off twice in the last two games. He’s also had to attempt at least 80 more passes than any other QB in the nation since the Aggies running game is basically nonexistent. There aren’t many teams that are successful on the ground against Alabama anyway, so expect to see Hill stick with the aerial attack. This is the best option against a questionable Alabama secondary as it struggled against West Virginia in the season opener and again last weekend against Arkansas. Texas A&M hasn’t been able to cover the spread five of their last half dozen SEC away contests.
Alabama got off to a good start this season by scoring 42 points per game on average in their first four encounters. However, they’ve managed to put just 31 points up on the scoreboard in total in the past two games. They were beaten 23-17 by Ole Miss a couple of weeks ago and then edged Arkansas 14-13 last week. QB Blake Sims had no touchdowns and just 228 yards against a good defensive side in Ole Miss and managed just 161 yards against Arkansas. In addition Receiver Amari Cooper had just two receptions against the Razorbacks, which was his season low. The Crimson Tide rushing game was also dreadful at 2.1 yards a carry against Arkansas.
Alabama is back at home now though after two outings on the road. They’ll try to take advantage of the Aggies weak rushing defense as they’re the second-worst in the SEC with an average of 177 yards against per game on the ground. Alabama’s defense is still quite good even if the secondary might be struggling. They shut down the Razorbacks’ running game by putting pressure on their QB Brandon Allen. The Crimson Tide have a 6-0 streak going at home against SEC opponents, with their last defeat coming at the hands of the Aggies back in 2012. Texas A&M could also bring this current streak to an end.
