The Texas A&M Aggies will travel to the Rose Bowl to take on the UCLA Bruins for some Sunday NCAA College Football action. The contest is slated to begin on Sunday, September 3rd at 7:30 p.m. EST on Fox. As of Friday, Las Vegas has the Bruins as a -3.5 favorite and the game’s total at 56.5 points.
One of the final three match-ups of the opening weekend in college football will take place in the Rose Bowl. The Aggies are led by their talented wide out Christian Kirk, who will travel to Pasadena to face junior quarterback Josh Rosen and the UCLA Bruins.
In last years game, Texas A&M survived a close affair to open their 2016-17 campaign with a 31-24 overtime win over the Bruins. The Bruins scored 15 unanswered points in the final quarter to force an extra session. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Oklahoma transfer quarterback Trevor Knight scored in overtime and the Aggies held off the Bruins on their only offensive possession.
Texas A&M Aggies
The Aggies got off to a hot start in 2016, going 6-1 in their first seven contests. However, Texas A&M lost 5 of their last 7 games, including a 33-28 loss against Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. They finished off the season 8-5. Texas A&M also had a solid offensive last season averaging 34 points per game (34th) and 467 total yards per game (24th).
Offensively, Texas A&M will look to their back field to bolster their attack on Sunday. As of today, the Aggies still have not named their starting quarterback. Jake Hubenak, Nick Starkel, and Kellen Mond has continued to battle to earn the starting nod.
The Aggies running backs will be their focus. Running backs Trayveon Williams and Keith Ford make up a nice one-two punch. Last year, Williams eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark with eight touchdowns. Ford also pitched in another 669 yards and six scores. Both are reliable options for whoever is under center for Texas A&M.
The return of star wide receiver Christin Kirk is a huge boost for the Aggies passing attack. In 2016, the crafty pass catcher grabbed a team-high 83 balls for 928 yards and nine trips to the end zone. The Aggies also should have plenty of young talent at the receiver position in Jhamon Ausbon, Hezekiah Jones.
Defensively, Texas A&M will need to replace All-Conference defensive end Myles Garrett. Replacing his production is huge, because the Aggies have to keep the UCLA attack grounded.
Last season, Texas A&M held their opponents to an average of 24.5 points per game. They also limited teams to 441.8 yards per contest. pg on 441.8 total yards per game. Texas A&M hopes that Qualen Cunningham and Jarrett Johnson can help replace the loss of Garrett.
UCLA Bruins
UCLA had a miserable season in 2016. The Bruins lost 6 of their last 7 games and finished the year with an overall record of 4-8. The reason for the record was because UCLA Bruins struggled offensively last season as they averaged just 24.9 points per game (ranked 96th) on just 379.8 total yards per game.
Offensively, the Bruins are led by their star signal-caller, Josh Rosen. In six games last year, Rosen completed almost 60 percent of his passes for almost 2,000 yards with 10 touchdowns and five picks. To his benefit, Rosen should have an experienced offensive line in front of him this season as the Bruins return all but one starter.
Last season, UCLA rushed for 84.3 yards per game. That was dead last out of all 128 FBS programs. They need to find a way to run the football against an Aggies defense that surrendered almost 190 yards on the ground in 2016.
Now, the Bruins hope they can get more production from their running game which will be led by Soso Jamabo. The 2017 starter wasn’t very productive in 2016, rushing for 321 yards and three scores. Back field mate Bolu Olorunfunmi will also try to help the rushing game. He ran for 280 yards and another four touchdowns.
Josh Rosen’s main targets at the wide out positions will be Darren Andrews, Jordan Lasley and Eldridge Massington. Throughout last season’s campaign, the trio combined for 116 catches for almost 1,500 yards and nine trips to the promised land. Andrews will be his go-to guy registering a team-high 55 grabs for over 700 yards.
Leading the way for the UCLA Bruin defense will be linebacker Kenny Young. Young performed well in 2016, collecting five sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. Unfortunately, the Bruins lost quality starters at all three levels to the NFL. Obviously, stopping the Texas A&M rushing attack will be their primary goal.
Prediction
Texas A&M was victorious over UCLA at home last year in an exciting overtime victory. That being said, the Aggies have some question marks coming into this season, including who will be throwing the ball. Kind of a biggun’.
The Bruins have no such worry. Josh Rosen is one of the nation’s top quarterbacks. The question for UCLA is whether or not they can establish a running game to compliment their passing attack. Well, over the last few years, Texas A&M is the team to face to do just that.
Line setters have the Aggies as a -3.5 favorite and I really like the Bruins in an underdog role at home with half a point to work with. The 56.5 seems a bit high to me and it was suggested by the Rainmaker and I on our Throwdown podcast to take the under. There’s two choices for your betting minds to mill over. Either way, I see the Bruins covering the spread in a close game that could go either way in the fourth quarter.
Trends
The Aggies are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 non-conference games.
The Aggies are 5-16 ATS in their last 21 games overall.
The Under is 5-1-1 in the Aggies last 7 non-conference games.
The Under is 8-2 in the Aggies last 10 road games.
The Bruins are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games overall.
The Bruins are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 home games.
The Under is 5-2-1 in the Bruins last 8 games in September.
The Under is 5-2 in the Bruins last 7 games overall.
Please join the Rainmaker and myself for our fourth and fifth additions of the Throwdown podcast on Tuesday, September 5th and Thursday September, 7th. On the fifth, we will be covering the three games on Thursday and Friday, as well as a review of last week’s action. Then on the 7th, we will be previewing all the games for the second week of college football on September 9th. So far, we are busting out winners at an alarming rate. Get in on some good betting advice and put a little money in your pockets. #moneytreesgrow
