It’s legal for a pyramid scheme to sponsor a bowl game? Who knew? Advocare did as they took a break from duping your cousin’s nephew into filling his garage with supplements and soups to sponsor the Advocate V100 Texas Bowl between the Texas A&M Aggies (8-4) and the Kansas State Wildcats (8-4). Hopefully, everyone involved in Advocare’s sponsorship will be in prison next year for investment fraud, on Dec. 28 we have a football game to play at 9 p.m at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The Game: Texas A&M vs Kansas State (+2.5, 57.5 O/U)
Texas A&M Aggies (8-4)
The big question coming into the bowl is if Aggies quarterback Trevor Knight going to play afer injuring his shouler back in November against Mississippi State. Texas A&M only won one game after that, a 23-10 win over UTSA. The Aggies were 7-1 with Knight at QB with their only loss coming to No. 1-ranked Alabama.
Knight opens up the entire A&M offense and in 10 games he completed 51.9 percent of his passes for 2,122 yards, 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He’s just as deadly with his legs, rushing for 594 yards and 10 touchdowns in those same 10 games. The primary ball carrying duties belong to Trayveon Williams. The break out freshman from Houston averaged seven yards per carry with 1,024 yards and eight touchdowns this season. He’s spelled by Keith Ford, who averaged five yards per carry, rushed for 583 yards and five TDs. Senior wideout Josh Reynolds is a legit NFL prospect at 6-foot-3, 193 pounds. This year he caught 49 passes for 885 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 18.06 yards per catch. Sophomore Christian Kirk will have to go back to school for at least a year, but he’s already got NFL scouts’ attention. Kirk is 5-foot-11, 200 pounds and led the team with 77 catches fir 842 yards and nine touchdowns. On the offensive line, offensive tackle Avery Gennesy should find his way on a lot of draft boards.
But if you’re talking about NFL picks, none stand taller than defensive end Myles Garrett. Garrett is likely a Top 10 pick in next April’s NFL draft. This year he has 32 tackles, 15 for a loss and 8.5 sacks to go with a gargantuan 6-foot-5, 270-pound frame. This will be his final chance to put on some film. Defensive end Daeshon Hall and safety Justin Evans are also legitimate NFL prospects.
Kansas State Wildcats (8-4)
The Wildcats should come in with their primary playmakers healthy and on a three-game win streak, including solid victories over Baylor, Kansas and TCU. Kansas State’s offense begins and ends with quarterback Jesse Ertz. Ertz completed 56.6 percent of his passes this season for 1,560 yards and eight touchdowns with four interceptions and led the team in rushing, carrying the ball 159 times for 945 yards and 10 touchdowns. When Ertz doesn’t finish off the scoring drive himself, he usually hands the ball to big fullback Winston Dimel who has rushed for just 97 yards this season but scored 12 touchdowns. Charles Jones and Alex Barnes also get significant carries out of the backfield when Ertz decides to give in Kansas State’s shotgun option attack.
When Ertz does throw the ball, he mainly looks for Byron Pringle or Dominique Heath. Pringle is an intriguing player to watch next season. At 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, he has an NFL prototype body. The sophomore caught 36 passes for 524 yards and three touchdowns this season.
On the defense is where you’ll find Kansas State’s only real NFL prospect in this coming draft class. Defensive end Jordan Willis might end up a 3-4 outside linebacker in the pros thanks to his weight (258 pounds), but his height at 6-foot-5, is ideal for the position. His production for the Wildcats was off the charts with 11.5 sacks, 16.5 tackles for a loss, 48 total tackles, three pass defenses and one fumble recovery. Reggie Walker can also get to the QB for the Wildcats. The redshirt freshman recorded 6.5 sacks and 11 tackles for a loss this season.
Trends and Notes
This is the 11th Texas Bowl since the game’s inception in 2006 and the second appearance for Texas A&M. The Aggies beat Northwestern 33-22 in 2011.
It’s also Kansas State’s second appearance. The Wildcats played in the first-ever Texas Bowl, losing 37-10 to Rutgers.
In it’s 11-year history, only three Texas Bowls did not feature at least one team from Texas. The last one, Syracuse vs. Minnesota in 2013, had the lowest attendance of the bowl series at 32,327. To compare, last year’s game between Texas Tech and LSU had 71,307 fans (LSU won 56-27).
The Pick
Kansas State is so overmatched here it’s going to get ugly fast. The Wildcats’ only hope was Knight not playing, but since he is this is an easy pick. Texas A&M 55, Kansas State 24
