It’s the ACC’s Wake Forest Demon Deacons battling the SEC’s Texas A&M Aggies in a Belk Bowl matchup down in the Tar Heel State. The game is slated to get underway on Friday, December 29th at 1 p.m. EST. It also can be seen on ESPN for your viewing pleasure. As of this write-up, the Demon Deacons are a -3 point favorite and the Belk Bowl’s total sits at 64.5.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons make the short trip to Bank of America Stadium after they had their two-game winning streak snapped by Duke 31-23 in their regular-season finale. That left Wake Forest at 7-5 overall and with a 4-4 record in the ACC Conference. Wake Forest will be looking for back-to-back bowl wins for the first time since 2007-08.
The Texas A&M Aggies were clubbed 45-21 by the 18th-ranked LSU Tigers in their last outing. The loss gave the Aggies a 7-5 record on the year. Unfortunately, their 2017 campaign cost head coach Kevin Sumlin his job. Now, Texas A&M will turn to interim coach Jim Banks to guide them to victory. New head coach Jimbo Fischer will take the reigns in 2018. This game marks the first time these two programs have ever met on the gridiron.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-5)
Wake Forest started their year off hot, winning their first four games. Since then, the Demon Deacons have posted a 3-5 record. They would like nothing more than to right the ship in the 2017 Belk Bowl. They will hope to utilize the nation’s 31st-scoring offense to get the job done against Texas A&M. Like many other teams these days, the Demon Deacons feature a dual-threat quarterback. John Wolford has done exceptionally well, passing the ball for 2,792 yards with 25 touchdowns and only six picks. He also can be deadly on the ground, racking up another 651 yards and also ten more scores.
When quarterback John Wolford isn’t tucking the ball and running with it, tailback Matt Colburn II handles the backfield duties. Combined with Wolford, Wake Forest finished with the nation’s 47th-rated rushing offense. Colburn II has toted the rock 145 times for 754 yards and six trips to the promised land. Both will be looking to do some damage on the Aggies 65th-ranked run defense.
Actually, the Demon Deacons will throw the ball almost as much as they run it. When they do, four receivers all pitch in to help move the ball down the field. Together, the foursome has combined for almost 2,300 receiving yards and 24 scores. Greg Dortch is the leader of this pack with 53 catches for 722 yards and a team-high nine end zone appearances. Teammates Tabari Hines has 45 receptions for 625 yards plus five scores while Cam Serigne chips in 35 grabs for 444 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Demon Deacons didn’t excel at stopping anybody defensively. The one exception was their performance in the red zone. Wake Forest gave up 26 points a game even though they surrendered 444 yards a contest. The secondary was especially porous, letting opposing quarterbacks throw the ball for 252 yards a shot. That gaudy number placed the Demon Deacon’s back half at 110th in the country.
Texas A&M Aggies (7-5)
Well, 2017 surely didn’t go as planned for the Texas A&M Aggies. An early-season injury to starting signal-caller Jake Hubenak put the nail in the coffin for the Aggies hopes of challenging for an SEC crown. In his place, back up quarterback Kellen Mond had to learn under fire. The greenhorn had his moments this year but was anything but spectacular.
In all, Mond completed just over 50 percent of his throws for only 1,375 yards. He also only hit eight receivers for touchdowns while tossing the ball to defenses six times. His back up Nick Starkel seen most of the action under center in the last three games, posting ten touchdowns with five interceptions. It is unclear who will get the starting nod for the 2017 Belk Bowl.
Once the passing game became ineffective, the Aggies looked to running backs Treyveon Williams and Keith Ford to get things going. The two responded well, tallying just over 1,400 yards on the ground with 18 touchdowns. Williams led the team with 733 yards and Ford was tops with 11 trips to pay-dirt. Both will also look to have decent days against a suspect Demon Deacons defense.
Because of the struggles at quarterback, the Aggies receivers numbers were down. Nevertheless, they have one of the more talented receivers in the country in their arsenal. Wideout Christian Kirk can be electrifying, catching 58 passes for 730 yards and seven scores. He also is a major threat when returning punts and kickoff’s for the Aggies. On the other side, teammate Damion Ratley held his own with 603 yards and also six more scores.
The Texas A&M defense was about as average as a unit as one could find in college football. They were bad at stopping the run or pass but they also weren’t very good either. Overall, they rank 61st in the nation in total yards allowed (388 ypg). Unlike Wake Forest, they struggle at times when it matters most, allowing 28 points a contest (81st).
Prediction
Sin City has the Wake Forest Demon Deacons as a -2.5 point favorite. So basically, they are saying this game could go either way. Wake will have a slight home crowd advantage because they are only a few miles from the stadium they will take the field on. Still, the Aggies should be the bigger and faster of the two clubs so taking the Deacons or the Aggies is a risk.
Instead, I’d like to focus on the over 64.5 for this bowl match-up. Both of these programs have really struggled to stop schools from going up and down the field on them. Plus, the Aggies are in a bit of disarray at the moment. Also, quarterback Jon Wofford is way underrated and should find ways to move the ball with his feet and his arms. On the other hand, Texas A&M does have some big-time conference playmakers to also move the chains. Taking these facts into consideration, I’m going to suggest the play to make in this showdown is the over. @EriktheHun
Head to BetDSI Sportsbook to make a wager on this game’s total.
Trends
The Demon Deacons are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 bowl games.
The Over is 4-1 in the Demon Deacons last 5 non-conference games.
The Aggies are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 bowl games.
The Over is 4-1 in the Aggies last 5 non-conference games.
