Texas A&M looking to end year on six-game winning streak
The no.17 ranked Texas A&M Aggies will be looking to end their 2010 regular season with a six-game winning streak, and can achieve this with a victory over in-state rival and unranked Texas Longhorns. The battle will take place Thursday 25 November
at Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Texas A&M’s season to date
The Aggies opened their season with a three-game winning streak, with victories over Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech and Florida International. Their streak disappeared in week four as they lost to Oklahoma State, 38-35.
The loss to Oklahoma State not only killed their streak, but it started a three-game losing skid with losses to the aforementioned Oklahoma State, Arkansas and the embarrassing 30-9 loss to Missouri at home.
Texas A&M got back to their winning ways as they won their previous five games over Kansas, Texas Tech, previously ranked no. 8 Oklahoma, Baylor and last week’s victory over former no. 8 Nebraska, 9-6.
Currently, the Aggies are 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big 12 and will need lots of help to get into the Big 12 championship game. However, they are definitely eligible for a bowl game this season.
Texas’ season so far
The Longhorns, just like the Aggies, started their season on a three-game winning streak with victories over Rice, Wyoming and Texas Tech with their smallest margin of victory being ten points.
The streak was snapped by the UCLA Bruins and quickly followed with another loss to formerly no. 8 Oklahoma in week five.
The Longhorns surprised a lot of people with their victory over previously ranked no. 5 Nebraska on 16 October, 20-13. The party did not last long however, as Texas proceeded to lose their next four games.
Losses came to Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas State, and two weeks ago against Oklahoma State. The Longhorns ended their skid with a victory last weekend against Florida Atlantic, 51-17.
This is a very different Texas team that we have seen this season, after reaching the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title game last year. Currently, they sit in last place in the Big 12 south division with a record of 5-6 overall and 2-5 in conference.
Texas is also in danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since 1997, consequently enough the last time they finished with a losing record, however, with a victory this Thursday they can and will have an opportunity.
"If we can do our job Thursday night, there's absolutely no doubt that we'll be excited to go wherever," Longhorns coach Mack Brown said to espn.go.com. "There's no such thing as a bad bowl."
Aggies keys to victory
The Aggies turned their season around with a change in quarterbacks, from Jerrod Johnson to Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill took the reins of the offence when Johnson only managed 139 passing yards against the lowly Kansas Jayhawks.
With Tannehill at the helm, the offence has found new life over their past five games, throwing for 155 or more yards in each of the victories, accompanied with ten touchdowns and only three interceptions.
Their no. 11 ranked passing offence will need to keep clicking, not to mention giving the ball to running back Cyrus Gray, who has ten touchdowns on the ground this season with 810 yards.
Longhorns’ keys to victory
Texas will need to establish dominance early and often, and the best way to do that is by defence. If they can manage to keep the high octane Aggies offence off the board for much of the first quarter, they will have an opportunity to put a damper
on the hard work Texas A&M has put in this season.
If quarterback Garret Gilbert is able to carry his accuracy numbers over from their Florida Atlantic game then he will be deadly through the air to wide receivers James Kirkendoll and Mike Davis, who both have 45 receptions respectively.
Prediction
Longhorns pull off the upset: 27-24.
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