Texas A&M vs Colorado Preview
The Aggies travel to Mile High and take on Colorado in Denver. How we feelin about the first road trip?By: The Hammer
Little known fact: Jimbo Fisher is a great John Denver impersonator.
Colorado, Rocky Mountain High. I don’t know about y’all, but I’ll be blaring John Denver all weekend to get in the right mindset for this game. It’s called preparation, which I trust Jimbo and his staff have been preaching all week. We need to be prepared for this game. Kent State is a solid MAC team, but Colorado is better than that. If we make the same mistakes we did last week, the Aggies will be in real trouble.
That starts with the turnovers, obviously. As I said in our recap, I like the way Hayseed Haynes King looked overall. He was poised in the pocket and actually worked through his progressions. A lot of young QBs, especially with King’s running ability, will make one read and if it’s not there look to run. Not the case with Haynes. He made a few plays with his feet when he had to, but it was clear he was using that more as a last resort. If King can cut down on the turnovers, the Aggies should cruise to victory.
I’m sure Jimbo has been drilling this into his head all week so I expect King to look sharp and avoid costly turnovers. It certainly helps that he has the best running back stable in the country behind him. If King doesn’t look sharp for some reason to start out, look for an even heavier dose of Spiller and Achane. I think A&M could win this game rushing on 70% of their offensive plays if they wanted. That’s how confident I am in this rushing attack. I don’t expect that to be the game plan, but Jimbo has that in his back pocket if needed. The Buff’s front seven does not scare me and I think both Spiller and Achane will combine for over 200 yards rushing again this weekend.
Devon Achane breaks free for a touchdown run against Kent State. Photo by Maria Lysaker, USA TODAY Sports
If there is an area of concern in this game, it’s in the rush defense. I feel dumb saying that because A&M’s run defense was so stout last year, but it was suspect against Kent State. Against Northern Colorado last weekend, the Buffs ran the ball 49 times for 281 yards, while only throwing 15 times all game. Against a good defense like A&M, they will need to be more balanced since they can’t bully us the way they did Northern Colorado, but it’s clear that’s what Colorado wants to do. I’m not concerned about it for a couple reasons, but if you squint, that’s where we could see some issues.
There are two main reasons I’m not concerned. First, Micheal Clemons is back. His presence was really missed against Kent State. His return should bolster our front seven and make it even harder for Colorado to find running lanes. Second, I trust Mike Elko to rectify the issues from last week and have an excellent game plan. I think issues against Kent State’s rushing attack were partially injuries and partially A&M expecting Kent State to throw more. It seemed like A&M’s game plan was more geared toward defending the pass attack, and Kent State caught us off guard a bit. That won’t be the case in this game because Elko knows we need to stop the run and make Colorado quarterback Brendon Lewis beat the Aggies through the air, because I don’t think he can.
Micheal Clemons should make a big impact on Saturday. Photo: David J. Phillip, AP Photo
I’m looking for this secondary to pick off at least another pass in this game. I think our front seven over matches the Buff’s offensive line and we put Lewis under pressure often. With the return of Myles Jones at corner, those passing lanes will be tight. Lock it in, at least one interception from the Aggies this weekend.
I’m confident about this game. The Aggies need to play better than they did week one, but I trust in the players and coaching staff to make the necessary adjustments and improvements. This is a better matchup than Kent State was in terms of what each team does well. Strength on strength, if you will. I could see this one being a one score game at halftime before A&M pulls away in the second half and steps on the Buffs throat.
Excited to see how many Aggies show up at Mile High. My bet is the crowd will be close to 50/50. Excited to see so many Aggies on hand to watch another Fightin’ Texas Aggie win!
Texas A&M 38
Colorado 13
I’m going to start tracking how my predictions do against the spread to see how we do over an entire season. Last week, A&M was favored by 28.5 points. I predicted a 27 point win so I actually bet against the Aggies to cover. We covered so I’m 0-1 so far. The spread this week is Texas A&M -17 and I’m picking the Ags to cover.
#BTHOCOLORADO
