Texas A&M Football: Why the Aggies Will Blow Out the Northwestern Wildcats

The Texas A&M Aggies will take the field at Reliant Stadium in search of their first bowl win in 10 years. The Aggies will face the Northwestern Wildcats in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas.

Much has been made of the Ags' poor record in bowl games. This will be the first time in recent memory that A&M will take the field in a bowl game against a team that's less talented than them on the field.

Northwestern is a good offense team that spread opponents' defenses out and completes high percentage passes to move the ball down the field. Northwestern went into Lincoln, Nebraska in November and physically dominated a very good Nebraska defense in their own house. They are good on offense but struggle to stop teams on defense. 

Northwestern had the 10th-ranked defense in the B1G allowing 406 yards and 27 points per game. They are poor against the run allowing 4.6 yards per carry.

Texas A&M has an excellent offense that averages 487 yards and over 39 points per game. The Ags average 209 yards rushing and 287 yards passing per contest. Their offense is explosive, and they can beat you on the ground or through the air.

The Aggies have struggled to win games in 2011 because they have failed to deal with adversity on the field and their pass defense has struggled due to injuries.

Senior corner Coryell Judie missed most of the season with nagging injuries but is reportedly back to 100 percent for the bowl game. Judie is extremely strong against wide receiver screens, and his presence on the field should help against the Wildcats' controlled passing attack.

The Northwestern offensive line has allowed 34 sacks on the year. The Aggies are the best in the country at getting to the quarterback ringing up 43 sacks in 2011.

This is simply a bad matchup for Northwestern. The Aggies will put more speed on the field on offense and defense than Northwestern is used to playing against. They have not played pass-rushers like Sean Porter and Damontre Moore this season. Porter and Moore have combined for 17 sacks and 31 tackles for loss on the season. The Northwestern OL will not hold up against their speed.

The Aggies will be able to run the ball against the Wildcats' run defense and then throw over the top off of play-action pass. The Aggies have too many playmakers for this Wildcat team to handle. Cyrus Gray is healthy. and he and fellow senior Jeff Fuller are looking to end their career on a high note.

Expect the Texas A&M Football team to win their first bowl game since 2001 going away. It would qualify as a surprise is Northwestern stays within two touchdowns of this A&M team.