Missouri vs. Texas A&M: TV Info, Spread, Injury Updates, Game Time and More
The Texas A&M Aggies have a new quarterback and swagger as they look to spoil the happenings in the SEC East with the Missouri Tigers in town Saturday.
Kevin Sumlin's Aggies hit rock bottom over the course of a three-game skid capped by a 59-0 thrashing at the hands of Alabama, but they return to College Station with more fight than ever after a 41-38 upset of Auburn last weekend.
Standing in the way of the Aggies' potent attack is an elite Missouri defense that might just carry the Tigers to the SEC title game like it did one year ago after a win over these same Aggies.
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With the Aggies in the role of the spoiler again and the Tigers on the hunt for a conference title, one of what is a chaotic week's most underrated matchups goes down late Saturday in College Station.
Forced Flight
Both defenses in Saturday's encounter would prefer if things took to the air, but for very different reasons.
Texas A&M's standpoint is rather simplistic—the defense has struggled all season long and ranks 70th nationally with an average of 27.1 points allowed per game. Missouri does the wealth of its offensive damage on the ground by way of two talented backs:
| Russell Hansbrough | 122 | 591 | 4.8 | 7 |
| Marcus Murphy | 108 | 519 | 4.8 | 1 |
Mostly, though, the Aggies will want to shut down the two above names to get the ball into the hands of Tigers quarterback Maty Mauk. Once there, things might just improve for the Aggies defense considering the sophomore has completed just 52.4 percent of his passes this season for 1,532 yards and 18 touchdowns to nine interceptions.
On the flip side, though, Missouri certainly wants to get the ball into the hands of Aggies freshman signal-caller Kyle Allen.
While true that the Aggies average 36.9 points per game primarily through an aerial attack that ranks seventh in the nation, the Tigers are most comfortable when pinning their ears back and rushing the passer.
Defensive end Shane Ray and his unit have forced 30 sacks this season. Sumlin recently stressed the importance of understanding that Ray is not doing it all by himself, per Dave Matter of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
When an offense is forced to the air while under consistent pressure, mistakes tend to be made. This is especially true with a freshman making his third start under center.
Speaking of that, a bit of a quarterback controversy could cause some issues in College Station.
Taking Over
After Kenny Hill was hit with a two-game suspension, things were placed in the hands of Allen.
The freshman's ability to get his wits about him on short notice is admirable, especially given the level of competition in each of his two starts:
| Louisiana-Monroe | 13 | 28 | 106 | 46.4 | 1 | 1 |
| @Auburn | 19 | 29 | 277 | 65.5 | 4 | 1 |
Hill is available Saturday, but Sumlin and his staff are so impressed with Allen's talent that he will once again be the starter.
"I don't know why he wouldn't start, since he was named the starter two weeks ago," Sumlin said, per his meet with the media, via Chip Patterson of CBSSports.com.
For his part, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel is more worried about the Texas A&M scheme than the actual name under center.
"They're very unique (offensively), and they have a lot of different things that they do," said Pinkel, per Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle (subscription required). "It's a very good system, no matter the quarterback running their plays. What we try to do is find out if they do certain things with one quarterback that they don't do with another."
Still, one has to wonder how Allen will hold up in the face of an elite rush. It was a mere few weeks ago that he struggled mightily with Louisiana-Monroe. Sumlin is clearly a believer that spots on the depth chart should be solved through competition, but hindsight may not prove so kind in this case if Ray and Co. get consistent pressure and force mistakes.
When: Saturday, November 15, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
Television: SEC Network
Betting Lines (via Odds Shark):
- Over/Under: 58.5
- Spread: Texas A&M (-4.5)
Team Injury Reports
| Levi Copelin | WR | 09/16/2014 | was dismissed from the team | Out | disciplinary |
| Aarion Penton | CB | 11/08/2014 | is suspended indefinitely | Suspended | legal/disciplinary |
| Morgan Steward | RB | 08/28/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | hip |
| Braylon Webb | S | 11/11/2014 | will miss the first half of Saturday's game against Texas A&M | Suspended | disciplinary |
| Darius White | WR | 11/09/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Texas A&M | Questionable | groin |
| Darian Claiborne | LB | 08/06/2014 | was dismissed from the team | Out | disciplinary |
| Deshazor Everett | DB | 11/10/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Missouri | Questionable | elbow |
| Isaiah Golden | DT | 08/06/2014 | was dismissed from the team | Out | disciplinary |
| Kenny Hill | QB | 11/09/2014 | is probable for Saturday's game against Missouri | Probable | two-game suspension served |
| A.J. Hilliard | LB | 09/02/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | ankle |
| Germain Ifedi | T | 11/05/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | knee |
Injury reports per The Sports Network, via USA Today.
Prediction
The Missouri defense is not going to make this easy on Allen.
Both teams have certainly had up-and-down performances this season, but Ray and Co. will make life easier on a shaky secondary. Allen will commit a few mistakes that keep things close.
The problem is, quick-hitting plays to combat the rush will eventually put the Aggies ahead. Forced to take to the air, Mauk is too much of a liability to keep pace.
Texas A&M makes it two in a row, and things get a whole lot more interesting in the SEC race as a result.
Prediction: Aggies 30, Tigers 28
Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.
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