Texas A&M Football: 2015 Game-by-Game Schedule Predictions

After an 8-5 campaign in 2014, Kevin Sumlin and Texas A&M are heading into a slate with big changes on the coaching staff in hopes of building a more complete title contender in the SEC West.

The Aggies hired veteran SEC defensive coordinator John Chavis away from LSU in order to develop the growing amount of blue-chip talent in College Station. Defense has been A&M's biggest Achilles' heel in the Sumlin and SEC era, and the team has put a lot of emphasis in turning that around.

With Dave Christensen coming aboard, Texas A&M is looking for more balance on the offensive side of the ball. That should help Kyle Allen—or true freshman Kyler Murray—feed the ball more effectively to a stunning amount of talent at wide receiver.

As the offseason starts to wind down and Texas A&M inches closer to its season opener against a Pac-12 South power, let's take a game-by-game look at the 2015 schedule and offer some win-loss predictions for this year's Aggies.

Sept. 5 vs. Arizona State (in Houston)

Texas A&M has a new kind of challenge to open this season—an opponent from a power conference away from home. The Aggies will have a home-field advantage of sorts when they face the Arizona State Sun Devils in Houston, and they'll need it.

Arizona State is loaded with returning talent, boasting 16 starters from a team that went 10-3 last season. Quarterback Mike Bercovici is the permanent No. 1 in Tempe this season after several great performances in spot starts last season—more than 1,200 yards in three Pac-12 games—and ASU has a tough one-two punch with D.J. Foster and Demario Richard in the backfield. Defensively, the Sun Devils have a ton of upperclassmen and will be aggressive against the A&M offense.

"The Arizona State game plan will be simple: Attack the Aggies with exotic blitzes on defense and motion/misdirection on offense," Ian Boyd of SB Nation wrote. "Look for a lead, then pound the ball on the ground to avoid having to block Garrett in crunch time. If the Aggies are still naive, ASU is perfectly designed to ruin their day."

Arizona State will have more familiarity with a balanced offense and more experience on defense than Texas A&M will have early in the schedule. In this entertaining showdown, give a slight edge to the Sun Devils, even in Aggies country.

Predicted Record: 0-1 (0-0 SEC)

Sept. 12 vs. Ball State

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After a tough loss at the hands of Arizona State in Houston, Texas A&M will get back-to-back nonconference tests to boost its momentum heading into the SEC slate.

Ball State is coming off a tough 5-7 season in which it almost knocked off Iowa but also lost to FCS opponent Indiana State outside of MAC competition. Head coach Pete Lembo has almost all of his starters returning on an offense that started to click at the end of the season, putting up more than 40 points on Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green.

The Cardinal defense also has plenty of players returning this season and should improve on its middle-of-the-road finish in the MAC. Ball State will be opportunistic on defense, especially as a big underdog away from home, and it finished inside the top 40 nationally last season in turnovers forced with 24.

Ball State won't be the easiest nonconference opponent for Texas A&M, but the Aggies shouldn't have a problem recording a comfortable win at home in Week 2.

Predicted Record: 1-1 (0-0 SEC)

Sept. 19 vs. Nevada

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After dropping to 4-8 in 2013, Nevada went 7-6 last season and could've had an even better record thanks to some close misses against higher-quality opponents. The Wolf Pack, who defeated Washington State in Week 2, lost by seven to eventual Pac-12 South champion Arizona and then lost by five to Mountain West winner Boise State.

Nevada's biggest hole in the depth chart this season is at quarterback, where it has to replace Cody Fajardo, who put up dual-threat stats only matched by former Wolf Pack signal-caller Colin Kaepernick in FBS history. Fajardo was the leading passer and rusher for Nevada last season, although it returns a pair of solid rushers in Don Jackson and James Butler.

The defense is a much different story, as Nevada will replace most of its starters from a unit that ranked No. 93 in yards allowed per play last season. The secondary was hit the hardest by attrition, and opposing quarterbacks completed 66 percent of their passes against the Wolf Pack—the fifth-highest mark in the entire country against one team.

Nevada could be in for another down year, and it will enter College Station fresh off a home game against Arizona. The Aggies passing attack should be able to move the ball easily against the Wolf Pack and improve to 2-1.

Predicted Record: 2-1 (0-0 SEC)

Sept. 26 vs. Arkansas (in Arlington)

After dispatching two nonconference opponents at home, Texas A&M travels away from Kyle Field—but still gets to stay in the state of Texas—to face Arkansas.

The Razorbacks are going to be predictable and powerful on offense with their massive line and run-first style under head coach Bret Bielema. Senior quarterback Brandon Allen could be a bigger factor in the attack with new offensive coordinator Dan Enos running things, but the Hogs are going to rely on Alex Collins out of the backfield—especially now that running back Jonathan Williams will miss the entire regular season.

Defensively, Arkansas has some holes to fill thanks to the departures of some NFL talents. While the Hogs had a pair of amazing shutouts late in the regular season, spread attacks mostly thrived against them—Auburn (595 total yards), Mississippi State (459), Missouri (423) and A&M (523) all recorded wins with big offensive outputs.

Arkansas' ball-control offense and strong-style defense will make this a tough matchup for Texas A&M. But, ultimately, Texas A&M's speed and explosiveness on offense—combined with steady improvement on defense—should keep Sumlin and Co. a step ahead of Arkansas by the time the final whistle sounds at Jerry World.

Predicted Record: 3-1 (1-0 SEC)

Oct. 3 vs. Mississippi State

Last year, Mississippi State punched Texas A&M in the mouth early in Starkville and never looked back. This year, Texas A&M will have a chance to return the favor in College Station—as the favorite of the matchup.

Mississippi State lost a bunch of talent off a team that went 10-3 and had a good-sized run as the No. 1 team in the land. But the Bulldogs still have Heisman-contending quarterback Dak Prescott, who scored five all-purpose touchdowns against the Aggies last season. Prescott will be a tough test for the A&M secondary as he still can rely on 6'5" receiver De'Runnya Wilson.

The defense returns three starters and will fill in the gaps with upperclassmen who gained experience last season in the Bulldogs rotations. Mississippi State won't throw out complete newcomers on defense this year, but they'll still be relatively new to starting in SEC play by the time they visit Texas A&M.

Mississippi State is widely expected to finish last in the SEC this season because of the major turnover on both sides of the ball. Dan Mullen's team will always have the potential to grab big wins with Prescott still lined up at quarterback, but A&M's experience and home-field advantage should be too much here.

Predicted Record: 4-1 (2-0 SEC)

Oct. 17 vs. Alabama

Alabama is the matchup every SEC West team circles on its calendar each season, but this one will be especially important to Texas A&M after the 59-0 throttling it received in Tuscaloosa last year.

The Crimson Tide have questions at the moment in the passing game, with a brand-new quarterback and a completely new set of starters at wide receiver. Alabama is also hoping to take advantage of the blue-chip depth it has developed on the offensive line, as Ryan Kelly and Cam Robinson are the only returning starters across the front five.

On defense, Alabama should be fierce as always in its front seven with potential All-Americans A'Shawn Robinson and Reggie Ragland, as well as returning starters Jonathan Allen, Jarran Reed and Denzel Devall. The secondary was the worst in the Nick Saban era last season, allowing more than 200 yards through the air for the first time since he took over in Tuscaloosa. The Tide have experience there, but they need improvement.

Even with last year's 59-point destruction, some—such as Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee in the above video—are picking this game as a potential upset loss for the Crimson Tide. Texas A&M will make it much closer than last season, especially coming off a bye week, but Alabama's overall talent should win out over an A&M program still in transition.

Predicted Record: 4-2 (2-1 SEC)

Oct. 24 at Ole Miss

Texas A&M's first trip outside of the state takes the Aggies to Mississippi, where Ole Miss will be coming off a road trip against nonconference-foe Memphis.

The Rebels jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead last season and never looked back, winning 35-20 off a solid dual-threat performance by starting quarterback Bo Wallace. "The Doctor" is out in Oxford, but the winner of the Rebels quarterback battle will inherit an almost-intact offense, including five returning starters on the offensive line, the top two rushers and four of the top five receivers.

The Ole Miss "Landshark" defense forced three interceptions last season but gave up a ton of yards through the air to former A&M starter Kenny Hill. Ole Miss has depth and experience at every unit, especially a defensive line that returns All-SEC tackle Robert Nkemdiche and end Marquis Haynes.

Ole Miss doesn't have a clear-cut weakness outside of a new starting quarterback, and whoever he is will have several starts behind him once the Aggies play the Rebels. The pick here will be toward Ole Miss at home, but it should be a tightly contested one in Oxford.

Predicted Record: 4-3 (2-2 SEC)

Oct. 31 vs. South Carolina

Texas A&M opened its 2014 season with a massive win against South Carolina, and the Gamecocks will visit College Station this season with revenge on their minds.

The upcoming season looks like it will be another down one for Steve Spurrier and his team. Outside of Pharoh Cooper, the Gamecocks don't have an established star on offense, and none of the competing quarterbacks have much experience. Spurrier will have total control of offensive play-calling, but the weapons in his creative arsenal are limited.

South Carolina's defense went through an overhaul in the offseason with new coaches and an injection of JUCO talent along the front four. Only time will tell how effective the changes will be for South Carolina, but it's hard to do much worse than the SEC-worst 6.22 yards per play the Gamecocks surrendered in 2014.

Back at home and determined to snap a short losing skid, the Aggies should be able to fire on all cylinders again offensively and hold off a South Carolina attack that doesn't look like it'll be very effective this season.

Predicted Record: 5-3 (3-2 SEC)

Nov. 7 vs. Auburn

Texas A&M's biggest win last season came against then-No. 3 Auburn on the Plains, when Kyle Allen made a fantastic SEC debut to the tune of 277 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Auburn should once again be efficient on offense under head coach Gus Malzahn, but it'll look different from the attack that beat A&M in a 2013 classic and the one that lost at home in 2014. Junior quarterback Jeremy Johnson is a new starter who has been impressive in the pocket during his limited amount of work, and he'll have top receiver D'haquille "Duke" Williams and three offensive linemen with starting experience around him.

Much like Texas A&M, Auburn's defense is undergoing a revival under a new coordinator with loads of SEC experience—in this case, former Florida head coach Will Muschamp. The Tigers have experience in every level of their defense, but depth could be an issue, especially in a secondary that was prone to big plays under former coordinator Ellis Johnson.

This one has all the makings of another shootout in College Station. The Aggies will likely look to carve up the Tigers' thin secondary through the air again and look for a better overall performance from their developing defense under Chavis. Although the road team has won each of the last three SEC meetings between these two schools, the Aggies should pull off the upset at home this time.

Predicted Record: 6-3 (4-2 SEC)

Nov. 14 vs. Western Carolina

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Texas A&M's final home game of the season should be nothing more complicated than an easy blowout of an FCS opponent.

Western Carolina went 7-5 last season and finished its campaign against another SEC West opponent. The Catamounts lost 48-14 to Alabama in a year that began with a near-upset win over FBS struggler South Florida. They will also play Tennessee earlier in the season at Neyland Stadium, so WCU won't be new to the bright lights of an SEC paycheck game.

The name to watch for Western Carolina is senior quarterback Troy Mitchell, who moved the ball efficiently against Alabama last season. He finished his day 23-of-39 passing for 221 yards and two first-half touchdowns, including one on the opening drive of the game.

Texas A&M should cruise in this one and move on to a pair of road SEC contests to wrap up the 2015 season.

Predicted Record: 7-3 (4-2 SEC)

Nov. 21 at Vanderbilt

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The SEC East draw has been kind to Texas A&M this season as the Aggies play two of the division's easier opponents in 2015.

Vanderbilt should be improved from its abysmal first season under head coach Derek Mason. By the time the Commodores host the Aggies, we should be able to tell how much Mason's offensive coaching changes worked for a team that had the nation's fourth-worst attack a year ago. There's nowhere to go but up in Nashville.

On defense, the potential is there with nine returning starters, some of whom have been impressive at times in SEC play. Stephen Weatherly showed good work at breaking into opponents' backfields last season, while Caleb Azubike is healthy again and ready to lead a stronger defensive line.

Depending on how the rest of the season shakes out for Vanderbilt, this could be a chance to build on some momentum—the Commodores host Kentucky the week before. But, right now, Texas A&M looks like a team that should win comfortably away from home in this one.

Predicted Record: 8-3 (5-2 SEC)

Nov. 28 at LSU

Texas A&M will enter its season finale—call it the "Chavis Classic"—looking to end its four-game losing streak against growing rival LSU.

The Bayou Bengals' potential for the season seems to rise and fall on quarterback play. LSU didn't have much of it last season, although it still beat A&M, and the battle continues to rage between Brandon Harris and Anthony Jennings. If the Tigers can sort that out, Leonard Fournette, Travin Dural, Malachi Dupre and a good-looking offensive line should make LSU quite dangerous on offense.

While Chavis is now in College Station, the talent on defense is still very much in Baton Rouge. LSU has stars across its defense, especially in a secondary that could be one of the best in all of college football this season. Depth could be a real concern early in the season at defensive line and linebacker as the Tigers transition to Kevin Steele's defensive scheme.

Picking this rivalry game this far in advance is extremely tough, especially considering the question marks both teams have at this point in August. LSU gets the edge based on home-field advantage at Tiger Stadium, the Tigers defense and the thought that LSU's quarterback issues should realistically have a solution by this point in the campaign.

Predicted Record: 8-4 (5-3 SEC) 

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.