2011 Cotton Bowl: Previewing Texas A&M vs. LSU
Though being played only 187 miles from Kyle Field the 2011 Cotton Bowl pitting Texas A&M vs. LSU can hardly be considered a home game for the Aggies.
Though a maroon clad army of Lassie loving towel wavers will no doubt be on hand for the contest don’t forget that the LSU Tiger nation doesn’t have far to travel either (a mere 464 miles) to watch Les Miles and his imported Cajun voodoo (featuring limited offense, a big dose of “D” and some magic mixture of grass and weird clock management).
Tiger fans love it when the sun goes down, the lights come on and the drinks are flowing regularly . . . The Aggies have “too much respect” for their stadium (Kyle Field) to drink in it but who knows how they will react to the adult beverage scene in Jerry Jones’ palace of pigskin.
My humble prediction is that the LSU fans will out drink the Aggie fans who will out “stand” the Tiger faithful (who may have to sit occasionally to steady themselves).
As for predicting the outcome of the actual playing of the 75th Cotton Bowl Classic the following slideshow will attempt to present an array of delicious information to help the dedicated enthusiast decide for themselves.
Overview
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The 75th Cotton Bowl
Cowboy Stadium, Arlington Texas
January 7, 2011
8:00 PM EST
FOX
Big 12 #2 vs. SEC #3 or #4
Texas A&M (9-3) vs. LSU (10-2)
Current line is Even
$3,575,000 payout
Series History
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LSU is 26-20-3 all time vs. Texas A&M.
The series began on December 2, 1899 when the Aggies beat the Tigers 52-0.
Texas A&M and LSU met in the January 1, 1944 Orange Bowl; the Tigers won 19-14.
The two met regularly in early September from 1986 – 1995; Aggies were 6-4 vs. LSU during these ten meetings.
LSU and Texas A&M last met on September 2, 1995 with the Aggies winning 33-17.
Texas A&M is 25-34 all time vs. SEC teams.
LSU is 8-9 all time vs. Big 12 teams.
The SEC is 70-61 all time vs. the Big 12.
Bowl Records
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Texas A&M
Overall: 13-18
Last Decade: 1-5
Last Season: Lost to Georgia 20-44 in the Independence Bowl.
LSU
Overall: 21-19-1
Last Decade: 7-3
Last Season: Lost to Penn State 17-19 in the Capital One Bowl.
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Texas A&M Overview
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BCS Ranking: 17
2010 Overall Record: 9-3
2010 Big 12 Record: 6-2
2010 Wins: vs. Stephen F. Austin (FCS), vs. Louisiana Tech, vs. Florida International, at Kansas, vs. Texas Tech, vs. Oklahoma, at Baylor, vs. Nebraska and at Texas.
2010 Losses: at Oklahoma State, vs. Arkansas (in Arlington, Texas), vs. Missouri.
Coach: Mike Sherman; in his third season at Texas A&M (19-18), 0-1 in bowls.
Quick Facts:
Texas A&M’s six consecutive Big 12 wins at the close of the 2010 season match the mark set by the Aggies when they captured the Big 12 title in 1998.
The Aggies last bowl win was in 2001 when they upended TCU 28-9 in the Gallery Furniture.com Bowl.
Texas A&M is 4-7 all time in the Cotton Bowl; they have lost in their last five appearances and last won in 1988 vs. Notre Dame (35-10).
The Aggies have not upended an SEC opponent since 1995 when they beat, ironically, LSU 33-17 in College Station.
Players to Watch:
Cyrus Gray RB – Gray took over running the ball for the Aggies when starter Christine Michael suffered a broken leg in the Missouri game. Gray ran the ball for over 100 yards in each of the Aggies six consecutive wins to close out the 2010 season (including 223 yards vs. rival Texas). Gray finished the 2010 campaign with 1033 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Von Miller LB/DE – Miller (who has just been named the 2010 Butkus award winner) finished the regular season with 14.5 tackles for losses, 9.5 sacks and 59 total tackles despite being hampered with an early season ankle injury.
LSU Overview
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BCS Ranking: 11
2010 Overall Record: 10-2
2010 SEC Record: 6-2
2010 Wins: vs. North Carolina (in Atlanta), at Vanderbilt, vs. Mississippi State, vs. West Virginia, vs. Tennessee, at Florida, vs. McNeese State (FCS), vs. Alabama, vs. Louisiana-Monroe, vs. Ole Miss.
2010 Losses: at Auburn, at Arkansas
Coach: Les Miles; in his sixth season at LSU (61-17), is 89-38 overall as a head college football coach and 5-3 in bowl games.
Quick Facts:
LSU is 2-1-1 all time in the Cotton Bowl; they lost to Texas in their last appearance in 2003 and last won in 1966 vs. Arkansas.
The Cotton Bowl’s current venue, Cowboy Stadium has an artificial surface rather than grass. Les Miles will either have to order out or eat before the game.
Players to Watch:
Stevan Ridley RB – 1042 yards rushing, 14 touchdowns.
Patrick Peterson CB – Peterson is considered by some to be the top CB in college football (four interceptions on the season) but this guy does more than force opponents to throw to the other side of the field. Peterson leads LSU in all purpose yards with 418 yards on punt returns (16 yards per carry) and a mind blowing 851 yards on kick returns (29 yards per carry).
Peterson is an absolute real threat and a game changer.
Texas A&M Offense vs. LSU Defense
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Overall
Texas A&M’s No. 37 ranked scoring offense (averaging 32 points per game) faces LSU’s No. 9 ranked scoring defense (allowing an average of 18 points per game).
Advantage: LSU
Passing
The Aggies No. 18 ranked passing attack (averaging 282 yards per game) will face the Tigers No. 9 ranked pass “D” (allowing an average of 166 yards per game).
Advantage: LSU
Rushing
Texas A&M’s No 43 ranked ground game (averaging 166 yards per game) is pitted against LSU’s No. 36 ranked rushing defense (allowing an average of 136 yards per game).
Advantage: Even
LSU Offense vs. Texas A&M Defense
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Overall
LSU’s No. 50 ranked scoring offense (averaging 29 points per game) faces Texas A&M’s No. 27 ranked scoring defense (allowing an average of 20 points per game).
Advantage: Texas A&M
Passing
The Tigers No. 107 ranked passing attack (averaging 155 yards per game) will face the Aggies No. 91ranked pass “D” (allowing an average of 241 yards per game).
Advantage: Even
Rushing
LSU’s No. 32 ranked ground game (averaging 179 yards per game) is pitted against Texas A&M’s No. 13 ranked rushing defense (allowing an average of 117 yards per game).
Advantage: Texas A&M
Turnovers/Sacks
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Fumbles
Texas A&M has fumbled the ball 27 times in 2010 and 14 of these drops have been lost for good. LSU has coughed up the ball 25 times and lost 13 of these drops.
Interceptions
LSU’s quarterbacks (Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee) have combined to throw 10 picks on 282 attempts in 2010; nine of these picks came on the 190 passing tries by Jefferson which nets to almost five percent of all attempts being intercepted.
The Aggies current starting QB Ryan Tannehill has thrown only three picks in his 199 attempts in 2010; this equals only 1.5 percent of his tries being intercepted.
Sacks
Texas A&M’s defensive unit has scored 28 sacks in 2010 while the Aggies offensive line has given up a generous 35 sacks (ranking A&M No. 13 overall in sacks allowed).
The Tigers “D” has registered 32 sacks on opposing quarterbacks (tying LSU with Auburn for No. 19 nationally in sacks) while their “O” line has allowed 22 sacks.
Interesting Stats
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LSU QB Jordan Jefferson managed only four touchdown passes and a healthy nine interceptions in his 12 starts in 2010.
Texas A&M has limited its 2010 opponents to a mere 31 points in the fourth quarter. This amounts to only 13 percent of total points scored.
The Tigers allowed 67 points in the final two games of the 2010 season. This equals a whopping 31 percent of the total points LSU gave up for the entire season.
422 of Aggie RB Cyrus Gray’s 1033 rushing yards came off kick returns where he averages just less than 25 yards per return.
LSU is 11/12 on fourth down conversions this season; that equals a 92 percent success rate on what is usually a risky proposition.
The Tigers have scored touchdowns on only 52 percent of their visits to the red zone while the Aggies have found the end zone 63 percent of the time when inside the 20.
According to the Congrove Computer Rankings, Texas A&M’s strength of schedule for 2010 was No. 28 while LSU ranked No. 13 overall.
The Bottom Line
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The clash between LSU and Texas A&M has many provocative match-ups and could be analyzed in a number of different ways.
LSU’s anemic offense may struggle mightily (as it has all season long) especially given they will meet what some of the Aggie faithful consider the much savored revival of the “Wrecking Crew” defense.
The Tigers will have to find a way on the ground if they want to beat A&M; the only two times LSU was held to under 150 yards rushing in 2010 were the only two times LSU lost in 2010 (115 yards rushing vs. Auburn and 100 yards rushing vs. Arkansas).
Despite all the talk in College Station of the QB switch from Jerrod Johnson to Ryan Tannehill being one of the keys to turning around the 2010 season the statistics tell a completely run related story.
In its nine 2010 victories Texas A&M rushed for an average of 188 yards per game while in its three defeats the Aggies only managed an average of 98 yards on the ground (including a season low 57 in an ugly loss vs. Missouri).
It would seem plausible to argue that if Texas A&M’s starting RB Cyrus Gray can manage to rush for over 150 yards and as a team the Aggies can approach the 200 yard plateau (vs. a dominant LSU defense) on the ground that Texas A&M will finally break their losing bowl streak.
But, what of Les Miles 2010 “deal with the devil” that some claim has secured the Tigers some highly entertaining nail biting victories this season?
Will it be the streaking Aggies or the scrappy Tigers?
If this game is close (which it may well be) watch out for LSU’s Patrick Peterson; a big kick off or punt return may make the difference.
Regardless, out of the whopping 35 bowl viewing opportunities the 75th Cotton Bowl classic has to be considered among the top ten.
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