Texas A&M to the Houston Bowl: A Guide to the Matchup with Northwestern

The Texas A&M Football Team will face the Northwestern Wildcats in the Meineke Car Care Houston Bowl at 11 a.m. on December 31.

The Aggies and Wildcats both are 6-6 overall. Northwestern is 3-5 in conference play, while the Aggies are 4-5.

This will be the first time these two football teams have met on the field.

The Aggies are coming off a disappointing season that resulted in their head coach, Mike Sherman, being fired. Defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter will be the interim head coach for the Aggies during the bowl game.

Northwestern is coached by Pat Fitzgerald and will go to a school record fifth straight bowl game.

The Aggies will be going to their third straight bowl game.The Aggies have not won a bowl game since the 2001 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl, which was, coincidentally, also in Houston.

This is a look at the matchup between the two teams.

Bowl Information

The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas will be held on December 31, 2011 at 12 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

The game will be televised on ESPN.

Each team will receive a $3.4 million payout for playing in the game.

In the 2010 Texas Bowl, Illinois blew out Baylor, 38-14.

Tickets for the 2011 Texas Bowl range in price from $30 to $110. Packages are available that will get the average price down to $20 per ticket.

When Northwestern Is on Offense

Northwestern runs the spread on offense, but they do it in order to run the ball. Randy Walker brought the shotgun spread running game to Evanston, and Northwestern still runs it.

Senior quarterback Dan Persa is the triggerman for this offense. He has completed over 74 percent of his passes for 2.163 yards with 17 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.

The Wildcats feature four backs who have rushed for more than 250 yards. Their leading rusher is backup quarterback Kain Colter with 589 yards and eight touchdowns. Colter averages 5.0 yards per carry.

Jacob Schmidt leads all of Northwestern's running backs with 465 yards and six touchdowns.

The Wildcats will spread the ball around to multiple backs during the game.

Senior Jeremy Ebert is the Wildcats No. 1 receiving threat. The All-Conference receiver has had 71 receptions for 1.025 yards and 11 touchdowns on the year.

Kolter is also one of Northwestern's best receivers. He has 40 receptions for 454 yards and three touchdowns. He is a dynamic playmaker who has also passed for 660 yards and five touchdowns on the year.

When A&M Is on Offense

A&M runs a pro style offense. The feature a strong running and passing game and finished the year with the sixth-best offense in the country.

They are led by senior quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has completed 61 percent of his passes for 3,415 yards and 28 touchdowns with 14 interceptions.

There remains questions at the running back spot. It is unknown whether senior Cyrus Gray will recover from the stress fracture in his shoulder in time to play in the bowl game.

If he cannot go, then Ben Malena will start at running back. Malena has rushed for 182 yards and two touchdowns on the year. He also has a touchdown reception.

Ryan Swope leads a talented but inconsistent group of Aggie receivers. Swope caught 81 passes for 1,102 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Jeff Fuller had a disappointing senior season, but still totaled 63 receptions for 709 yards and five touchdowns. Uzoma Nwachukwu had 45 catches for 572 yards and two touchdowns.

The A&M receivers have struggled with drops all year long.

When Northwestern Is on Defense

Northwestern runs a 4-3 base defense. Their safeties lead the team in tackles, which is never a good sign for a defense.

Ibraheim Campbell leads the Wildcats with 89 tackles. Brian Peters is the other starting safety and is second on the team with 85 tackles.

Outside linebacker David Nwabuisi leads Northwestern with eight tackles for loss.

Defensive tackle Jack DiNardo is second on the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and is tied for the team lead with three sacks.

The Northwestern defense has struggled this year, allowing 407 yards per game. They are allowing 4.6 yards per rush. The are allowing opponents to complete just under 60 percent of their passes for 222 yards per game.

When Texas A&M Is on Defense

A&M runs a 3-4 defense. Tim DeRuyter bases his scheme off of Dick Lebeau's zone blitz principles.

The Aggies defense is led by their bookend outside linebackers. Junior Sean Porter has turned in an All-Conference year with 73 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.

Sophomore Damontre Moore came on in the second half of the season and ended the year with 63 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks.

As a team, the Aggies lead the nation in sacks with 43.

Jonathan Stewart starts at the mike inside linebacker spot for the Aggies. He paces the defense with 89 total tackles.

Tony Jerod-Eddie is the best player on a defensive line that has allowed only 2.7 yards per carry on the year.

The A&M secondary struggled with injuries all year long. Coryell Judie is the Aggies best corner, and he played in the last game of the regular season against Texas. He should be available for the bowl game. It will be interesting to see if starting safety Steven Campbell is healthy enough to play.

A&M's Key Player in the Game

Ryan Tannehill is the most important player in the game for the Aggies.

When the senior quarterback has been on this year, the offense has hummed like a fine-tuned machine.

When he has been off, he has turned the ball over, and that has resulted in numerous losses to inferior teams.

The uncertainty surrounding the availability of Cyrus Gray means there will be more pressure on Tannehill to perform.

Northwestern does not have a very good defense, and the Aggies' speed at the skill positions should give the Wildcats lots of problems. Tannehill just needs to put the ball into the hands of his skill players and let them do their job.

If he does not turn the ball over, then A&M will win this game.

Key Player for Northwestern

Kain Colter is probably the best player in college football that no one knows about.

He is a dynamic playmaker on offense. He can beat you running the ball, passing or catching the ball. He is probably the most dynamic athlete the Aggies have faced since they played Baylor with Robert Griffin III.

The Aggies will need to control Colter if they want to win the game.

Colter can extend drives to keep the Northwestern offense on the field and the Aggie defense on the sideline.

It is not often you face a player who is among the top three on a team in rushing, passing and receiving, but that is the kind of athlete that Colter is.

The Aggie defense simply needs to tackle Colter and prevent him from making big plays.

Northwestern needs to get Colter the ball in space. This version of the Aggie team has not handled adversity well. If Colter can break through for a touchdown early, then the defense may get down on itself, and Northwestern can make it a game.

How Texas A&M Got Here

The Ags went 6-6 on the year and 4-5 in conference play.

Their best win was a 55-28 blowout win over a Baylor team that ended up winning nine games.

The Aggies entered the year as a preseason top 10 team, but injuries, turnovers and an inability to handle adversity resulted in a disappointing season.

The Aggies have lost four of their last five games, including a frustrating loss to a 7-5 Texas team that has struggled to move the ball on offense.

This A&M team has been noted for its ability to find a way to lose games. They have lost five difference games this year in which they held double digit leads. The Aggies have simply found a way to lose games.

The Texas Bowl offers the seniors a chance to end the season on a high note after such a disappointing year.

How Northwestern Got Here

The Northwestern Wildcats are 6-6 with a conference record of 3-5, just like the Aggies.

The Wildcats best win came in November, when they traveled to Lincoln and beat the then-No. 9 Nebraska Cornhuskers in their house.

Northwestern dominated the line of scrimmage against Nebraska as the Wildcats ran for 207 yards on day. The Wildcats held the Huskers vaunted ground game to 118 yards.

The Wildcats worst loss was when they dropped a 21-14 decision to a poor Army team at West Point.

Prediction

Texas A&M has found a way to lose games against inferior teams five times this year. The big question is whether the Aggies will find a way to lose another one.

There are a lot of other unanswered questions for the Aggies right now. Who will call the plays for the Aggies on offense? Will Cyrus Gray be healthy enough to play? How will the team respond to interim head coach Tim Deruyter?

The Aggies have more speed than Northwestern is used to dealing with. The Wildcats should have trouble matching up with the Aggies skill position players.

If the Aggie limit turnovers, then they should win this game going away, even if Gray does not play.

Prediction: Texas A&M 48-Northwestern 24