2011 Prediction & Game Story
Week 12 - Texas A&M at Kansas
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Nov. 19 at Texas A&M 61 … Kansas 7
CFN Analysis: This is exactly what you do if you’re Texas A&M and have a huge rivalry date in a short week. This was a performance the team desperately needed with Ryan Tannehill nearly perfect completing 21-of-26 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns and Ryan Swope continuing to put together a great season with nine catches for 137 yards and two scores. … The A&M defense allowed completions, but it didn’t give up any yards after the catch. The Aggies destroyed the KU backfield with six sacks and 15 tackles for loss. Damontre Moore was unstoppable with two sacks, two forced fumbles, and eight tackles. … This might have been a disappointing season so far, but A&M is going bowling. A win over Texas would erase most of the pain from all the tough losses.
Darius Willis, the transfer from Buffalo, might have had his best game of the year with ten tackles and two tackles for loss. He should be one of the Big 12’s best linebackers next year. … Jordan Webb completed 19-of-27 passes, but he didn’t do anything to throw the ball deep and there were almost no yards after the catch. He has to do a better job of putting his throws in places where his receivers can do something with them. … The Jayhawks have been awful, but at least they were competitive over the last two weeks against Iowa State and in the overtime loss to Baylor. This game is known as a setback, and it’ll be a tough sell to keep the Turner Gill era going after eight straight losses as the worst team in the league by far.
(AP)
(AP) COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Ryan Tannehill threw for three touchdowns, Cyrus Gray ran for three more and Texas A&M got an easy 61-7 win over mistake-prone Kansas on Saturday.
The victory breaks a three-game skid by the Aggies and makes them eligible for a bowl game. It extends the Jayhawks' Big 12 conference losing streak to 11 games, with their last win coming against Colorado on Nov. 6, 2010.
The Aggies built a 23-0 lead in the first quarter behind two touchdown runs by Gray and a TD pass by Tannehill. Three second-quarter turnovers by Kansas (2-9, 0-8) helped Texas A&M (6-5, 4-4) extend the lead to 44-0 by halftime.
Kansas quarterback Jordan Webb threw for 133 yards and lost two fumbles, threw an interception and was sacked six times.
Defensive end/linebacker Damontre Moore led a smothering defensive effort by A&M, finishing with eight tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Tannehill, who was replaced by backup Jameill Showers with eight minutes left in the third quarter, was 21 of 26 for 280 yards. Gray had nine carries for 94 yards to surpass 1,000 yards rushing for the season. He's the third player in school history to post consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Gray didn't play after halftime and was on the sideline in street clothes with what A&M officials called an unspecified injury.
Ryan Swope had nine receptions for 137 yards and two touchdowns for Texas A&M.
The Aggies have lost three games this season after leading by double figures at halftime. There was no such letdown in this one, with A&M adding a rushing TD by Ben Malena, a field goal and a 72-yard punt return for a score by Dustin Harris in the third quarter to make it 61-0.
James Sims ran for 88 yards and scored on a 15-yard run with less than a minute remaining to make it 61-7.
The Jayhawks couldn't get anything going on offense before that drive and came close to scoring only once, but a 39-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter sailed wide left.
Turnovers doomed Kansas in the second quarter, with the first one coming on a fumble that was recovered by Moore. The Aggies took advantage three plays later when Tannehill found Swope on a 52-yard touchdown pass on which he shook off two defenders on his way to the end zone to push the lead to 30-0.
Steven Terrell intercepted Webb on the Jayhawks' next possession and Gray's third touchdown came a few plays later to leave the score at 37-0.
Another turnover by Webb, this one on a fumble when he was sacked by Moore, ended the next Kansas drive. The Aggies were unable to score after that mistake, and Kansas got the ball back after Tannehill's pass on fourth down fell incomplete.
Nate Askew grabbed a 27-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill a minute before halftime that left the Aggies up 44-0.
The Jayhawks got the ball back, but Moore sacked Webb and caused a fumble, which Kansas recovered to end the first half.
Gray put A&M up 7-0 when he scored on a 30-yard run on the Aggies' first drive.
Texas A&M got a safety in the first quarter when the snap on a Kansas punt attempt sailed over the punter's head and out of the end zone to make it 9-0.
Tannehill's first touchdown pass to Swope for 27 yards stretched Texas A&M's lead to 16-0 later in the first quarter.
Gray scored on a 36-yard run on which he tightroped the sideline and dashed into the end zone untouched to make it 23-0 with about two minutes left in the first quarter.
Kansas (2-8) at Texas A&M (5-5) Nov. 19, 12:00, FSN
Here’s The Deal … There are teams going through rough patches, there are teams having down years, there are programs going through the ultimate nightmare, and there are the curious cases of Texas A&M and Kansas, two teams that can’t seem to catch a break.
Texas A&M isn’t bad. The Aggies have a high-powered offense that’s as entertaining as any in America, and the talent level is good enough to hang with anyone on any field. Unfortunately, the defense is mediocre and has a terrible habit of being completely and totally unable to come up with a big stop in a key moment.
Outside of the late collapse against Missouri, the losses haven’t been bad. The Aggies were right there with a chance to beat Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and were hanging with Oklahoma, but they failed time and again to put the games away when they had the chance. However, while this might be a tremendously disappointing season for a team that had dreams of playing for the national title, it could just as easily be 9-1 right now instead of 5-5.
Kansas is playing better after getting blasted game after game after game, but it put up a good fight in the loss at Iowa State and it had Baylor dead before getting its doors blown off late in last week’s overtime loss. However it’s tried to be spun, though, KU has lost eight straight games and is trying to find something positive despite being the worst team on the best conference in college football this season. The offense continues to be bad, the defense worse, and the Turner Gill era is on life support with something positive needing to come from the final two games against Texas A&M and Missouri.
Why Texas A&M Might Win: The Aggies should be able to come out and blow the doors off of a KU defense that’s last in the nation in yards allowed and last in scoring D. This is one of the most perfectly balanced offenses the Jayhawks have faced so far, with A&M able to run at will, even with star back Christine Michael out for the year, and throw without a problem against a secondary that’s getting lit up by anyone who can throw a forward pass. Iowa State can’t throw, and it showed as Kansas was able keep the game close. Baylor struggled early, woke up, realized that Robert Griffin is one of the nation’s best passers, and then it was over. Texas A&M shouldn’t have any problems in the fourth quarter this week; the lead should be too great.
KU’s biggest defensive problem is a lack of a steady pass rush with no one to get into the backfield to generate any pressure. A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill is deadly when he gets time to work and the receivers are allowed to work their way open down the field; the big plays should come in bunches. Oklahoma camped out in the Aggie backfield, and while it didn’t come up with any sacks, it kept the pressure on Tannehill, who threw for 379 yards but gave away three picks on 63 attempts. Baylor didn’t generate any pressure and was picked clean.
Why Kansas Might Win: Texas A&M doesn’t force mistakes. It came up with three takeaways against Kansas State and only committed one penalty, but that was an aberration for a defense that’s only created ten turnovers on the year. Kansas might have a ton of problems, and it doesn’t come up with enough takeaways, but it doesn’t normally turn the ball over in bunches like it did last week against Baylor, and oddly enough, most of the turnovers this year have come when the offense was working. KU needs to be at least +2 in turnover margin, and it should be close.
Kansas doesn’t throw for a slew of yards, but it’s an efficient passing game that has just enough pop to take advantage of a Texas A&M secondary that’s getting burned by everyone. Missouri didn’t throw for a ton of yards because it was too busy running the ball. Oklahoma produced even though Landry Jones was off, and Kansas State’s Collin Klein threw well enough to balance out an attack that doesn’t throw much. Kansas has to take a few shots down the field, and it should be effective when it tries. That means …
What To Watch Out For: Jordan Webb has to be on. The Kansas sophomore has had hit moments this year and he has proven he can get the passing game going at times, but he had a huge hand in the collapse to Baylor with three picks and just 108 passing yards on a 17-of-27 passing day. Against Texas A&M he has to push the Aggie pass defense early on and keep taking chances to try to open things up for James Sims and the ground game. He’ll be under constant pressure from the aggressive Aggie defensive front, but he has to keep on firing. Kansas has to show it can keep up in the shootout, and that means scoring passes from Webb, who has thrown just two in the last five games.
When Christine Michael went down, the Texas A&M offense needed Cyrus Gray to pick up the slack and be more of a workhorse, like he did last year when Michael got hurt. Gray stepped up against Kansas State and ripped off 218 yards and two touchdowns in the loss, a week after running for just 29 yards on nine carries against Oklahoma. Last year Gray closed out with seven straight 100-yard games and ten touchdowns, and he needs to be just as effective, if not more so, over the final few games this year to bail out the A&M season.
What Will Happen: Texas A&M will get a breather. The offense will roll from the start, and while the defense will give up its normal allotment of yards, it won’t have to worry about the fourth quarter. Kansas is playing better, but it’s not doing nearly enough to keep up the pace in a game like this.
CFN Prediction: Texas A&M 45 … Kansas 23
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Click For Latest Line From ATS: Texas A&M -30.5 O/U: 54
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