Thursday Night Throwdown- UT at A&M

Texas and Texas A&M renew their rivalry on Thanksgiving night!

THURSDAY NIGHT THROWDOWN
11-26-09

ALL TIMES EASTERN

The Main Event
Texas at Texas A&M

TV: ESPN
Time: 8:00
Line: Texas -21.5.

Importance of the game to Texas: The Longhorns need to win this game and the Big 12 Championship Game to get to the national title game. It’s really pretty simple. This game is all about keeping the train rolling to toward the national title game. Colt McCoy will also be trying to earn the Heisman Trophy.
Importance of the game to Texas A&M: This is the Aggies Super Bowl. Yes, the Aggies are more than likely going to a bowl game. However, the Aggies would love nothing more than to pull off a huge upset over their archrivals. It is a home game for the Aggies, and they can really change the entire complexion of the college football season with a monster win over the Longhorns. They need this one.

Breakdown
Texas Offense vs. Texas A&M Defense: Everyone knows about Colt McCoy. He has completed 73 percent of his passes with 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He is the clear leader of this offense. Jordan Shipley is his favorite target, and may be just as worthy of a Heisman Trophy candidate. He has 91 catches with 13.2 yards per reception and nine touchdowns. The ground game is virtually non-existent. McCoy is the team’s leading rusher in terms of attempts. Tre Newton leads the team in yards, with just 370. He is averaging 5.5 yards per attempt, with five rushing touchdowns. Cody Johnson is averaging four yards per rush and has 12 rushing touchdowns. The A&M defense is giving up 4.3 yards per rush, while allowing opponents to complete over 62 percent of their passes, allowing 16 touchdowns and eleven interceptions. Opponents are averaging 12.0 yards per reception. Also, they have come up with 34 sacks on the season. Von Miller leads the team with 15.5 sacks, and 18.5 tackles for a loss. He is a beast, and could wreak real havoc on McCoy and the passing game. Trent Hunter is the team’s leading tackler. McCoy will have a good game if he can come up with time to throw. The ground game could be successful against the Aggies, but this offense has been very one dimensional so far this year.

Texas A&M Offense vs. Texas Defense: Quarterback Jerrod Johnson has been very effective so far. He’s thrown 24 touchdown passes with just five interceptions. He’s completing just under 60 percent of his passes. He’s also averaging 3.1 yards per rush, despite being sacked 24 times. Ryan Tannehill leads the team with 40 catches for 13.0 yards per reception and four touchdowns. Uzoma Nwachukwu has 33 catches for 19.0 yards per reception and six touchdowns. Cyrus Gray leads the team with 4.9 yards per rush and five rushing touchdowns. The Longhorns defense is one of the best in the whole country. They are allowing just 1.7 yards per rush, a 54.9 completion percentage, with just ten touchdowns allowed to twenty interceptions. They’ve also come up with 37 sacks. Sam Acho and Lamarr Houston lead the team in sacks with seven apiece. Earl Thomas leads the team with seven interceptions. The A&M offense will be hard pressed to get anything going, but Johnson is the type of quarterback that could have a special game and get things going.

Prediction: This rivalry could spark an upset. However, the Aggies are outmanned. They will need their defense to shut down McCoy and hope that Johnson has the game of his life. This will be the closest game that Texas has played in a while. But in the end, the Longhorns are just too much. Texas 27, Texas A&M 14.


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