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Game Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Odds: The Aggies opened as 43.5-point favorites. The line was bumped in some locales at 44.
The Texas A&M Aggies took one on the chin to No. 1-ranked Alabama last weekend in Tuscaloosa as the Aggies suffered their first loss of the 2016 season. The Aggies will now look to rebound as they welcome New Mexico State to College Station for a Saturday night encounter at Kyle Field.
The Aggies were flat out beat by Alabama, and there’s certainly no shame in any of that. It’s hard to pick weaknesses from A&M’s outing, since the Crimson Tide are so good that profiling them feels like a wasted effort. Nevertheless, A&M will hope to get more out of Trevor Knight after he went merely 14-for-31 through the air and on the ground also as he gained just 24 yards last week.
The usually spirited run game for A&M was met by the Tide’s usual, stubborn linemen who helped force A&M to just 114 yards gained. Expect some more running lanes to open up this weekend against their inferior opponent, so the likes of Keith Ford and Trayveon Williams should be able to go in pursuit this time around.
A&M’s run defense had been somewhat suspect through much of the season and were exposed by Alabama’s tremendous runners. NMSU’s ground game is solid, not spectacular, so they should be able to build up a good effort against them. They’ll have to get it right this time around, otherwise they have trouble looming against Mississippi State even if the Bulldogs are 2-5.
Much like Mississippi State’s affair against Samford, Texas A&M should be riding a mini-win streak prior to these teams meeting up next time we see them. The Aggies, after all, are a 40-plus-point favorite, so Vegas certainly likes their chances, and so should you.