MMR Game 1: Arizona State vs Texas A&M
Season Opening Rant
Unfortunately all these years do not change the simple opinion that I still think the preseason polls are absolutely useless. Why is Ohio State #1, why not TCU, why not Auburn? Seriously, whether this was the BCS era or the playoff era, these polls bias everyone into thinking who is really as good as they have been told they are until they start playing games? Yeah, we have to set the bar somewhere, but what I am saying is set the bar in week 3. This pre-mature rating lifts teams who may not be tested for weeks (see Baylor or TCU) to ranking that could be preventing better teams from holding their true rankings. Thanks a lot AP and coaches polls!
Texas A&M vs. (15) Arizona State
Now for the fun stuff…it has been interesting to listen to pundits predicting A&M‘s success this season. Not only is it a simple guess and some fluff to make themselves sound good, it’s just a bunch of crap. No one knows exactly how we’ll do this season. Our biggest question mark coming into the season is our defense and we all know it. And while some gaps have been closed this year in personnel, the real guessing game is how John Chavis has whipped our defense into shape since he joined the coaching staff in February.
When you look at the other facts, this team brings back eight starters on both sides of the ball. These guys have been through baptism by fire since most started as freshmen, but now we should see how well they are developing. A&M also brings back their QB Kyle Allen from last season who was clicking on all cylinders at the end of last season. We won the starting job after fall practice started and have what many consider one of the best wide receiving corps in the country. All of these facts line the team up for an optimistic year, and yet we start unranked. What drives me crazy is I look elsewhere in the SEC West and see an Auburn team that looks so much like us and yet they’re a top 5 team. What gives?!
Alright, enough complaining, here’s what I expect to see this weekend. Coach Sumlin and A&M are going to embrace the underdog role this weekend. What will be interesting to see is the pace of the game that Sumlin will play. If the defense can endure the pace shown in past seasons, we may have a HUGE advantage as long as we can keep the other team off the field. A track meet becomes a disadvantage for A&M. No one is sure of anything on defense so that is a crap shoot, and with Myles Garrett garnering more attention this season, this is a question mark, but not a sore spot.
Arizona State brings in the double threat of DJ Foster. The guy can run and catch the ball for yards. He’s the only D-1 player to rush for 2000+ yards and catch for 1500+ yards in his career. ASU also has a little bit of mojo on their side, they love to score first, and when the do they usually win the game. In the last 40 games, ASU has scored first 29 times, and is 23-6 in those 29 times. Strategy is simple, watch Foster and get them to go 3 and out early.
Overall the Sun Devils look like the A&M team from a few years ago, they score fast and score often. In 2014 ASU scored 72% of their scoring drives under 3 minutes. They like the up-tempo game and want the defense to get tired. Again, a good test for A&M under Chavis’s leadership.
I still like the Aggies in this game. Coach Sumlin likes to win away from Kyle Field, scoring a 15-4 record since coming to A&M. The offensive line is BIG. Like averaging over 307 pounds each big. And while many times overlooked, P Drew Kaser is looking to set some records going into his senior year, chasing legendary punter Shane Lechler. Kaser punted the ball 22 times last season where he pinned the opposing team inside the 20 yard line. Kaser is averaging 45.5 yards per punt but is not the all-time leading NCAA punter because he only has 108 punts, needing a minimum of 250 in his career for consideration.
Final Score
Arizona State 22
Texas A&M 35
The Entitlement Bowl –texas at (11) Notre Dame
For those of you who don’t remember, one of things I always mention in the weekly report is why Notre Dame is going to lose this week. It goes back to their history of having special rules written for them in the BCS agreement…wait, they still have special rules for them. DAMNIT!
Alright, if there weren’t two self-righteous schools who have not proven anything worth a damn in the consistency column in the last 10 years it’s these two school. Both like to throw their “tradition” of winning that goes back to when there were 40 states in the union and the VA was screwing up benefits to civil war veterans. All that being said, you could describe these two programs as the spoiled “trust-fund” children of college football who expect more than they can prove.
So what will we expect, two fan bases will be sizing each other up in Indiana bragging about why their “traditions” are better than whatever they see. The reality…both programs are coming off disappointing decades, I mean seasons. Both teams have questions at quarterback and have yet to show anyone why we should take either program seriously. I was wondering if I should call this the Entitlement Bowl or the “National Championship if it were held on Game 1” Bowl, because each school is going to spin this victory as though Touchodwn Jesus himself was going to walk up and lay their hands on the winner as Champion for Life. Whatever! Expect an underwhelming game between two even programs. That says it all. And Notre Dame being ranked 11th?! It’s like they’re the Tiger Woods of college football.
Final Score
texas 3
Notre Dame 15