Aggies Look to Keep Streak Alive with Win Over LSU

With the Johnny Manziel NCAA era reaching its end, on Saturday, his team, #12 Texas A&M (8-2, 4-2), will seek to keep its on-the-road win streak alive when it travels to play #22 LSU (7-3, 3-3) at the infamous Tiger Stadium or as it’s fondly known, Death Valley.

From Kevin Sumlin’s tenure as the Aggies head coach (December 2011), he has gone undefeated (9-0) on the road. Good luck on Saturday as LSU has its own bragging rights: under Les Miles as its coach, LSU is 55-7 at home and since the 2010 season, this number is 25-1.

Its sole loss? This came in 2012 against #1 Alabama (10-0, 7-0).

Johnny Manziel

But there’s more than keeping their streaks alive. Looking at bowling season, neither team can walk away with the SEC West title but they’re still looking for a quality bowl game with the Aggies harboring BCS hopes while LSU seeks a good game. Johnny Manziel will look to beef up his candidacy for a second Heisman Trophy but he and his team will need to erase the memories of last season’s game, a 24-19 loss against the Tigers.

This was just one of two losses for the Aggies and it came on their home field. Johnny Football had a rough day as he threw three interceptions; LSU won the turnover game (5-0) and the Aggies missed out on points thanks to two missed field goals and a missed extra point.

The Tigers know they’ll be playing against a top quarterback in Manziel. From his 19 consecutive starts, he has represented more than 300 total yards in them. Against Alabama, he had 500 total yards versus a defense that is the SEC’s  leader as it allows 272.8 yards per game.

Can the Tigers stop Manziel? They have an inconsistent defense and in their last game two weeks ago, a 38-17 loss against Alabama, they started out strong in the first half but the second half was a different story as the Crimson Tide had three unanswered touchdowns to take the lead and eventually the win.

For the Aggies, their 578 yards per game and 49.2 scoring average tops the conference.

They’ll be challenged to stop running back Jeremy Hill with his 141 carries, 964 yards and 13 yards. Defending the run has been a weakness all season as they sit at No. 105 nationally for it as they give up 210.7 rushing yards per game.

Sumlin said of Saturday’s game via ESPN, “It’ll take a really good effort from all three phases — offense, defense and special teams — for us to go in there and win. Right now where we are, we’re about as healthy as we’ve been. We’ve got a lot of energy. Our guys understand our schemes as much as any time this year. Even though I said it’s going to take a lot, I think right now we’re in a position where guys understand what we’re doing and we’re looking forward to going and playing.”

The Aggies have won three straight games but this will come to an end as the Tigers get the win (-4.5, 71 o/u).

In other NCAA games around the East…

Blake Bortles

On Thursday night, #18 UCF (8-1, 5-0) will take on Rutgers (5-4, 2-3). They still have hopes of a BCS game and will need to put last week’s tight win, 39-36 over Temple (1-9, 0-6) behind them. However, their 657 yards against them–a  season high–and quarterback Blake Bortles’ career-high 404 yards and four touchdowns performance is impressive.

Rutgers hasn’t won since Nov. 2 and would like to be the spoiler in UCF’s quest to win the conference title. This won’t happen as UCF gets the win (-17.5, 57.5 o/u).

Other interesting games…

Pitt (5-5, 2-4) vs. Syracuse (5-5, 3-3). Both teams need a victory to go bowling but the Orange gets the win (-1, 49.5 o/u).

Louisville (9-1, 5-1) vs. Memphis (3-6, 1-4). The Cardinals still want a BCS bowl game and will get a big victory (-24.5, 43 o/u).