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Cotton Bowl Preview: More SEC Winning
Have you guys seen the new iPhone 6? It’s made entirely of cotton. Wait? That’s just a rumor? Oh, then why the heck is AT&T sponsoring the Cotton Bowl? You’re right, it doesn’t make sense. And why is this game sandwiched between a bunch of BCS Bowls? Oh, so WifeYouCrazy has some football to watch on Friday night. I get it now.
Bottom line: this is going to be interesting. Oklahoma opened the season with a lot of hype and Texas A&M opened it with a lot of laughter. Nobody (myself included) expected the Aggies to have the season they did. And nobody knew Johnny Manziel for anything other than the arrest that everybody seems to have forgotten about now.
Statistically, I’m not sure that there is a whole lot to differentiate either of these teams. Texas A&M probably holds a slight offensive edge due to a higher scoring average (42 ppg against BCS opponents for the Aggies, 38 for the Sooners) in a tougher defensive conference, but defensively the two teams look eerily similar.
I do think Oklahoma presents a more balanced team as A&M is extremely QB-dependent. Obviously, every team relies on the quarterback, but when Manziel is less than awe-inspiring the Aggies tend to lose. Against Florida he accounted for just 233 total yards and 1 TD. Against LSU he threw three interceptions and managed only 27 rushing yards on 17 carries. A&M lost both games.
To say that Oklahoma will be focusing on Johnny Football is a gross understatement. Oklahoma is focusing on Johnny Football the way Pixar is focused on making animated movies. Any other focal point is a waste of time.
Can Oklahoma’s efforts yield results? That remains to be seen. The Sooners largely contained Collin Klein, but his 149 passing yards and 79 rushing yards were still enough to give Kansas State the win. He’s two-thirds the football player Johnny Manziel is – at best. And the fact that Oklahoma’s other loss came in the form of 30 points surrendered to Notre Dame (a team that averaged just 26.1 points in their ten other games against BCS Conference foes, which featured an OT game and a triple-OT game).
I think A&M can have success against the Sooners. And so does the math.
Enjoy the game.
That’s all I got/
Andrew
Thanks Andy and Andy, see what I did there? The last few posts about HUTMA were awesome. This sight has moved up with LHB and GTP as my go to’s.
Thanks for reading. That’s high praise! I hope we can live up to it!
Johnny Football is something special.