Arizona State at Texas A&M Game Prediction

0:00Football is back and this is believed. You're home for NFL and college football news and analysis all season long. Now let's start the show. Brian, it is time to dive into really the rest of the show here on the Irish Breakdown podcast. Brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. It's going to be dedicated to previewing some of the top games of the weekend. And one of them obviously we're talking about first. We got to introduce our special guest for today. We got our guy Bill Bender joining us once again after his glorious three-in-oh weekend week from last week. We're Bill rightly predicted all the winners. I don't think any of us got the LSU Clemson game right in how it played out.

1:02But he was the only one that actually picked LSU to win. So he looks way smarter than we did. In my defense bill, I did tell Trev on Saturday before the game. Clemson either wins in an ugly game or they get destroyed. It was going to be one of those two. And even that I didn't fit one to. But yes, Bill, congratulations my friend. You were the week one champion. You know, I sent you to a text last night. And when I do that with my friends, I get knocked down pretty quick. You guys like, you know, like what I was expecting, you know, a little hey. Don't get too comfortable. It's week one. No, you know what's your point? We don't overreact to week one. We take it for what it is. We analyze it. Bill was the best in week one. We'll see what happens in week two, but you better bring it. You better bring it. I think you're right though. I don't know, like didn't see 51 to 10 coming. Didn't see that. Didn't see long rain delay. Didn't see the lights going out at SMU. State didn't see a lot of that.

2:02Now, you know what? That we actually should have seen, Bill. It's Florida State. That place is an absolute dumpster fire right now. But yes, the rest of it was a little bit surprising. Super excited to dive into those week two games. You know, like those coaches say, like you know, the biggest improvements from week one to week two. We'll see if we were the same on this show. Yes. You have some of somebody's going to be wrong on a couple of these games. I think we're pretty much on the same page on most of them. But Bill, we're going to kick things off. Trevor and Bill, we'll go on kick things off with a look at a very intriguing underrated matchup. The Arizona State Sun Devils head down head east to take on the Texas A&M Aggies. Yeah, this is going to be a really fun game to dive into. 12 p.m. kickoff. You can watch it on ABC as of right now. Not to many people surprise Texas A&M is 14 and a half point favorites by our friends over at Vanduul. The over under for this game is said at 50 and a half. But there's going to be a big game, fellas. It is.

3:02Bill, when we talk, we'll kick this off. We talk about what's at stake. I think that I'll start, let's start off with Arizona State. What's at stake for Arizona State? The first thing is to, is look, we don't know who Arizona State really truly is under. Kenny Dillingham. He's had literally three distinctly different seasons. Three and nine playoff, eight and four. I mean, they were bad, average and good. What's. We lose Brian. We might have we might have lost Brian. Very frozen. Yep. Just tap. I'll take it to I'm sure he'll he'll duck right back in, but you know Arizona State. Travel, what's at stake is, you know, they've never they're one in seven against the SEC. I didn't realize that till you know, you kind of prepped for the work all time. Yeah, tough place to hard to get a read on the game, knowing that, you know,

4:03these teams won by a combined score of 120 to seven last week. Texas A&M wins 50 now. The Arizona State. I think it's a perception builder for the sun, Devils. In terms of the big 12 race, we get into cutter Bowley had a really good game in his debut. The Kentucky transfer. They threw the ball down the field. I was going to tell Brian that they tell you the same thing. It's like prepping for this game was a little bit of surprise. They put this question on the test because I, you know, I think BYU Arizona is an interesting game. But I think it is the cross of the SEC. Planning is a really good Arizona State team in the big 12 and I will see how it goes. Yeah, and yesterday's show, Bill, I didn't know if you had a chance to listen to it. I'm assuming you're a pretty busy fella, which is probably a pretty safe bet, especially this time of the year. But we talked yesterday about how the big 12 has an opportunity to make the statement that the ACC could not in week one.

5:03Week one, the ACC had the Clemson LSU match up. You know, they had the Louisville Ole Miss match up, which I thought was pretty impressive this week. The big 12 now gets their opportunity. There was like six games where the big 12 has the opportunity to come out and make a statement. And I think that's going to be interesting to track. Yeah, and these are conferences fighting for one conference bid versus two. You know, with the ACC, like you said, they missed a couple opportunities. Even if I felt like Louisville, as we like to say, won by one, won even though they lost, at least in showing that they're competitive. And then can compete in the ACC. And I think that's the thing here with Arizona State. This is a little bit of a, like I said, off match up in terms of man. That one's on the schedule. The spread looks a little high. But I think for the sun devils, it comes down to, can you go in that environment and, you know, make it interesting. That is a tough place to play. It's a renowned as, you know, one of the tougher places to play in college football.

6:06So we'll see how they respond to that environment. Like you said, it is a statement for the big 12 shout out to one of the listeners, Brian. They said that you plugged a router into the Florida state. Like I'm senior talking trash and throwing shade of Florida state. And then this happens. It's like, you know what? That's called karma. That's what you can't make it up, bro. Yeah, you can't make it up. I mean, is everything, Brian? You're good. Yeah. Freaking, they got Mark Novel's mad at me because I predicted him to lose. So he's out here sabotaging. That's why he doesn't win games. He's too busy sabotaging his critics internet. So they look bad. But no, I, Bill, did you make your, did you make your prediction yet? Did you give your score yet? No, we just did the Arizona state side. Actually, you want to dive into what's a state for a and M here? We were talking about Arizona state in the big 12. If you want to add on. Yeah. Oh, it's huge. And we talked about that yesterday. It's a tremendous opportunity for the big 12 to do with the ACC could not do last week, which is make a statement of some of those games. I think for a and M, look, if you're trying to be a, a truly high level program, right? Like getting back to, you know, Bill, when you and I were young,

7:07when they were dominating the, you know, the big eight and the big 12. And, you know, I remember Notre Dame played Texas A&M. I think three out of five years in the cotton bowl. Three out of six years, you know, they played him in 87, got beat. And they played him after 92, played him after 93. And that's back in me. Aaron Klan, Sam Adams. I mean, it's some great defense. The wrecking crew defense under RC Slokum and Bob Davy. And they just haven't been that program for a long time. They've had a year here, a year there. You know, so is Mike Elko just Kevin Sumblin, where you have that one or two year stretch? And then you fade. Or is he going to actually get Texas A&M to be a consistently dominant program? And if you're going to be that team, these are games you have to win. And I don't know that you have to win like in a blowoff fashion, but you have to kind of look good doing so. You know, because Arizona State's a good football team, but how good are they? I don't think we know that. This is a team that lost a Mississippi State last year. So I think if you're going to win, if you're going to be that kind of team,

8:07if you're going to be that playoff team consistently, you're going into November with playoff hopes. These are the games you can't afford to lose games like this. I think especially when you when you look at their schedule, not that it's like a an absolute gauntlet, but it's it's challenging. You play at LSU, at Missouri, at Bama, at Oklahoma, home against Texas, home against Tennessee. You lose the game like this. You're cooked. You're toast. I don't see how you're going to be a playoff team, but this is the to me. This is just building momentum. You've got to build some momentum heading into to your SEC slate, because you get Kentucky in week one next week. And then the week after you're heading over to Baton Rouge to play a pretty red hot. Right. LSU team. So it's a big win for them. There's more pressure on A&M. They have to win for it. For Arizona State, I think if you just go there and play a competitive four quarter game, that can be sort of a confidence building type of game for them as when they head into big 12 play. Yeah.

9:07Shout out Mike Elko, by the way. This story's been moving today about the whole LSU thing where he said, this is a little bit like the sun figuring out where the limits are until dad comes home and raises his voice. Then the sun goes, I was just kidding. I've used the father son analogy about LSU all week. And he came out and said it perfectly. So shout out. Yeah, but to your point about the game itself. Yeah, I mean, they come out win 50 nothing. Their offense was pretty ordinary in the first half last week. Marcel Reed. Polarizing. I don't polarizing is not the right word. Maybe we just don't know sometimes. Sometimes it looks amazing like a high-spin candidate. Sometimes it's very ordinary. Rubin Owens gets that running game going. I do think it'll be back and forth in an exciting game because Dylan Ham can coach. She coaches it but off. So does Elko. So I'm intrigued by this. I told when you were fixing your your lights from the Florida State people, I told Trevor. Arizona State 1 in 7 all time against the SEC.

10:09So that's the kind of. Alright, and their one was two years ago against Mississippi State. Correct. So it's not even like they've got like well that one time they beat Texas and something such and such. Yeah, it's. So I think yeah, like you said, A and M are you really top 10? Because there are some teams that are going to be able to prove their top 10 this weekend. And are you really the. Behind Georgia, Texas are you the the cream of that kind of second tier of the SEC? And a part of this matchup that I like. I love it when it's offensive coaches against defensive coaches. I think those make for the fun battles. You've got Kenny Dillingham being the offensive. I think he's a great offensive mind and he's a really good quarterbacks coach. Against Mike Elko who calls the defense for Texas A and M wisely took that control back. But that's another aspect of this that I find to be intriguing. As well guys is that that duel between those two teams. And I'll tell you what. You know, the enter and intriguing thing is a lot of times in these matchups bill. You have a quarterback that goes in these you know these these out of conference leagues.

11:11They don't play in front of the environments like they do in the SEC. They just don't. Right. But this is a kid that has. You know, Cutter Bowley started at Georgia last year. He started at a lot of the SEC. He's a kid that's kind of played in some of those environments. Some of the kids on the team have played in, you know, comparable environments. But that which always makes that's what makes the transfer portal in this era a little bit intriguing. So this will not be his first SEC road game may not matter. Because at the end of the day you're not playing against the crowd. You know, I think that's what I think is the most important thing to be aware of. That's what I think is the most important thing to be aware of. It's not that the game will not be his first SEC road game may not matter. Because at the end of the day you're not playing against the crowd. You're playing against the 11 dudes on the other side of the field. And that's the intriguing thing is Arizona State's offense against this Texas A&M defense. Arizona State Bill drive and I talked all off season. They had one of the best portal classes nobody's talking about. That receiver class that they got out of portal was outstanding.

12:12And you know what will cutter Bowley B? Well, I don't know. I think that's the reason the show is something and then A&M's kind of got a remade defense through the portal. Which one carries the day? I think that's going to be a fascinating aspect of this matchup. I really do. Yeah. Well, absolutely. I mean, Michaelco will be able to answer the question. Are you are you able to reload? A lot of talk about how much they lost on the offensive line. How much they lost on the defensive line over the last two years. I think that would be a this is a statement opportunity for Michaelco. I think that's completely but I'll be interested to see what a Mario Miller red hairs and red vines bright new against this Texas A&M secondary. That's going to be a fun battle to watch. Yeah, it is. So guys as we get into the matchups, let's get into our predictions bill. And as the guest here at Irish Breakdown, we will allow you serve. By the way, if you didn't check it out yet, we haven't published on our podcast app and it's obviously up on video. We'll build a vendor and build trophy on the CFB nation, which is the other channel that we have here at Irish Breakdown.

13:15They previewed week two. They talked a lot about Texas Ohio State. We'll get a little bit more of that. But make sure you guys check that out as well on CFB nation, the CFB All America show. But Bill, let's get into our prediction. Okay, let's see if you can continue your hot streak. Who do you have winning this battle between the Aggies and Suns? Just picking the SEC teams, right? I got Texas A&M winning 34, 24. It's a little higher than the Overtrev mentioned. But I like, I just like them at home. And I think Arizona State will see with Qatar. I mean, he obviously has some experience in the SEC. I looked it up last week. Throwing the ball down the field will be the thing. You averaged 18.4 yards of completion. Of course, you know, who were they playing? Five of eight 150 yards thrown down the field. But the majority of his throws were short. You know, at some point they're going to have to push the ball down the field a little bit. I think Marcel Reed, he's got a really good home split too. He's good at home. And I think it matters in this environment.

14:15A&M by 10 covers. So that means they don't cover. It's a huge spread. That spread did look off to me. It's being a little high at 14 to 14 and a half points. I kind of get it though. I mean, we're talking about a team that went eight and four last year in the regular season. Lost to Mississippi State playing a playoff team. And I think there's a lot of hype about this A&M team. I think there's people just assuming that Mike Elko is this Mike Elko team is here to stay. And they may very well be. I just we've seen this before with A&M. I just need to see Coach Elko be able to do it. His predecessors have not been able to do it. It's just kind of string some really good seasons together. But understanding that when Trevor, what do you got in this game? How do you see it playing out? What's your score prediction in this game? Yeah, I see this one being a one possession game. I do have Texas A&M winning this one 31 to 24. Like we talked about very intriguing matchup. I think this is the second year in a row. Can he dealing with him? Is that like a marquee matchup on the road in SEC country? You know, last year they were on the road against Mississippi State this year.

15:17They're on the road in college station. Personally, I think this has a making of a like a pretty electric offensive battle to a degree. Because I have questions about Arizona State's defense. We're going to get a lot of questions answered about that on Saturday. But I think Arizona State can handle the environment. But at the end of the day, I think Michael goes defense. I think they get the stops that they need to. Marcel Reed built a year point. I think at home, they're just going to be able to make the plays that they need to. I think Arizona State's always going to keep this one close. But I have the Aggies winning. But I also have Arizona State covering the 14 and a half spread. I dig that. So we both we all three have the Aggies winning this football game. I have it 3426 guys. I just I think this is I do like this. Arizona State offense. I think skill wise. They're going to make some plays against Texas A&M. At the end of the day, I don't. I think they're offensive line can potentially do them in that. That's the side of the ball that I don't think we learned much about them in their opener.

16:18And I think they're going to they're going to battle against an A&M defensive front that lost a lot. Gained a lot. Also has some players that were part of that rotation coming back obviously. And and I do think A&M wins this football game. I think the big key for it for Arizona State is if you can if you can get Marso Reed into an early funk. He has a hard time getting out of it. Also, if he gets into an early rhythm, you're going to have a hard time getting him out of it. That's kind of and that leads to the thing that Bill said at the beginning or goes leads back to the thing that Bill said, which is you just never know with Marso Reed. My answer is you don't know what he's going to be from game to game, but by the end of the first quarter, you have a pretty good idea of what he's going to be that day. And that's going to be the key for Arizona State. So I do think that it's competitive. We all three have Texas A&M winning, but we all three have them not covering the spread. So that'll make it interesting. Trevor, I had a question for you and you're one touchdown game. Do you have it as like Arizona State scores last or do you actually truly see it as sort of like a back and forth?

17:20I see it as a back and forth game. I do. I think trenches is going to be a question for both teams. I think we'll get answers. We'll get a lot of answers to some of those questions in this one, but I don't see it being like 31 17 Arizona State scores last to cover or anything like that. I genuinely see it being back and forth. What is Arizona State in your opinion, Bill, got to do to actually pull this one out? Like what would you say is like, okay, if Arizona State can do insert thing, that's what gives them a chance to win this game besides just whether the early storm of playing in a place like Cal field. What would you say would be the thing that is you're watching this game, Bill, you say, okay, if I see this, Arizona State, I think they're going to have a chance to win this football game run in the football. Obviously that quits, you know, that slows it down and then you're complimenting and like I said, if they can push the ball down the field and the passing game, that's the big one for me. Anybody can throw those bubble screens and that kind of stuff, but are there receivers actually getting separation down the field against Texas A&M?

18:21And you always wonder, big 12 SEC matchups, you know, does this Texas A&M's portal defense show up? You know, they don't have cash as how they didn't, well, they weren't on the field of ton last week. So I'm like, where's the pass rush coming for Texas A&M that they left with cash. Now those are the kind of things. If it has a goofy score kind of like what you have, I mean, yeah, it could be like that one score game. And then you never know in the fourth quarter, like I said, you would think that Kenny Dillingham can make it work. But yeah, I think it comes down to running the football on the road. I always watch that early in a game and if Texas A&M is just swallowing that up, it could be trouble. We kind of see that similarly to me, it's how Arizona State's offensive line plays. If they're just giving, I don't think they need to run for 198 to 200 yards. They just have to, the run game has to at least be competent and they have to protect Cutter Bowley. They have to give him time to your point. I think they have receivers who can get open against Texas A&M, but not if you have to get open quick.

19:21You're not comfortable down the field if you're quarterbacks running for his life. I think the performance of the Arizona State O'Line is going to tell us whether they can win or keep it close or does this game end up being a route. It's going to really come down to the Arizona State's offensive line. Trev, what's your take on that? You don't have to respond to that. What do you see Arizona State needing to do to pull off this win? Get the football. In the games where Texas A&M has struggled the most, it's been when Marcell Reed gets turned over prone. I go back to last year. They don't score a single touchdown in the college football playoffs. Marcell Reed had zero touchdown passes, two picks. Final game of the regular season against Texas, the Long Horns. They lost by 10 Marcell Reed zero touchdowns, two interceptions. It was a miraculous comeback against South Carolina earlier in November, but the reason why they were down 31 to nothing at halftime is because he had two picks. So if there's a way for Arizona State to be able to stay in this one and actually pull off and a double digit upset in this one, because they have the offense that I believe can move the ball in the field against Texas A&M, especially on the perimeter,

20:24getting the football should be of utmost importance for Arizona State's defense. Because Marcell Reed will put it in harm's way. We might have potentially lost Brian. Brian, can you hear us at all? I can't tell if it's us or them. Bill, can you hear me? I got you. Okay. All right. Sounds good. All righty. Well, this actually ended up coming at a pretty decent time because we're getting ready to talk about. All righty.