After a four-touchdown victory for Texas A&M over Arizona State that nevertheless left Aggie fans with mixed feelings, the A&M faithful are hoping for a more emphatic victory over the Kentucky Wildcats this week. However, the early line for this game— along with several other factors— are making it look like we could see a repeat in week three.
According to FanDuel, the Aggies are 16.5-point favorites over the Wildcats in their SEC opener— almost exactly the same line as what the Aggies saw last week against Arizona State. That should be good news, but given the similarities between Kentucky and Arizona State on the offensive side of the ball, it still makes Aggie fans uneasy.
There were things in the game against Arizona State that unnerved Aggie fans— the inability to get a lot of traction in the run game until late, pass protection on the inside of the A&M line, Marcel Reed's spotty decision making— but A&M ended the day with a 28-point win. The Aggies want to see those concerns evaporate in week three— but this line suggests that this may be a very similar game to what we saw out of them last week.
Texas A&M opens as heavy favorites against Kentucky, but Aggies will have to prove it
Despite the fact that the Aggies came away from week two with a very high postgame win expectancy, there's still a palpable sense that A&M needs to "prove it" going forward. In that vein, most will want to see an extremely resounding victory this week against the Wildcats— after all, Alabama just beat them by 28 on the road.
Make no mistake: Will Stein's team is far improved from the Kentucky of last year under Mark Stoops, but this is still a game that the Aggies should win going away. Given the similarities between Stein and Dillingham on the offensive side of the ball, though, you have to wonder just how much the new head man in Lexington feels like he can take advantage of what A&M showed on defense in last Saturday's contest.
In fairness, most of that success came in the first half for the Sun Devils, and Kentucky doesn't have any receivers near the quality of what A&M just saw out of ASU in that game. Barring something unexpected, there will be no Reed Harris-type running free in the A&M secondary in this Saturday's game.
The Wildcats do bring a physical run game with some highly-talented backs and offensive linemen, though, as well as some proficiency with the tight end position. QB Kenny Minchey can run it himself with aplomb, as well, so the Aggies had better be ready for that.
If A&M can shore up some of the issues that they manifested in last week's game, particularly when it comes to the offensive side of the ball, then fans will feel a lot better heading into the week four game in Death Valley. If not, though, it will be a week full of doom and gloom as we approach a decisive ranked matchup against LSU.
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