Texas A&M is now just over an hour away from kicking off against the Miami Hurricanes in this first round playoff game at Kyle Field— so the time for talk is almost over. We'll see how this matchup plays out on the field soon enough, but it's time to get in a few more predictions before this all unfolds.
As an initial point of interest, the line for this game— which opened at -3.5 for Texas A&M per FanDuel but was even higher at other sportsbooks— has now shrunk to only -2.5 in favor of the Aggies. The implied odds there are half a point in favor of Miami if this game were on a neutral field, but, of course, this will be in Kyle Field— where no opponent has won this year.
The movement hasn't been enough to favor the Hurricanes outright, but this matches up with a lot of the rhetoric we've seen from the media, as Miami has been a popular pick. The last impression that many had of the Aggies was not a positive one, as they lost on the road in Austin, but with a fully healthy team, this could be a completely different-looking team than that one.
Final odds and predictions for Texas A&M football vs. Miami
The keys to this game remain the same for Texas A&M football: protect the quarterback, stymy the opposing run game, and rush the passer. If you do that, Reed will have time to find Concepcion and Craver open downfield— no secondary in the country can cover them for long.
With Le'Veon Moss now officially back in the lineup, the Aggie run game gains a whole new dimension. Miami has an imposing front seven, but if the Aggies can force them to load the box thanks to Moss's physicality— or the deceptive veer run game that A&M has displayed this year— then the advantage will go toward the Maroon and White.
We'll see early on how Reed is operating in the pass game. We've seen the switch flip for him pretty quickly before— the South Carolina game is a prime example— but if he starts off the day already operating well, then it will spell trouble for the Hurricanes.
If this game turns into a grind-it-out, close matchup by the time halftime rolls around, it will be anyone's contest. The Aggies have done great in the second half this year— save for their last game, of course. You have to feel good if A&M is ahead or tied at half for that reason, but that lingering memory of what happened in Austin will be a reason for uneasiness.
I think A&M scores early and forces a few empty drives for the Hurricanes. I'll stick with my 31-23 prediction from earlier this week in favor of the Maroon and White, though it could be a late score that propels it to that margin.