Tonight’s Cotton Bowl/FCS Champ Forecast!
January 7th, 2011
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COTTON BOWL 8:00 PM FOX Click on the bowl logo for MORE info!!!! |
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TEXAS A&M (9-3) VS LSU (10-2) |
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Rushing
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Passing
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Points
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TO’s
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ST
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A.O.R
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| TEXAS A&M | 148 |
253
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24
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2.5
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-
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103.2 |
| LSU |
168
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133
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23
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2.0
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••••
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103.5 |
| These teams have a rich history with LSU having a 26-20-3 advantage with the last meeting in ‘95. The bowl is a 3 hr drive from College Station and A&M has played Ark in this stadium the L/2Y (0-2). After a 3-3 start which saw ?’s about HC Sherman’s future the Aggies rallied for 6 straight wins to secure their 1st Cotton Bowl invite S/’04. It is the Aggies 12th Cotton Bowl overall where they’re 4-7. Miles suffered his 1st bowl loss at LSU (4-1) LY 19-17 to Penn St in a muddy Capital One Bowl. This is LSU’s 1st trip to the Cotton Bowl S/’02 so there should be a strong following. The Big 12’s pressn OPY QB Johnson had shoulder surgury which limited his offseason participation and seemed out of sync in Sept behind a rebuilt OL. After Johnson became A&M’s all-time ydg leader vs KU he was benched for bkup WR Tannehill. Tannehill was efficient (235, 65%, 11-3) in the L/6 and his ability to get rid of the ball quickly helped the OL as he was sk’d just 10x in his 5 sts vs 25 in Johnson’s 7. Michael and Gray shared TB carries until Michael was OFY vs TT. Gray took over running for 100+ in the L/6 becoming A&M’s 1st 1,000 yd rusher S/’03. A&M has my #19 off and #24 defense. New DC DeRuyter moved the Ags back to the 3-4 the same formation as the legendary Wrecking Crew. The LB unit (top 4 tkl’rs) was the Big 12’s best led by Butkus Winner Miller. A&M finished #1 in the league in rush D thanks to their DL whose job is to clog rush lanes. The Ags are #11 pass eff D (241, 61%, 16-15). The ST’s were a disappointment at #67 with the B12’s worst net P (34.2). K Bullock hit 15-19 but was just 2-3 from 40+. LSU has had another strange season in which they started out 7-0 climbing to #6 in the AP poll before a loss to Auburn. Miles was said to be on the hotseat early in the season especially after a near-loss to Tenn in which UT rec’d a fmbl’d snap with no time left, but LSU RB Ridley scored the GW TD on an untimed down after UT was called for 13 men on the field. The criticism waned after upsets of FL and AL, but losing the finale to Ark has restarted the fire-Les Miles talk again. Miles was forced to alternate QB’s all yr as Jefferson is the better runner and Lee the better passer but Lee only had 6 att in the L/2 gms. Ridley was a nice surprise and the RB’s stayed healthy TY. On defense LSU is #13 in my pass D rankings all’g 166 ypg (56%) with a 12-16 ratio led by Thorpe/Bednarik winner CB Patrick Peterson. Peterson also helped the ST earn their #4 ranking as a standout RS. LSU also has AA PK Jasper who also helps P Helton as the 2 comb for a 43.6 avg and 39.2 net. Read more… |
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Categories: Bowl Projections, College Football Forecasts blog, bowls, Championship, college football, Cotton, Delaware, Eastern Washington, FCS, Forecasts, LSU, phil steele, Texas A&M
