Texas A&M football will have too much firepower for Vanderbilt in opener

In what was supposed to be a year of destiny, Texas A&M football begins a tougher schedule with Vanderbilt. Here’s a preview of the matchup.

Both Texas A&M and Vanderbilt have a handful of opt outs and are trying to figure out what is going on from that point of view. For Vanderbilt, it’s the offensive line. For Texas A&M, it’s sprinkled across the team. Either way though, both of these teams are figuring out how to fill in those holes and who will step up.

These two teams are looking to start the season strong.

For the Aggies, it was supposed to be a year of destiny — the year that they were supposed to make the College Football Playoff or at least the year that they ended up with 10 wins. Now, they are looking at a 10-game conference-only schedule and are unsure if even six wins is in the cards with the addition of Florida and Tennessee.

For Vanderbilt, this is a hard schedule coming up and they are looking to find bowl eligibility if at all possible. They now play LSU, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Mississippi State out of the West and that is not an easy gauntlet of teams to pull at all.

Here is how you can watch the matchup:

Date: Saturday, Sept. 26
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: College Station, Texas
Venue: Kyle Field
TV: SEC Network Alt
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

For Vanderbilt, the focus is on the defense. It’s going to be very experienced with the top 11 tacklers returning and 26 of the top 28 back in the mix. However, will they be able to slow down Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond and his offense who has an embarrassment of riches at wide receiver? Those guys may be young due to opt outs, but they are talented and ready to go.

For the Aggies, it is about controlling the clock and the tempo of the game. They need to get to the quarterback — who may just be a true freshman — and make him feel uncomfortable. They need to keep the offense on the field and keep the defense fresh by getting Vanderbilt off the field quickly.

Prediction

This one is the Aggies game to lose. Kellen Mond is the most experienced quarterback in the SEC. He needs and likely will show just that against a lesser team in Vanderbilt. I think that the ‘Dores will do enough to stay in the game for the first half and may get a garbage time touchdown or two in the second, but for the most part this will be the Aggies game from start to finish.

Prediction: Texas A&M 35, Vanderbilt 14