Rumor: Capitol One Bowl intends to pair Michigan and Texas A&M
Per twitter:
Kevin McGuire Was told Capital One Bowl is lining up Texas A&M and Michigan. Johnny Football vs Shoelaces anybody?
Thoughts?
November 30th, 2012 at 4:10 AM ^
Fug it. I think the Aggies are doable. Not as doable as Florida or Georiga, but if Borges can do his job and piece something together that let's this offense live up to it's potential for once, Michigan can compete with A&M just fine. Mattison will put together a defense, one that will get scored on inevitably, but keep them in check allowing the aforemenetioned other Coordinator to utilize his weapons and score some points themselves.
November 30th, 2012 at 4:21 AM ^
I'm looking to save $2000 in December to see Denard play for the first and last time. Yes, you are allowed to donate.
November 30th, 2012 at 4:36 AM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 6:04 AM ^
Why not take the buzz that goes along with playing Johnny Football and a team being pushed as the hottest in the country? More fun and PR. A&M, Bama, Georgia, LSU, Florida are all on a similar level. We may pull an upset, we could get rolled. But let's do it against the highest profile opponent.
November 30th, 2012 at 6:39 AM ^
How many of you veterans were on here in 2007 before we played FL and Tebow saying we were going to get rolled by 40? If Borges does his job (because we know Mattison will with a month to prepare) we can handle A&M. I feel like if it was up to some people on this board we wouldn't play a game until Shane Morris SO year. Hoke isn't Rich Rod, and this is Michigan for god's sake. We aren't scared to play anyone.
November 30th, 2012 at 6:47 AM ^
Didn't Ace mention Capital One had representitives in the booth a few games ago? I think they've had their eyes set on Michigan for a while now.
November 30th, 2012 at 7:19 AM ^
Johnny Football?
November 30th, 2012 at 7:32 AM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 10:38 AM ^
I had not heard that one before.
November 30th, 2012 at 2:30 PM ^
D+D Football Factory is closed for business due to mismanagement (Borges).
November 30th, 2012 at 7:35 AM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 8:13 AM ^
I believe thats because CapOne gets 1st pick.
November 30th, 2012 at 11:11 AM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 7:35 AM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 7:53 AM ^
I used to live in Texas (Cool Story, bro), and lived there just long enough to develop a healthy loathing for Texas A&M. Due to that, I try to pay enough attention to them so that I can knock my Aggie friends down a few notches every year when they tell me in preseason how the football team is going to win the National Championship, be relevant, and invent cold fusion.
I would normally welcome the opportunity to play them and show them how a real football team looks. However, this year is different, and this might be the only team I wanted to play less than even Alabama. Like teenagers to My Chemical Romance, A&M scares the living shit out of me. It took them a good chunk of the season to get into rhythm with a new offense, but now that they have, it pains me to say that they are currently one of the best 2-3 teams in the country. I believe in Greg Mattison, but that offense is frightening. “Johnny Football” gets a lot of credit, but Kliff Kingsbury appears to have the makings of an awesome offensive coach. He coaches with a ton of passion and has had terrific results at both Houston and A&M (although it has to pain Aggies to have a Red Raider coaching their offense). Our defense is going to have their hands full, and if Borges can’t figure out how to best utilize the Denardevin offense then it could get ugly.
Add actual football to an Aggie fan base that will travel extremely well (and still revels in beating us in the ’95 Alamo Bowl) and a Michigan fan base that already traveled to its bowl game (Dallas... I know, I know, thanks Dave Brandon), and it could feel like a home game for A&M. Not to be entirely negative about this match-up, but there are a lot of teams I would have rather played.
November 30th, 2012 at 8:20 AM ^
play in the bowl game. We will play a team that is better than any team we played all year, save Alabama. With fundamental weakness in the running game (non existent), a qb in Gardner who has great potential, but little experience on the big stage and a predictable offensive attack, we are doomed. I pine for the years when opponents feared our running and passing game-may take a couple years.
November 30th, 2012 at 12:07 PM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 2:49 PM ^
As a Michigan grad from a family full of Aggies, I offered my two cents on this matchup in an earlier thread here. Cliff's Notes version -- this matchup sucks for us, for the reasons listed in the two recent posts above. We all know about Johnny Football now, but their depth and talent at wide receiver w/Swope, Nwachukwu, 6-5 freshman Mike Evans, et al. would severely test our secondary. Malena and Michael are a solid RB duo. Their O-line is almost as good as Alabama's. And their Oregon-style tempo would pose a huge challenge -- Klingsbury does a great job; they don't even use a playbook on offense. Their defense is pretty good too (28th in scoring D, despite so many possessions).
Just watch the first quarter of A&M vs. Alabama. They drove and scored on Saban/Kirby Smart's defense at will. Alabama made some good adjustments later on, but A&M was still able to move the ball and hit big plays and score when they needed to in the 2nd half to ice the game.
I think it could be a competitive game, especially giving Mattison a month to prepare the D. But I could also see a scenario in which Manziel & Co. light us up, and our inability to run the ball consistently and keep their O off the field would cost us over 4 quarters. Any SEC team will be a challenge for us, given our current lack of depth and athleticism, but this in particular is a bad matchup for us.
November 30th, 2012 at 8:24 AM ^
excitement and hope, which is great. But quite honestly this matchup scares the living shit out of me. Mainly because they beat the team that beat us by 27, on their home turf. Small sample size and all that but still, A&M has improved every week since the close LSU loss.
November 30th, 2012 at 8:26 AM ^
Battle of great fight songs, QBs, teams.
I'll wait until it's official though. I remember hearing Michigan-houston being a lock for the Sugar Bowl. And I have a hunch the Cotton Bowl is going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at getting a Texas-TAMU matchup.
November 30th, 2012 at 8:28 AM ^
might I suggest "Roy Roundtree's jersey will have a #1 in it before he leaves Michigan"?
November 30th, 2012 at 8:48 AM ^
It's not changing until the season ends and Roy's eligibility runs out.
November 30th, 2012 at 9:00 AM ^
If this matchup came to pass, here is where these teams are right now on a broad statistical level.
First, the Sagarin Predictor ratings would estimate that Texas A&M is a 10.7 point favorite, which isn't insurmountable - as others have mentioned, we have a defense that can keep us in virtually any game, which we have seen.
As for raw productivity, Texas A&M averages 317.25 yards passing each game, whereas we average 198.08 yards (much of the improvement coming lately for us). They manage 235.08 yards on the ground on average, and we are at 187.33 yards rushing on average. By the numbers, as you might expect, we have the better defense, of course - 155.17 yards of passing given up to their 248.42 yards, and for rushing, we give up 156 yards per game to their 140.92, so they are fairly comparable rushing defenses.
As for scoring offense and defense, in short, we score less but they tend to give up more (by an average of 4 points). This would be an interesting game for us and them, I think, if it ends up happening.
November 30th, 2012 at 9:03 AM ^
could be a fun head-handing. No one wil expect us to win, but if we do it will be some redemption for Alabama--everyone can say how much the team grew through the season.
And hopefully, the team really improves over the practice period.
November 30th, 2012 at 9:21 AM ^
Reasons for Pessimism: They were the only team to beat Alabama (29-24), and they did so on the road. They’ll have the likely Heisman Trophy winner at QB and the nation’s third-ranked total offense. The best offense Michigan faced in 2012 was Nebraska (26th in total offense) in a loss. In games against other offenses ranked in the top 50, Michigan barely beat Air Force (41st) and lost to Alabama (43rd), Ohio State (47th) and Notre Dame (48th). Five of Michigan’s eight wins came against the nation’s 90th (Michigan State), 110th (Minnesota), 114th (Iowa), 118th (Illinois) and 124th and lowest (Massachusetts) ranked total offenses.
Reasons for Optimism: They lost twice this season (both at home) in close games to Florida (20-17) and LSU (24-19), two teams like Michigan with high-rated defenses and low-rated offenses. The last time Michigan played against the Heisman Trophy winner in the Capital One Bowl game, the results for Michigan were positive.
November 30th, 2012 at 9:32 AM ^
...just don't like the idea of cheering against Johnny Football. Not gonna lie, I've got a bit of a man crush.
November 30th, 2012 at 9:47 AM ^
I remember the last/only time we played TAMU. Was not long after the Bo-to-TAMU thing, iirc. They had a barefoot kicker, all the rage at the time, and I think they were a favorite in that game, which we won, 41-3 (again, going from my middle aged memory here, Internet). I'd like to see this matchup.
November 30th, 2012 at 9:53 AM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 9:59 AM ^
Gah! Thanks for the correction. I forgot about that one. '95, 22-20, dead on.
November 30th, 2012 at 10:04 AM ^
No, the Bo-to-A&M thing was in the early '80s. We played A&M in 1977.
November 30th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ^
'81, according to "Bo: Life, laughs and lessons of a college football legend".
But I did get the score right. 41-3. 35 years later I do remember that correctly.
November 30th, 2012 at 10:07 AM ^
I don't want any of that.
November 30th, 2012 at 10:35 AM ^
and combining that with Borges's disinterest in developing a game plan designed to keep our opponent off-balance, it's going to be a tough task regardless of which SEC team we play.
I'd love to hear Greg Mattison's private thoughts about Al's offense.
November 30th, 2012 at 10:37 AM ^
will not end well.
November 30th, 2012 at 11:51 AM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 11:51 AM ^
I don't like a four-loss Michigan having to play a two-loss SEC team in a bowl. Then again, since TAMU played SMU and surprisingly competent La Tech for their "difficult" non-conference games, while Michigan played Bama and ND, maybe the paring is more even than a lot of people think.
Part of me wishes that Ohio hadn't cheated and affected the B1G's depth this year, but I am enjoying their "undefeated but we cheated" angst so much that I am more than happy to put up with whatever happens in the bowls.
November 30th, 2012 at 12:05 PM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 1:00 PM ^
matchup. I hope this is true.
November 30th, 2012 at 1:02 PM ^
The Louis Tech game does show that there D can be scored upon. Wisconsin gets hammered for beating Utah St. close, but Texas A&M didn't for playing Louis Tech close. Louis Tech lost at home to Utah St. With that being said if Wisconsin wins this matchup won't happen any way. No one is giving Wisconsin much chance, but Nebreska has not been the same team away from home at all this year and they only beat Wisconsin by 3 at home.
November 30th, 2012 at 1:48 PM ^
Not official until Sunday, but Johnny Football's going to Disney World. Capital One Bowl will pick Texas A&M
I think the Big Ten end of things depends on who wins on Saturday?
November 30th, 2012 at 3:12 PM ^
I'm not looking forward to playing A&M if only because Kevin Sumlin is going to have 6 weeks to prepare a game plan against us. I think we'll get scored on early and then settle things down and have to play a bit of catch up. Granted, Mattison has the same amount of time, but Sumlin put up plenty of points on Alabama with one week's preparation. I have zero faith that Borges's game plan will compete favorably with Sumlin's. Zero.
November 30th, 2012 at 3:23 PM ^
because of his legs but he has two future NFL 1st round pick bookend OT in Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews protecting him. I re-watched Bama/A&M game. Bama tried to put pressure on him at 1st quarter but stopped trying to go after him because they weren't going to get him anyway.
November 30th, 2012 at 11:25 PM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 11:32 PM ^
December 1st, 2012 at 3:06 PM ^
Pretty sad that we're hoping to play well despite our offensive coordinator rather than with his help.