Front Porch FootballTaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Texas A&M vs. NC State
by John Covington Lamm
The 2018 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl should be a fun one to watch. The Texas A&M Aggies, at 8-4, are trying to finish an exciting season in Jimbo Fisher’s first with the team, coming off an instant classic 7OT win against LSU 74-72. As for NC State, they are currently at 9-3 looking to get a 10 win season and would love to upset their old rival Jimbo Fisher, from his days at Florida State.
Player to Watch
NC State comes into the game as a 7 point underdog, and for them to have success, Ryan Finley needs to have a big game. He was first team All-ACC this season, throwing for 3789 yards, 24 touchdowns, and completing 68% of his passes. The biggest challenge for Finley, in this game, is his best receiver Kelvin Harmon being out, who leads the ACC in receiving yards. However, Texas A&M has a poor passing defense, ranking 111th in the country, giving up 263 passing yards a game, so Finley should be able to continue his success through the air that he has had in his Senior Year. Even though Finley doesn’t have Harmon, I expect him to be up to the challenge and impress NFL scouts one last time. I’m expecting him to throw for over 300 yards.
Key to the Game
NC State and Texas A&M have very different situations when it comes to players sitting out. Texas A&M is looking for their first bowl win since their 2014 Liberty Bowl win over West Virginia, and they are all in on trying to end that losing streak. NC State, on the other hand, will be without two of their best players as they prepare for the NFL Draft. Kelvin Harmon, as mentioned earlier, would have had a huge impact against that secondary, but without him playing, Texas A&M’s weaknesses in the defensive backfield will not be exposed as easily. Germaine Pratt, on the other side of the ball for the Wolfpack, will be missing at linebacker. Pratt was All-ACC and helped lead the Wolfpack to a top 15 rushing defense. How the Wolfpack will be able to recover from Harmon and Pratt being out is yet to be seen, but one thing is for sure, if the Wolfpack are going to upset the Aggies, they will need other players to step up and make impacts to fill the void.
Stat of the Day
Texas A&M’s 74-72 win over LSU on November 24th, was the highest scoring football game in college football history. The game lasted 7 overtimes, the equivalent to 11 quarters, and was 4 hours 53 minutes long.
Conclusion
The loss of two of NC State’s best players will be very difficult to overcome. Texas A&M’s second best run defense in the nation will make it tough for the Wolfpack to run the ball and will probably lead to the Wolfpack becoming one dimensional on offense. NC State will not have the same success on defense without Pratt on defense. Texas A&M’s Trayveon Williams led to entire SEC in rushing this season with 1,524 yards and should be able to run effectively in the Gator Bowl. Kellen Mond, the quarterback for the Aggies, is a very talented dual-threat quarterback who was able to throw for 430 yards against Clemson earlier in the year. He will be very difficult for the Wolfpack to stop and should be looking at another huge game against this ACC foe. Ultimately, the Aggies will be too talented for the NC State Wolfpack to stop.
