Liberty Bowl preview: Texas A&M vs. West Virginia

Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin has won two straight bowl games and is seeking his third with a new QB.

READ MORE:

The Texas A&M Aggies take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Liberty Bowl – the first matchup of power conferences this bowl season.

Texas A&M started the season hot with a 5-0 record under QB Kenny Hill, but after a three game losing streak, Hill was benched and replaced with QB Kyle Allen, who led the Aggies to an upset win over #3 Auburn on the road to give them bowl eligibility. The defense has struggled a lot though, allowing 30 points or more in five of their last seven games – losing all but one of them.  WR Josh Reynolds has been nearly unstoppable, bringing in 12 TDs and 16.2 yards/catch – he will be the key to the offense staying one step ahead of the curve. They key to beating Texas A&M will be dominating them through the air and beating them in a shootout.

West Virginia looked primed for a shot at the Big XII title after beating #4 Baylor (the Bears’ lone loss of the season), but three straight losses doomed the season and dropped them to 7-5 on the season. Just days after QB Clint Trickett retired from football due to concussions, the team will start QB Skyler Howard, who played sparingly in five games this year and has 5 TDs without an INT as well as 107 yards rushing and a 9.7 yards/carry average. The key to beating the Mountaineers will be to make Howard uncomfortable in the pocket and keep him from making plays through the air.

Prediction: Texas A&M Aggies win the Liberty Bowl – In a battle of backup college QBs, the better coached team will win. In this case that’s Texas A&M and coach Kevin Sumlin. With a track record of success with just about every QB he’s ever come across you can bet that Sumlin will make sure Kyle Allen brings his A-game today.