5 keys to upsetting Texas A&M

The Cats are 6-0 and an underdog tonight when they take on the Aggies of Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.

Texas A&M is currently a 6.0-point favor at home to beat The Kentucky Wildcats. The only two losses have came to a very talented top-five Clemson team and the best team in the country, Alabama. A&M has some outstanding players like Trayveon Williams and Kellen Mond. if Kentucky is going to upset the Aggies in College Station, here are the 5 things they will need to do:

1. Rush for over 200 yards.

Benny Snell has to show up in a big way. He is the best running back in the country, but he still needs to do more to earn that respect from other national media outlets.

This far, Snell has ran for over 635 yards and he has been able to run for 8 touchdowns. He’s now only 17 rushing touchdowns short of Tim Tebow’s SEC record and only 9 rushing touchdowns from beating out Herschel Walker for the 2nd spot. With Nassir Watkins out, it will hurt the offensive line, but I think there is too much depth on the offensive line to have any major issues. If the Cats can get Benny going and AJ Rose is able to get 50 or more, I could see he Cats getting the win.

1. Keep pressure on Kellen Mond

Kellen Mond has became the future of the Aggie Football program, but several people don’t believe in he hype of Mond.

Mond has completed just 60 percent of his passes and thrown for 7 passing touchdowns. But, Mond is also averaging over 200 yards-per-game as he has passed for over 1220 yards. Mond is very athletic and can do a lot of damage when he is scrambling from the pocket.

The one problem for him this game is, he will be having to run away from Josh Allen who is a first round draft pick off the edge for the Cats and almost impossible to block. Mond is not very good when he is under pressure, so Kentucky needs to get pressure off the edge to force him to step into the pocket and make a tough throw. If the Cats can’t force Mond to make quick and tough throws, they won’t have a chance at slowing down the A&M offense.

3. Control the clock.

Texas A&M has one of the toughest environments to play in, in the entire country. There is a reason the are known as the 12th man.

A&M has played very well this season on defense, only giving up major points to Alabama and Clemson, but of which were top-3 in the country when they played. Kentucky has a very good running game, but this week, that will be huge, because you can’t let A&M drive on you in College Station.

Benny Snell and the offensive line will have their hands full with the task of running it down the throat of the Aggies, but if they have any chance of beating A&M, it’s probably one of the most important factors of the game.

4. Limit Turnovers

Texas A&M will already have a big advantage with their amazing student section, also known as “the 12^th man” on Saturday night in College Station. If the Cats are going to pull off a road upset, then Terry Wilson and the UK offense cant have turnovers.

So far this season, Wilson has only been able to throw for two touchdowns and he has thrown five interceptions. Now, that may not look like a good stat line, but really, only one of those interceptions came at a big point in the game and that was against Florida.

Wilson has done a tremendous job thus far of making smart decisions with the ball. He may not be lighting the scoreboard up, but he has done a dang good job at controlling the offense and limiting turnovers. A&M has two of the best players in the conference on offense in Mond and Williams, so Kentucky can’t just give them the ball in their own territory. I’m not saying Kentucky can’t have any turnovers to win, but it needs to be limited to one or two and those coming at non-crucial times in the game.

5. Play downfield on defense.

Trayveon Williams is one of the most explosive backs in the country and 2^nd in the SEC behind Benny Snell for rushing yards with 582 and 6 touchdowns.

Williams is one of those backs that can either crush you on the ground with his power or he can hit you on the edge and outrun you. The 5-9 back is only 200 pounds, but that 200 pounds is pure muscle and attitude when he runs the ball.

Everyone tries to compare backs to Snell when they play UK, but Williams is the closest comparison in my opinion. With Kash Daniel out for the first half of the game due to the targeting penalty of the second half against South Carolina, the true freshman,

Chris Oats is going to have to step up. Oats has had a lot of playing time this year and he is really good and maybe even better than Kash Daniel at covering the pass, but when it comes to the run game, he will have to be explosive and fill in the first gap he sees because that is where Williams will hit hard. If Williams can find a gap in the defense that is how he gets his yards. Oats will have to have a big first half as well as Jones and Kash Daniel will have to come out with explosiveness in the second half if UK is going to upset the Aggies.

MY PREDICTION:

I think Benny comes to this game ready to make a statement and get his name on the Heisman ballot as a contender and rushes for 175 against the 6th-ranked rushing defense. I believe Wilson will finally have his coming out party and he will complete 70 percent of his passes and have no turnovers.

CJ Conrad will be big, and Kash Daniel will have an amazing second half as he will be a second wind for the Cats. I think the Cats win this one in a very close game by a field goal from the freshman long-distance kicker, Chance Poore.

Score: Kentucky 28, Texas A&M 27