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Texas A&M Football

Around CFB: Previewing the 2015 college football season

August 31, 2015
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With September finally closing in here’s a few picks, predictions and thoughts in the first iteration of a weekly look at the college football season.

Preseason Heisman picks

1. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State: So much attention was paid last season to Ohio State’s quarterback situation that Elliott’s dominance was almost overlooked. He exceeded 200 rushing yards in each of the last three games — vs. Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon. He was the difference in Ohio State winning the national championship, not Cardale Jones.

Elliott exceeded 100 rushing yards in all seven games in which he received at least 20 carries. Look for the Buckeyes to give him a greater workload in 2015.

2. Trevone Boykin, QB, TCU: The Horned Frogs quarterback ranked fourth in the nation by averaging 354.5 yards of total offense per game last season. That’s more than Heisman winner Marcus Mariota averaged. There’s no reason to anticipate his productivity would dip. TCU projects as a national championship contender; quarterbacks of championship contenders typically are strong Heisman contenders.

3. Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia: As a freshman, Chubb did not get into the starting lineup until Todd Gurley was suspended after five games in 2014. Yet, Chubb averaged 165.3 rushing yards in the next eight games to finish with 1,547 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Look at it this way: had Chubb also averaged 165 yards in the first five games he would have rushed for 2,148 yards. That would have been the second-highest total in the nation. A 2,000-yard season is certainly not out of the question, especially running behind Georgia’s offensive line.

4. Cody Kessler, QB, USC: An unspoken rule of college football: if USC is good, the Trojans quarterback is a Heisman contender. The Trojans project to be Pac-12 championship contenders and Kessler is a major reason. Last season he passed for 3,826 yards and 39 touchdowns with only five interceptions. He was ranked 12th nationally in passing. Nine of the guys who were ranked ahead of him are gone.

5. Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU: As a freshman he received some criticism for striking the Heisman pose after scoring a touchdown against Sam Houston. The Heisman is not won with good games against FCS programs. However, he did rush for more than 100 yards against Florida, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Notre Dame.

Thomas Campbell With his potential on returns and in A&M's offense, Speedy Noil (pictured) joins Kyle Allen as Aggies who could challenge for the Heisman. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"With his potential on returns and in A\u0026M\u0027s offense, Speedy Noil (pictured) joins Kyle Allen as Aggies who could challenge for the Heisman.","MediaItemID":48005}
He’ll be the focal point of LSU’s offense. If the Tigers quarterbacks can make opponents at least respect the possibility of a pass, Fournette will post stunning rushing numbers. He might do so anyway.

A&M’s most likely Heisman candidate: Speedy Noil could emerge as a serious contender because he’s a dual threat as a receiver and kick returner. Also, defensive end Myles Garrett could be so dominant that he surfaces as the rare defensive candidate a la Ndamukong Suh.

However, the most likely possibility is sophomore quarterback Kyle Allen, who threw for 1,322 yards and 16 touchdowns while starting just five games as a true freshman. Allen steadily improved last season and figures to be much better this year. He’s a threat to pass for 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. That is, if he can hold off the challenge of Kyler Murray all year.

College Football Playoff picks

My first football final four forecast is as follows:
  • Ohio State: The defending national champions are still loaded. Quite frankly, overall, the Big Ten appears more mediocre than in 2014.

  • TCU: Look for the Horned Frogs to be the Big 12’s “one true champion.” That should be enough to ensure they get into the Playoff. The committee couldn’t overlook them again, right. Right?

  • USC: The Pac-12 has emerged as the nation’s second-best college football league and USC may be the league’s best team. The Trojans also face a difficult schedule. USC also has the “big-name factor” that will influence the selection committee.

  • Texas A&M: Why not? The SEC champion will get in and the Aggies have as much chance to win as anybody. They have a better QB situation than Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas or LSU. They have a more favorable schedule than Auburn. It’s often been said that A&M needs only a respectable defense to complement its explosive offense. Here’s betting John Chavis makes the defense at least respectable.

SEC opening week picks

Of course, illnesses, injuries and arrests can change things, but here’s the early picks on this week’s SEC games:

The message is that the SEC is so widespread that going to A&M would not be conducive to parents attending games. However ... of the Texas programs in major conferences, only Baylor will travel fewer miles than A&M this season. {"Module":"quote","Alignment":"right","Quote":"The message is that the SEC is so widespread that going to A\u0026M would not be conducive to parents attending games. However ... of the Texas programs in major conferences, only Baylor will travel fewer miles than A\u0026M this season.","Author":""}
Texas A&M 42, Arizona State 31
LSU 49, McNeese State 3
Alabama 27, Wisconsin 17
Ole Miss 59, Tennessee-Martin 6
Arkansas 38, UTEP 13
Auburn 41, Louisville 31
North Carolina 31, South Carolina 24
Georgia 45, ULM 13
Missouri 42, Southeast Missouri 14
Tennessee 52, Bowling Green 10
Western Kentucky 27, Vanderbilt 24
 
Interesting stat
There are some suggestions that Big 12 football programs in Texas might use the geography of the Southeastern Conference in an attempt negatively recruit against Texas A&M. The message is that the SEC is so widespread that going to A&M would not be conducive to parents attending games.

However, at look the traveling distances for the 2015 season indicates that is not the case. In fact, of the Texas programs in major conferences, only Baylor will travel fewer miles than A&M this season.

According to GPS, A&M’s round-trip travels to its five games away from College Station will span 4,084 miles.

Baylor will travel 3,390 round trip miles to games at SMU, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and TCU.

TCU will travel 6,014 miles, Texas Tech 6,886 miles and Texas will travel 8,146 miles. Etc.

Other notes from around college football:
• Classy moves by South Carolina and Virginia Tech. South Carolina will wear a special helmet decal to honor the nine victims of the Emanuel Church shootings in June. Virginia Tech will wear a special helmet decal to honor the television journalists of nearby Roanoke, who were shot and killed last week.

• ESPN’s Sharon Katz this week projected A&M second on a list of top five offenses this season. Baylor was picked No. 1. The other members of her top five were: 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia, 5. TCU.

• Looking for a dark horse Heisman candidate to follow? Keep an eye on Georgia Tech junior quarterback Justin Thomas. As a first-year starter last season he rushed for 1,086 yards, which was the nation’s sixth-highest total by a quarterback. Yet, what’s really impressive is that he passed for 1,719 yards and 18 TDs. True, that may be four games of work for A&M’s Allen, but that was the highest passing total at run-oriented Georgia Tech since 2007.
 
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