Back at home and it feels so good.
The Aggies, coming off of back-to-back wins, return to Kyle Field for one more game before heading up to Dallas for the Southwest Classic against Arkansas. This Saturday, they’ll be under the lights once again, facing off against the pesky Bowling Green Falcons in primetime for a lead-in match prior to conference play resuming once again.
After a big win at Florida that snapped a 10-game skid on the road, Texas A&M is now ranked at #25 (a whoop) and prepared to turn these recent winning ways into a full-on streak on Saturday night.
Bowling Green isn’t just going to lay down and roll over, though - this is the same Falcons squad that gave a top-ten Penn State team significant trouble while playing on the road, leading for a good portion of the game before falling short by just a touchdown. So they’re not a cupcake by any means.
Prepare for their A-game as they venture into College Station.
What to Expect
Texas A&M to keep pounding the football in the run game. They’ve shown over the last two weeks that they can do that at a high level, and that’s starting to be the identity for this program on offense. Combine that with Bowling Green having the 120th-ranked run defense in the nation, and that can lead to good things. Fully expecting another grind-it-out effort on Saturday from these physical running backs.
On that note, for this offensive line to hopefully continue mauling some people up front, especially in the run game. The five at the line of scrimmage have turned in some exceptional performances so far this season, and it culminated with their most impressive showing thus far against Florida’s front six. Time for the Maroon Goons to keep that going.
Similarly, Bowling Green will probably run the football a lot. They are a run-first team, with only players with double-digit receptions and a running back viewed as one of the best overall prospects in the Group of Five conferences. Classic hard-nosed, physical football game.
If the Aggies are able to limit the run, this secondary will be eager to pounce on any mistake Bowling Green makes in the passing game - expect another really aggressive effort from the back five, looking to add to their SEC-leading and national top-ten ranking in interceptions on the young season (5).
Bowling Green to probably make this a closer game than, well, basically every Texas A&M fan would like. The Falcons are a very experienced group that have proven to give major teams fits in the past - if they were in a really close battle to the end with a top-ten Penn State team, they’ll be believing they can do that against the Aggies. A&M can’t be caught sleeping.
Still a somewhat simple offensive playbook for whomever takes the reins at quarterback this week. It feels like offensive coordinator Collin Klein is slowly integrating more complexities of his scheme into his personnel week by week, but I’m expecting more of the same from what was shown in the Florida game with a few additional wrinkles.
The Aggies to try and control the pace of the game and dominate time of possession. It was shown on full display against Florida a week ago, and it has shown on the stat sheet as well - the Maroon and White rank third in the SEC in time of possession per game.
Who to Watch - Bowling Green
QB Connor Bazelak - Incredibly experienced starter at quarterback that has Power Four experience - it’s more likely than not that he won’t be rattled that easily on the road. Fun fact: he was the opposing starting QB in A&M’s last road win before Florida.
RB Terion Stewart - Viewed as one of the best draft-eligible prospects in the Group of Five conferences, the junior is a bowling ball for the Falcons at 5’9” and 220 pounds. He missed their last contest with an ankle injury, but he’ll be back for this one.
TE Harold Fannin Jr. - One of two Bowling Green pass-catchers with double-digit receptions on the season, he may be the best weapon in the passing game that the Falcons have at their disposal.
DL Anthony Hawkins - A team captain, Hawkins leads a pass-rush for Bowling Green that has already accumulated seven sacks in just two contests in 2024. Big piece to keep track of for the A&M o-line.
LB Joseph Sipp Jr. - The team leader in tackles, he’s an experienced player in the middle of the field that is their leading returning tackler from a season ago. He’ll likely be the play-caller for their defense.
CB Jordan Oladokun - Bowling Green’s best corner is one of the best in the Group of Five conferences, and dare I say a pretty underrated player nationwide. He had a great showing against Penn State two weeks ago and is looking to build off that momentum.
Who to Watch - Texas A&M
RB Le’Veon Moss - Through the first three weeks, Le’Veon Moss has really looked like an NFL-level running back, utilizing his power and strength to just run through people on a game-by-game basis. After a great last two games, I’m really interested to see what he can do against what has been a soft run defense the first couple weeks of the season.
TE Theo Melin Öhrström - It feels like Thor’s role in the offense is only continuing to grow week by week, and that culminated in The Swede getting his first career touchdown on Saturday with a 29-yard dart from Marcel Reed. Intrigued to see if that involvement will continue to increase.
OT Trey Zuhn - Last week’s SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week will be tasked with leading the offensive line to another standout performance against the Bowling Green front - he’s been a catalyst to the unit’s drastic turnaround from a major liability to arguably the heart of the offense in just a year.
EDGE Cashius Howell - The former top-100 transfer recorded his first sack in the Maroon and White last week, and this game is extra special for him - he gets to face off against his former team after starring for the Falcons in 2023.
DL Albert Regis - With A&M facing off against yet another good run game, the Ags are gonna need that interior of the d-line to step up like they did against the Florida Gators; Regis is arguably the best run stopper on this football team, and a dude who’s really earned the playing time he’s gotten will look to have another good showing.
DB Jaydon Hill - The Florida transfer will likely be the one to step into Tyreek Chappell’s nickel corner spot after the senior was ruled out for the season due to a lower-leg injury. Massive loss, but Hill is an experienced SEC player that has played this role before - he’ll likely get his first home start tomorrow.
What to Watch For
The million-dollar question on every A&M fan’s mind is who’s gonna start at QB? I don’t think there’s a wrong decision, but Mike Elko said that this is going to be a week-by-week process as the season progresses. If Conner Weigman still isn’t 100%, I’d be more than fine running with Marcel Reed in this one. But we’ll see what decision the coaching staff makes.
Will another receiver take a step production-wise? Cyrus Allen has been the defacto best wideout for this Texas A&M offense, but I’m waiting to see if other receivers can get a bigger impact on the stat sheet. I’ve loved the effort that they’ve made in other aspects of the game so far, particularly blocking downfield, though.
The ties between the two programs and how that might impact some emotions from the two sides in this one. As mentioned before, edge rusher Cashius Howell was a star for the Falcons a year ago, leading their conference in sacks last year, and he now gets to face his old team. Also, Mike Elko used to be the defensive coordinator for Bowling Green way back when.
The battle in the trenches, once again. The reason A&M has been able to comfortably win the last two games is because they’ve dominated on the line of scrimmage. Mike Elko has said they’ve wanted to make the offensive line in particular their identity on offense, and we know how good the d-line is - they’ll have to win those battles once again to pull away in this one.
Can A&M start the game fast? Another big reason why they’ve been able to cruise to their first two wins is because they’ve blitzed their opponents early and put the game out of reach just like that; Elko has emphasized this point numerous times, and another big start will likely go a long way.
How will the A&M defense fare on third and fourth downs? The Bowling Green offense ranks inside the top 40 nationally in third- and fourth-down success rates, meaning that they have been good at converting those high-pressure situations early on. Forcing them into third-and-long situations will be more critical in this game than it already is.
Will the Aggie offense be able to comfortably move the ball on early downs? The stats certainly favor them to do so - Bowling Green’s defense ranks in the bottom 10 around the country in early down EPA (expected points added), which is a stat that measures how well a team performs relative to their expectation. If that holds true, that leaves the opportunity for A&M’s offense to go and eat on first and second downs.
Final Prediction
I will get this out of the way right now - I’m going to pick Texas A&M to take home this win, but I really think Bowling Green is gonna give the Aggies some challenges at first. They’re a senior-led, veteran team that is built to give better teams a scare, like they did in their last matchup.
However, I think that the Aggies will eventually pull away with the talent difference just being too much, and I like them to handle business at home tomorrow before a big rivalry showdown in Dallas next weekend. I believe A&M will win by multiple scores, but the Falcons aren’t just gonna roll over, I feel like.
That’ll do it for this preview. Just have to take it one game at a time, and good things will result.
Can’t overlook anything. It’s time to take care of business tomorrow night.
BTHO bowling green.
-Sourav