NCAA Football
2024-12-27 - Texas A&M Aggies at USC Trojans
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : College Football Las Vegas Bowl
Friday 27th December 2024 - Scheduled 10:30pm
3:30am (British Time)
Preview
An expanded College Football Playoff format meant there was a real ambition for the USC Trojans (6-6) to join eleven others in the post-season. Instead it has been a difficult season for the Trojans, although they should be well supported a couple of days after Christmas with this game taking place in Las Vegas.
They will need all of the support they can get when facing the Texas A&M Aggies (8-4) and that is largely because USC have been hit hard by players joining the transfer portal and others opting out.
For a time it looked like the Aggies might force their way into the College Football Playoff as they moved into a 7-1 position while in the midst of the SEC season. Close losses down the stretch prevented the Aggies from upsetting the odds to be announced as one of the twelve teams to fight it out for the National Championship, but the team look to be a bit happier to have this opportunity than USC.
Unlike their opponent, Texas A&M can call on important players to play the Las Vegas Bowl and that gives them the edge in the contest.
The Aggies Offensive Line did find establishing the run a touch difficult down the stretch in the regular season, but there should be more room to exploit against this Trojans Defensive Line. Establishing the run will be important to just make life a little easier for Marcel Reed at Quarter Back and Texas A&M have to be confident in being able to do that here.
Marcel Reed has taken over the starting spot at Quarter Back having begun the season in a situation of splitting time at the position. He has shown enough to believe he can make some big plays for the Aggies in this one and just help Texas A&M find some balance Offensively that can give them some consistency when moving the ball.
Inconsistency may be an issue for the Trojans on the Offensive side of the ball with key Receivers and Running Backs opting out. The key battle will be at the Line of Scrimmage with the Trojans Offensive Line looking to bully this solid Texas A&M Defensive Line up front and trying to keep things comfortable for Jayden Maiava, who has shown some promise at Quarter Back.
Jayden Maiava is willing to take risks when throwing down the field, although Interceptions have been a slight problem. The question for the Quarter Back is whether he has had enough time to build up some chemistry with the backups that will be taking to the field for the Trojans in this one.
He will be expecting to have some time in the pocket, but Maiava will have to respect the level of play that this Aggies Secondary have put on the field.
USC will be pushed by the fans in the stands in this Bowl Game, but Texas A&M sound very excited about having this opportunity.
This could be an important motivation factor and the Aggies may just have enough to pull clear of this spread and win by around a Touchdown mark.
Prediction
Lay the points with the favourite in this Bowl Game.
The Pick :
USC Trojans 23-31 Texas A&M Aggies
