Texas A&M @ Northwestern preview
NRG Stadium
MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL STORYLINES:
1. Texas A&M will be making its final appearance as a Big 12 school and will be operating under a new coach in interim boss Tim DeRuyter when it faces Northwestern in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas on New Year’s Eve. The Aggies, who fired Mike Sherman after the regular season, move to the SEC in 2012.
2. Northwestern is considerably more stable with Pat Fitzgerald at coach and has lower expectations to meet. Still, Fitzgerald and company would love to snap the school’s 62-year drought with a bowl win.
3. The Aggies were ranked in the top 10 in the preseason and had National Championship aspirations but consistently lost close games against top competition, falling twice in overtime and losing by a total of seven points in regulation to Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Texas.
4. Texas A&M will be looking to snap a 10-year bowl win drought. The Aggies are still waiting to see if running back Cyrus Gray, who went over 1,000 yards this season, will be able to go after suffering a shoulder injury on Nov. 19 against Kansas.
TV: 12 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Texas A&M -10
ABOUT TEXAS A&M (6-6, 4-5 Big 12): The Aggies will be led by former Houston coach Kevin Sumlin going forward with DeRuyter moving on to take over Fresno State. Also enjoying his last game for the Aggies will be quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who gets one more chance to impress NFL scouts. The former wide receiver guides an offense that averages 39.6 points but had some of his worst performances against better competition, totaling 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in six losses and 16 scores vs. two picks in six wins. The Aggies will be playing with heavy hearts following the death of senior offensive lineman Joseph Villavisencio, who was killed in a car accident after a team charity event on Thursday.
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (6-6, 3-5 Big Ten): The Wildcats have their own star senior quarterback in Dan Persa, who led the nation with a 74.2 completion percentage after missing the first three games while recovering from an Achilles injury. Northwestern last won a bowl game at the 1949 Rose Bowl but will be making their fourth straight postseason appearance under Fitzgerald after closing the season 4-1. That stretch was preceded by a five-game slide during which the Wildcats allowed an average of 35.2 points.
PREDICTION: Texas A&M 35, Northwestern 21. The streak will reach 63 years for the Wildcats, who don’t have the pieces to match up against Tannehill and company.