Texas A&M vs. UNC Bowl Prediction
No. 5 Texas A&M takes on No. 13 North Carolina in the Capital One Orange Bowl at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday night on ESPN. After the Aggies were left out of the college football playoff field, will they suffer a letdown tonight versus the explosive Tar Heels?
Game Snapshot
498 Texas A&M Aggies (-9) vs. 497 North Carolina Tar Heels (+9); o/u 65
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL
8:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, January 2, 2021
TV: ESPN
Texas A&M Aggies Game Notes
Texas A&M senior QB Kellen Mond completed 26-of-32 passes for 281 yards, one touchdown and an interception in Saturday’s 34-13 victory over Tennessee. Mond (6’3/217) added 59 yards and a touchdown on the ground, the Aggies’ first score, courtesy of a five-yard scramble on second-and-goal where Mond drove through a Tennessee defender at the goal line. With Tennessee doing a good job against RB Isaiah Spiller — holding him to 3.4 YPC on 26 attempts — Mond’s additional contributions on the ground were especially welcome. Mond is headed to the Senior Bowl after this season. He flashes Day 2 upside, but he’ll have to answer for accuracy issues and some wonky decision-making (today’s interception in the red zone was airmailed to a Tennessee defensive back with no Aggie in the vicinity) that have plagued him at times during his career. With the win, the Aggies improved to 8-1. Sitting at No. 5 in the current playoff rankings, A&M will be rooting for Notre Dame and Alabama this evening.
North Carolina Tar Heels Game Notes
North Carolina sophomore QB Sam Howell completed 20-of-23 passes for 287 yards and a pair of touchdowns and ran for 41 yards in a 49-9 rout of Western Carolina on Saturday. Howell could have broken records if the Tar Heels were interested in doing so, but this was a game that saw UNC have four different players attempt passes against an FCS school. He fired a 22-yard touchdown to Antoine Green in the first, and a 26-yarder to end the first half to Dazz Newsome that gave North Carolina 42-3 lead. Howell (6’1/225) and UNC won’t be playing for an ACC title this year, but they can play spoiler next Saturday if they beat Miami.
Texas A&M vs. North Carolina Betting Prediction
The over has cashed in five of the Aggies’ last seven bowl games, is 9-4 in their last 13 non-conference games and has cashed in six of their last eight games versus ACC opponents. On the other side, the over is 5-2 in the Tar Heels’ last seven games overall, is 7-3 in their last 10 games after accumulating more than 200 yards rushing in their previous game and is 4-1 in their last five games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous contest.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 16 BETTING PREDICTION: TEXAS A&M/NORTH CAROLINA OVER 65
