Texas A&M vs. Kansas State, Texas Bowl 2016 : Wildcats hold off Aggies in Houston

There are certain things people say about athletes who play certain positions while having certain skin tones. When you hear a player described as a scrappy grinder of a Wes Welker-type, you probably have a mental image of that player without even looking up, due to years of learning what people mean when they use these terms.

From Kansas State’s Texas Bowl win against Texas A&M, a description of KSU QB Jesse Ertz, who led his team in rushing with 1,012 yards and 5.3 per carry:

Kansas State triumphed over Texas A&M in the Texas Bowl in Houston on Wednesday, by a final score of 33-28. Before that, tempers flared.

At the end of the game’s first half, we had a bit of a ruckus in the KSU end zone, after the Wildcats broke up a last-ditch Hail Mary attempt on the way into the break:

Kansas State’s Texas Bowl win against Texas A&M on Wednesday marks the continuation of what’s now an undeniable trend: Kansas State repeatedly beating opponents from the state of Texas.

In KSU’s most recent game against every FBS program it’s played from the Lone Star State, the Wildcats have won each time. The results:

Kansas State marched into Houston on Thursday and beat Texas A&M, 33-28, in a Texas Bowl that felt sort of like a road game for the Wildcats. After the final play, legendary KSU coach Bill Snyder had a cooler dumped on him. It was an odd cooler dumping.

That’s a new move. Never in my life have I seen players dump a non-liquid object on a coach after a victory. Confetti’s just the right kind of festive, harmless alternative. Snyder seemed to like it more than the liquid option.

Miami began the Russell Athletic Bowl with five consecutive three-and-outs. Late in the first quarter, WVU pulled off the same feat. The Mountaineers only once drove more than 40 yards in a possession, and Miami finished the game gaining 42 yards on its final 15 plays.

This was a game of droughts ... and one burst. When UM’s Brad Kaaya and Ahmmon Richards connected for a 51-yard score with 6:30 left in the first half, it tied the game at 7-7 and kick-started a short run of Hurricane success. They drove 59 yards in six plays to go up 14-7 on their next possession, then improbably went 70 yards in five plays in the final minute of the first half go up 21-7. They took advantage of a dubious third-down pass interference penalty to score a touchdown on their first drive of the second half, and that was about it. They tacked on a field goal to pull away for a 31-14 win in Orlando.

Kansas State beat Texas A&M in the Texas Bowl on Wednesday night in Houston, building a first-half lead and holding on down the stretch to win. The final score was 33-28, and it moved the Wildcats to 9-4, the Aggies to 8-5.

There was suspense. After Kansas State had kept the Aggies at arm’s length for most of the night, A&M cut the lead to five in the fourth quarter and got to work on completing a comeback. But on a fourth-and-8 from the Kansas State 23-yard line, A&M quarterback Trevor Knight threw incomplete, and the Wildcats took the ball back. Jesse Ertz ran for a formally game-sealing first down a few plays later.

On Christmas Day, a Texas A&M recruiting writer named Ryan Brauninger tweeted a really heartwarming video:

Brauninger’s grandmother had never been to a Texas A&M football game, he wrote. But wrapped in a box on Christmas were tickets to A&M’s Texas Bowl against Kansas State on Wednesday night in Houston. She was pretty excited to see them.

FPeak SEC occurred in late-October 2014.

When the College Football Playoff committee unveiled its inaugural midseason rankings, the league claimed four of the top six teams in the country: No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 3 Auburn, No. 4 Ole Miss, and No. 6 Alabama. At 6-1, No. 11 Georgia was within striking distance of a Playoff bid as well.

Most bowls lack any sense of history or personal animosity between the two teams involved. But every year, there are a few with some genuine emotion to them, and this year’s Texas Bowl is one.

In 1998, Kansas State reached an unfathomable 11-0 after winning zero games in 1987 and 1988 and only one in Bill Snyder’s first year, 1989. K-State had gone from being the country’s lowliest program to going 11-1 in 1997, sure, but 11-1 is way different from 11-0.

Texas A&M won’t have to travel far to take on Kansas State in the Texas Bowl, which will be played at NRG Stadium in Houston, just down the road from College Station. However, we’ll see how motivated the Aggies are to play in this game after being in contention for much more prestigious bowls late in the year.

November was not kind to the Aggies. They climbed all the way to No. 4 in the country, and then lost three of their final four games to plummet in the polls. The team fell apart without quarterback Trevor Knight, but he should be back in the lineup after recovering from a shoulder injury.

The Texas Bowl between Texas A&M and Kansas State gets underway this Wednesday evening, and as if this bowl game wasn’t Texas enough, these two teams participated in a rodeo a few days before kickoff, per bowl tradition. Apparently, winning this was a pretty big deal to the Kansas State players.

“Bragging rights,” said K-State defensive tackle Matt Seiwert via the Wichita-Eagle. “We are an agricultural school, they are an agricultural school. We wanted to win.”

Both sides are right. Bowls are a cynical money-making exercise, an excuse for ESPN inventory, and an outdated way for all the wrong people to maintain some semblance of control over college football. They’re also happy, bonus football.

We are at both extremes in 2016. We once again had 80 bowl bids to give out and fewer than 80 bowl-eligible teams, a sure sign of bloat and excess. We’re also loaded with perhaps more interesting bowl matchups than we’ve ever seen.

The latest trend in college football appears to be future NFL stars making a decision about whether to play in their teams’ bowl games.

On Monday morning, Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey announced he would be skipping Stanford’s Sun Bowl to prepare for the NFL draft. LSU running back Leonard Fournette announced on Friday that he would be skipping LSU’s Citrus Bowl against Louisville.

All wagers at -110 odds unless otherwise noted. Visit Odds Shark for updated lines throughout each game week.

College football bowl games are a different beast for bettors. Sure, the typical handicapping elements apply. Offense and defense matter. But there are some key elements at play that don’t apply as much during the regular season.

College football’s bowl season is upon us. A full schedule is here.

There are 40 bowl games spread from Dec. 17 to Jan. 2, with the National Championship on Jan. 9. Unless you’re watching on multiple monitors and are really committed, you won’t catch all of them. (If that is your plan, more power to you.)

Texas A&M’s junior defensive end Myles Garrett still hasn’t officially announced he will enter the 2017 NFL draft, but he’s already generating plenty of hype as the next top NFL pass rusher.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Cleveland Browns have an “astronomical grade” on Garrett and are “enamored” with the pass rushing prospect. With the Browns at 0-12 and likely to nab the first pick in the 2017 NFL draft, Garrett is already at the top of mock drafts with Cleveland as the landing spot.

There are plenty of things that are confusing about the way the College Football Playoff works.

One of these things is not that complicated, yet Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby (a man whom I believe to be wholly intelligent in his own right) cannot seem to get his mind around it.

Alabama won the SEC, obliterating Florida in the conference championship game on Saturday to the surprise of no one, 54-16. The defending champs will advance to the Peach Bowl against Washington as the undisputed No. 1 seed, making the Playoff for the third year in a row. That’s every year of the Playoff, which nobody else has done.

Nick Saban’s dynasty is amazing. It’s also come at the expense of the conference. And this year’s been a perfect storm of Alabama brilliance and everyone else’s mediocrity or worse. Let’s have a look at the conference’s post-title game, pre-bowl standings:

The Big 12 did not have a team selected for the College Football Playoff for the second time in three years. And now Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby seems confused about what to do next.

Speaking to ESPN, Bowlsby said:

Also, head over here for the fully updated bowl season calendar as it fills in, from the New Orleans Bowl through the Rose Bowl. We’ll also add picks, scores, and more to that calendar over time.

The Texas Bowl is set for primetime on Dec. 28, a few nights ahead of bowl season’s biggest games. This one’s not a bad game at all, and it’s played in a venue that – if filled to capacity – can make for a worthwhile, fun atmosphere for all involved.