Tennessee at Texas A&M Expert Pick & Odds

Both Tennessee coach Butch Jones and Texas A&M counterpart Kevin Sumlin entered this season on the hot seat. Neither is there currently as both the No. 9 Volunteers and No. 8 Aggies are 5-0 entering Saturday’s showdown in College Station. It could be an SEC Championship Game preview and the Aggies are TD favorites on college football odds. It’s the first time the schools have played since A&M joined the SEC.

How To Bet on the Tennessee at Texas A&M Expert Pick, Odds & TV Info

When: Saturday, Oct. 8, 3:30 PM ET
Where: Kyle Field, College State, Texas
TV: CBS
Opening NCAA Football Lines: Texas A&M -7 (56)

Why Bet on Tennessee?

The Vols (5-0) are lucky or good — or both. They stunned Georgia 34-31 last Saturday on a 43-yard Hail Mary TD pass as time expired. After blowing a 17-point lead, the Bulldogs trailed 28-24 before freshman quarterback Jacob Eason fired a 47-yard touchdown to freshman Riley Ridley down the left sideline to regain the lead, 31-28 with 10 seconds left.

During Georgia’s celebration, a player ran onto the field without his helmet, resulting in a 15-yard penalty. The Bulldogs were also penalized for being offside on the ensuing kickoff, and the Volunteers returned the short pooch kick to Georgia’s 43-yard line. With only four seconds left, Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs fired a Hail Mary into the end zone. Receiver Jauan Jennings was surrounded by five Georgia defenders, but somehow came down with the ball for a 43-yard touchdown, giving the Volunteers an improbable victory. Tennessee has now erased 65 points worth of deficits so far this season. Slow starts have been the Vols’ norm, as has closing strong.

“I thought we had a chance,” Jones said. “It’s one of those moments in time that you’ll remember forever.”

The Vols extended their winning streak to 11 games, the fifth-longest win streak in school history. It’s the longest UT win streak since the Vols won 14 in row, spanning a 13-0 season in 1998 to a victorious first game in 1999. UT is 5-0 to begin its season for the first time since 1998, and only the fifth time since 1970.

Dobbs completed 16 of 26 passes for 230 yards, three touchdowns and one interception and ran for 26 yards and one score on 11 carries. Tennessee (5-0, 2-0 SEC) notched its fourth come-from- behind victory of the season and its first win over Georgia in Athens since 2006. UT has notched back-to- back wins over ranked opponents on consecutive Saturdays for the first time since 1995. UT recovered from a 21-0 deficit to defeat No. 19 Florida the week before.

The Vols are doing this even with three of their best defensive players – linebackers Darrin Kirkland and Jalen Reeves-Maybin and cornerback Cam Sutton — currently sidelined by injuries. One of their replacements, former walk-on Colton Jumper, had a game-high 11 tackles Saturday.

Why Bet on Texas A&M?

The Aggies (5-0) beat South Carolina 24-13 on Saturday. Trevor Knight, who came into the game second in the SEC in total offense, threw for 206 yards and ran for 84 more. With a mixture of Trayveon Williams, Knight and James White, A&M rushed for more than 200 yards for the fifth consecutive game to open the season. That hasn’t been done by an Aggies team since 1997. While the Aggies no longer lead the league in rushing, they are second at 258.6 yards per game and they lead the league with 15 rushing TDs.

The Gamecocks had chances to end their six-game losing streak to ranked opponents, but kicker Elliot Fry missed two field goals and Jamarcus King fumbled a punt with 3:12 left in the game. The third period continues to be a strong point for the Aggies. They allowed their first points of the season in it on Saturday, but still no touchdowns given up. A&M is outscoring foes 44-3 in third quarters this season.

Texas A&M senior defensive end Daeshon Hall was named Southeastern Conference Defensive Lineman of the Week on Monday. Hall posted six total tackles, including two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss, while also pressuring the USC quarterback twice. It was the second SEC DL of the Week honor of Hall’s career.

Four starters were out for Texas A&M, including last year’s SEC sack leader Myles Garrett, two receivers in Speedy Noil and Ricky Seals-Jones and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. All four should play vs. UT. A&M is the only 5-0 team in the country to have beaten four FBS opponents.

My Expert Pick

Volunteers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games.
Volunteers are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 conference games.
Volunteers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win.
Aggies are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.

Texas A&M and over in NCAA football betting.