Rece Davis, Pete Thamel split on Miami vs. Texas A&M

The Miami vs. Texas A&M game is getting more and more interesting as kickoff approaches. The Aggies made a big change at quarterback as they try to bounce back from a loss to Appalachian State while the Hurricanes will attempt to shake off a slow start against Southern Miss.

ESPN’s Rece Davis and Pete Thamel made their predictions — and they’re split on how things will go in College Station.

Davis’ rationale came from the quarterback. Miami is steadfast with Tyler Van Dyke under center, while Texas A&M is preparing to make a change, going from Haynes King to Max Johnson starting with the game against the Hurricanes. That’s why Davis is leaning toward Mario Cristobal’s group, which is a six-point favorite, according to VegasInsider.

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“This is going to test my new resolve to not be overly analytical here because this is one — you know A&M’s going to be desperate,” Davis said on the College GameDay podcast. “That crowd’s going to be electric. I’m not on the bandwagon of Miami being ‘back.’ I am on the bandwagon in modern day college football, if you’ve got a dude at quarterback, even on the road, you take him. So I’m going to go with Tyler Van Dyke, and I’ll take the points. I’ll take the ‘Canes.”

But Thamel thinks Texas A&M is still dangerous and will have quite the home field advantage at Kyle Field. He also pointed to Miami’s sluggish start against Southern Miss last week as a reason to pump the brakes on the Hurricanes, which is why he’s picking the Aggies.

“I think there’ll be changes at Texas A&M, I think there’ll be an energy build at Texas A&M, I love that it’s an 8:00 local start,” Thamel said. “I think that there is a certain power to desperation in college football that is hard to quantify. … It worried me a little that Miami sputtered around some with Southern Miss in the first half the other day and I just think that until I get the empirical evidence from the ‘Canes, I’m going to just stay safe with A&M … if they posses the ball, I think they’ll be in much better straits. I just have a hard time seeing Miami as a program right now going in and winning that game in College Station. I will take the Aggies and the points.”