Tennessee football: Vols, SEC and top 25 predictions for Week 1 of 2019

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
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Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images
Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Texas State Bobcats at No. 12 Texas A&M Aggies

TV: SEC Network; Line: Texas A&M -34; Over/Under: 58

Thursday, Aug. 29 at 8:30 p.m.; Kyle Field; College Station, Texas

The Texas A&M Aggies join the Florida Gators as two programs with massive levels of excitement entering their second season with a new head coach. And, like Florida, they are doing it under a head coach who is proven to be elite and highly successful elsewhere. That makes both schools different from Tennessee football.

Anyway, Jimbo Fisher’s program gets to open at home on a Thursday night against a Texas State Bobcats team under a new head coach, former West Virginia Mountaineers offensive coordinator Jake Spavital. A student of the air raid offense, Spavital will try to transition Texas State’s offense from the spread that it ran the past few years.

However, he walks into a program with very little support, while Fisher is taking a program loaded with potential into his second year. It’s clearly not a good combination, but what’s going to happen when these two meet up?

Prediction

I usually am not a fan of picking teams in 30-plus point spreads. This is a completely different scenario. Texas A&M is facing a program that was already in disarray and now has a new coaching staff. The combination will allow Kellen Mond to put up ridiculous stats in this game, and the Aggies will walk away with a dominating victory. They alone allow this game to hit the over.

Texas A&M: 59 Texas State: 3 (Texas A&M -34; Over 58)