Kickoff: Saturday, September 5 at 6:00 PM CT
Location: Kyle Field
TV: ESPN
DraftKings line (Aug. 30): TA&M -41.5
Over/under: 52.5

The setup

Texas A&M and Missouri State have never met, and the Bears are only beginning their second FBS season. Their first trip into this series is also a trip into a stadium that has drawn 100,000-plus fans 11 games in a row.

Personnel snapshot

• Missouri State: Casey Woods enters Year 1 as head coach. 6 starters return—3 on offense and 3 on defense. Key defenders back include Jared Lloyd, Dylan Dixson, and Christian Ford. Missouri State’s defense allowed 382.8 yards and 28.8 points per game last season.
• Missouri State quarterback: Skyler Locklear is projected to start for Missouri State. Last season at UTEP, he threw for 1,418 yards, 13 TD and 11 INT.
• Texas A&M: Mike Elko enters Year 3 as head coach. 9 starters return—4 on offense and 5 on defense. Key defenders back include Dalton Brooks, Marcus Ratcliffe, and Dezz Ricks. Texas A&M’s defense allowed 307.4 yards and 23.5 points per game last season.
• Texas A&M quarterback: Marcel Reed returns as Texas A&M’s starting quarterback. Last season, he threw for 2,932 yards, 25 TD and 10 INT.

Three quick analysis points

• The quarterback angle: Marcel Reed is 15-6 as A&M’s starter and has started 18 straight games. He is one of only eight active FBS quarterbacks with 5,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards – a veteran dual threat facing a first-year Missouri State staff.
• The roster reset: A&M retained 65% of its roster but returns only one offensive-line starter, center Mark Nabou Jr. That is the opener’s hidden rebuild: the names around the program are familiar, while four of the five protectors are new.
• The pressure point: The Aggies jumped from 25 sacks in 2024 to 43 last year, fourth nationally, but must replace 25.5 of those sacks. Nearly 60% of the pass rush left the building.

Prediction

I make final predictions on my TikTok/YouTube/Instagram/Facebook pages @uthinkuknowsports.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.