Liberty Bowl to match Air Raid attacks in A&M, WVU

Texas A&M will travel to Memphis to conclude its 2014 football season in the Liberty Bowl against Big 12 representative West Virginia, the Southeastern Conference announced on Sunday.

Kickoff is 1:00 pm on Dec. 29. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.

The game matches Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin and West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen, who are former colleagues and Air Raid offense aficionados.

Holgorsen served as Sumlin’s offensive coordinator at Houston in 2008 and 2009.

West Virginia (7-5) is ranked ninth in the nation in passing offense, averaging 314.6 passing yards per game. Texas A&M (7-5) is ranked 12th and averages 306.4 yards per game.

This year the Southeastern Conference assigned bowl games to its member teams not appearing in the national championship playoff or the Capital One Bowl.

A&M will be seeking to post four straight bowl victories for the first time in school history.

“It’s a great honor to be selected to play in the Liberty Bowl against a great opponent in West Virginia,” Sumlin said in a statement released by the Texas A&M athletic department. “It’s a huge opportunity for our team to win a bowl game in four consecutive seasons, which is something we’ve never done in 119 seasons of football at Texas A&M.

“I’m excited for our team to get a chance to experience Memphis and I’m sure it will be a popular destination for our fans.”

Previously, A&M defeated Northwestern 33-22 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in 2011, defeated Oklahoma, 41-13, in the Cotton Bowl after the 2012 season and defeated Duke, 52-48, last season in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

However, to continue that streak the Aggies must end another.

A&M will enter the bowl game having lost its last two games, to Missouri, 34-27, and LSU, 23-17.

Meanwhile, West Virginia suffered November losses to TCU, Texas and Kansas State before closing its regular season with a 37-24 victory over Iowa State.

The Liberty Bowl matches teams that are among the nation’s top 40 in scoring. A&M averages 34.3 points, while West Virginia averages 33.2.

The Aggie defense, which is among the worst in the nation against the run, may appear to have gotten a break against West Virginia. The Mountaineers average 187.5 rushing yards per game. However, that may be deceiving. WVU running backs Rushel Shell and Wendell Smallwood both have rushed for more than 600 yards.

Also, A&M will be facing one of the best pass-catch combinations in the country in West Virginia quarterback Clint Trickett and receiver Kevin White. Trickett has passed for 3,285 yards, which is 16th in the nation; White, meanwhile, is sixth in the nation in receiving yards with 1,318. He has nine touchdown receptions.

There was much uncertainty where the SEC would send the Aggies. Rumors surfaced that A&M could be headed to the Texas Bowl in Houston, the Music City Bowl in Nashville, the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. or even the lower-tier Independence Bowl in Shreveport.

A&M’s arch rival Texas was announced earlier Sunday as the Big 12 representative in the Texas Bowl. That all but assured the Aggies would not go to Houston. There had been reports in recent weeks that A&M officials indicated to the SEC a desire not to play Texas, which canceled the regular season series with A&M after the 2011 season.

Texas will face Arkansas in the Texas Bowl.

Then there was speculation that A&M would be headed for Nashville or Charlotte. But the Music City Bowl instead will match Notre Dame vs. LSU, while the Belk Bowl matches Georgia vs. Louisville.

Some also speculated the Aggies could fall into the Independence Bowl against Miami of the ACC. However, that didn’t seem likely because A&M has a better record than Arkansas (6-6) and South Carolina (6-6) and beat both those teams.

Instead, Miami will face South Carolina.