A college football Saturday morning featured questions of who would be the starting quarterback for No. 25 Texas A&M football as it took on No. 9 Missouri. Those questions were answered with the slight surprise that redshirt sophomore QB Conner Weigman would return for his first start since Sept. 7.
On the first play of the game, Missouri graduate QB Brady Cook thought he was ready to roll, finding his favorite target — junior wide receiver Luther Burden Ⅲ — for a 27-yard gain. At that moment, it felt as if that one play might summarize how the game would go on both sides of the ball, but the Aggies had other plans, especially after Cook’s comments about Missouri’s practices being louder than the fans at Kyle Field.
“I think the 12th Man certainly heard some of the statements made about how easy it was to play in Kyle Field, and they were certainly riled up,” Elko said.
Weigman capped off his first drive with cheers from the 12th Man with no one quite knowing what to expect coming off his shoulder injury.
“Probably coming off the field Thursday, we probably knew it was going to be Conner [starting],” Elko said. “He was able to take a full week of practice.”
His early accuracy and quick decision-making made it appear that he had been starting all season, with targets to junior WR Noah Thomas and senior WR Jabre Barber twice. Offensive coordinator Collin Klein had solid play calling, getting A&M’s dynamic duo involved in the ground game.
Junior running backs Le’Veon Moss and Amari Daniels put in work on the first drive, setting the tone for the rest of a game that saw them combine for five touchdowns and 172 yards rushing. Daniels put A&M ahead in the first quarter with a 1-yard touchdown.
Defensively, the Maroon and White came out to play, shutting out the Black and Gold on third down and fourth down. Entering Week 6, the Tigers were No. 7 in the country in third-down conversion rate, and the Aggies’ defense adjusted accordingly.
“When we communicate, when we do things the right way, when we play the game we’re capable of playing, we’re capable of being a really good defense,” Elko said.
On Missouri’s first drive, coach Eliah Drinkwitz chose to go for it on 4th-and-2 and failed on an incomplete pass by Cook. The momentum quickly swung in the Maroon and White’s favor throughout the game, holding Missouri to 5-of-15 on third down.
In the Aggies’ third drive, Daniels scampered into the end zone for another 1-yard touchdown to give the Aggies a 17-0 lead. On nine attempts, Daniels had a 25-yard run that was his longest of the day and helped the Aggies’ momentum carry for the rest of the game.
Missouri’s defense had no answer in the second quarter for the A&M offense with Weigman beginning to heat up, hitting his receivers down the field. One of the most impressive catches came when Weigman heaved a pass to senior WR Jahdae Walker for a 40-yard pickup.
Later in the drive, Weigman used his legs to create plays with a 15-yard gain that set up Moss to have the third 1-yard rushing touchdown of the day by the Aggies.
“We weren’t expecting all touchdowns to be runs,” Moss said. “What I took personally was them saying that their practice would be louder than our stadium, and I took that personal because the 12th Man supports us ‘til the end, no matter what happens. I feel like this win will put a lot of people on our team in the right headspace to know that we can be the team.”
A&M’s offense wasted no time on the first play of the second half with Moss rushing for a 75-yard touchdown followed by Missouri finding itself in a 3rd-and-1 situation.
Junior defensive end Nic Scourton made his presence felt with his first sack of the afternoon. Scourton registered three solo tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Overall, A&M collected a season-best six sacks and eight tackles for loss.
“They are a really good O-line,” Scourton said. “They kinda lit a fire in us coming into our place, talking down on Kyle Field, and I think that was just really motivating to go out there and be dominant.”
The Aggies’ defense gave up its only touchdown in the air when Cook let a missile fly to the hands of Burden for a 59-yard score. It was the biggest chunk of yardage the secondary gave up all game, holding Cook to 186 yards passing with a touchdown.
A&M’s defensive line and linebackers contributed to the success of stopping graduate RB Nate Noel and senior RB Marcus Carroll. Missouri only had 68 yards on the ground, averaging 2.3 yards per rush. Sophomore defensive back Dalton Brooks led A&M with six total tackles, five of which were solo tackles, while sophomore DB Marcus Ratcliffe had four solo tackles.
Weigman completed the day going 18-of-22 passing for 276 yards along with 33 rushing yards off of five carries. He distributed the ball to 10 different receivers with freshman athlete Terry Bussey leading the way for the Aggies with 76 yards. A&M’s final touchdown drive came when Weigman threw a 33-yard dime to Bussey, followed shortly by a Moss 18-yard touchdown, giving him his career-best three touchdowns.
“Proud of our guys,” Elko said. “This was a six-game stretch that was a challenge having played four power five teams up to this point, so I thought out kids responded to that challenge”
A&M is headed into the bye week with a 5-1 record, remaining unbeaten in the SEC through three games. Its next test will come when it travels to Starkville, Mississippi to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 19 at Davis Wade Stadium.
