No. 14 Texas A&M football traveled to Starkville, Mississippi on Saturday to continue its warpath in conference play against Mississippi State. With a 34-24 victory, the Aggies notched their sixth straight win in Mike Elko’s first year as head coach in College Station.

“It’s a road win, and those don’t come easy in this league,” Elko said. “That’s how it played out today. Nothing in this league is ever going to be easy.”

The Aggies showed a little rust on both ends of the ball coming off of a bye week, none more notable than the struggles that came from redshirt sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman. He threw two interceptions that kept the Maroon and White from putting the game away early on an outmatched Mississippi State team.

A&M allowed 17 points in the first half and was outgained heavily before the intermission. The rush defense, which became a core piece of the Aggies’ identity, surrendered the most yards on the ground in four contests as the Bulldogs threatened to take the lead.

Perhaps the biggest wrinkles in the defense were exposed on Mississippi State’s opening drive. On a 3rd-and-2 situation, senior running back Davon Booth erupted through the middle for a 40-yard gain. This put Mississippi State in a position to later score from the A&M 14-yard line, taking advantage of a blitzing linebacker to have a wide-open Booth for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Desperation football seemed to work in favor of Mississippi State, who capped off an 8-play, 75-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown catch by freshman WR Mario Craver that only took 1:27 as the first half dwindled to a close. Craver, who was covered by junior defensive back Will Lee III, was in stride as freshman QB Michael Van Buren Jr. escaped pressure and delivered a rookie-to-rookie connection.

The Bulldogs’ first possession of the second half also resulted in a score by way of a beautiful one-handed grab by junior WR Kevin Coleman Jr., who hauled in the pass on 3rd-and-11 on A&M’s 12-yard line.

However, the defense did not allow the contest to get out of hand, with the likes of senior defensive tackle Shemar Turner and junior defensive end Shemar Stewart combining with the rest of the line to generate 11 tackles for loss on the night.

“We weren’t playing our brand of football,” sophomore linebacker Taurean York said. “But I’m glad how my defense performed in the second half, and we just got the job done. That’s all that matters.”

Redshirt junior LB Cashius Howell and his three passes defended were the most productive of the passing defense that jointly batted down nine of Van Buren Jr.’s attempts.

Junior DE Nic Scourton continued his campaign for SEC Defensive Player of the Year with a tackle behind the line as well as getting involved with seemingly every scrum on the field. Scourton would not be fooled in the first quarter as the ball was handed off to Booth on an option play, meeting him in the backfield for a loss of five yards.

On the offensive side of the ball, the wide receiver room remained a work in progress for the Aggies with another lead performance, with this week’s display being from senior Jabre Barber, who was looking to replicate some of the success he had previously had at Troy. Flashes of his past efforts could be seen on his fifty-eight-yard conversion on third down, where a botched snap to Weigman became a catch in stride for Barber, leading to an Aggie rushing score.

Ninety-two yards on six catches put Barber in the mix for Weigman’s favorite target this season. With no other receiver going over two catches on the afternoon, the Maroon and White’s offense will continue to wonder who the No. 1 man is going to be deeper into the season.

Senior tight end Tre Watson may be the one to step up to the plate, after hauling in a miraculous 3rd-and-23 conversion grab, prancing down the sideline for his lone 26-yard catch. Junior WR Noah Thomas’s stock has also trended upward, hauling in a back-shoulder 20-yard touchdown catch to even the game 7-7 in the first quarter.

Junior running back Le’Veon Moss had a relatively quiet game with 65 rushing yards, falling far below his season average of 101.5 yards per game. Moss’ two best runs were negated by holding penalties by the offensive line, preventing yet another breakout game.

Touchdown-wise, Moss was right on schedule, charging in the end zone twice as the Aggies’ rush attack continued to be the heartbeat of the team’s recent success. A nine-yard stampede in the second quarter was a testament to Moss’ growing role as a top running back in the conference, carrying three Bulldog defenders in for a score.

Junior RB Amari Daniels provided a strong relief effort as RB2, tacking on a six-yard touchdown of his own, rumbling straight down the middle of the line to extend the A&M lead to 21-10 following the first half two-minute timeout.

To understand the scale of Elko’s achievement thus far, the last rookie Aggie head coach to lead his team to six of his first seven games in his first season dates all the way back to 1918 when Tubby Graves took up the helm of the program and finished with a 6-1 record.

106 years later, A&M and Elko look to continue taking advantage of upsets and favorable matchups on a quest for a spot in the College Football Playoff. The Aggies return to Kyle Field on Oct. 26 for a top-15 matchup with LSU.