It’s been almost a month since Texas A&M walked onto Kyle Field to the sound of Kanye West’s “Power.” The Aggies return could be no bigger, as they host a top-five opponent for the first time since the Alabama Crimson Tide opened A&M’s conference slate in 2013.
The Aggies (5-1, 2-1 SEC) come off their first loss of the season to Mississippi State on the road, a 48-31 defeat that was 48-17 with just more than 10 minutes to play. A&M looks to avoid just the second losing streak under head coach Kevin Sumlin — the first coming over the final two regular season games of 2013.
“The way this league is now, you’ve just got to move on,” Sumlin said. “Our players understand where they are and what we need to do, the challenges that we’re facing, and so does our coaching staff. As quickly as you talk about last weekend, you don’t have any time really to look back, because Ole Miss is a team that’s playing very, very well right now.”
Ole Miss (5-0, 2-0 SEC) defeated then-ranked No. 3 Alabama at home last weekend 23-17, and is one of just 10 undefeated FBS teams left. The Rebels are allowing just 10.2 points per game, which ranks first in the SEC and second nationally.
“We do have a tough test ahead of us,” said offensive coordinator Jake Spavital. “The kids are excited to be back at home. I think they’re up for the challenge. I think there are a lot of guys that want to redeem themselves from what happened last week. It’s going to be an exciting, electric game, so we’re pretty anxious to get out there and see if we can make up for what we did last week.”
The Aggies faced Mississippi State without wide senior receiver Malcome Kennedy, who leads A&M with 33 catches for 378 yards. Still battling a shoulder injury, Kennedy said he is hopeful to return this week.
“It’s going to be hard to keep me off,” Kennedy said. “I’m going to keep working, keep trying to get better. It’s a big game, and whoever plays, regardless if it’s me or whoever plays behind me, I think everybody’s going to be ready.”
The Aggies are 6-0 all-time against the Rebels, and have defeated them in Oxford, Miss., the last two years by scores of 30-27 (2012) and 41-38 (2013). A&M has yet to defeat a ranked opponent at home since downing No. 20 Baylor 55-28 in 2011, and is 4-22 all-time against teams ranked No. 3 or higher in the AP poll.
Kyle Field will see a sellout crowd Saturday, and the game has the potential to break A&M’s home attendance record of 104,728 set earlier this season at the Lamar game.
The crowd could give the Aggies a boost on defense, and defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said that he’s glad to be back in front of the 12th Man.
“Especially for our side of the ball, you guys know how our kids feed off of our fans,” Snyder said. “You had a chance to see that in Dallas. You could see the pep in their step yesterday, coming back home, in practice. It was just a different feel. I know I’m glad to be back and I’m sure our kids are too.”
Kick off is at 8 p.m. Saturday and the game will be televised on ESPN.