As the remaining seconds of the game dwindled down Saturday, No. 9 Missouri fought to get a consolation touchdown after reaching A&M’s 3-yard line. No. 25 Texas A&M football’s defense held strong and rebuffed Missouri’s efforts to reach paydirt six times and forced a field goal with eight seconds remaining.

As A&M’s defense jogged off the field, coach Mike Elko left the sideline to pump his arms up in the air and amp up the Kyle Field crowd to thunderous approval. It was that kind of game. A&M edged out Missouri in every aspect of the game from opening kickoff to the final snap in a 41-10 victory.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman shines in return to lineup

After an offseason of raised expectations, Weigman’s second season as the entrenched starter had not gone as the 12th Man hoped. The Cypress native struggled against Notre Dame before suffering a shoulder injury that would sideline him for three games.

Shortly before kickoff, coach Mike Elko confirmed that Weigman would start under center for the Aggies. Weigman looked every bit the five-star recruit and NFL hopeful that was promised to College Station, silencing all chatter of a quarterback competition.

“I think [Weigman] comes in every game with that mentality — that he wants to dominate anybody, and he has a chip on his shoulder,” junior edge rusher Nic Scourton said. “He’s a great player, great competitor, and he’s not backing down from anything.”

Throwing with accuracy and anticipation, Weigman marched the Maroon and White down the field consistently during the first half, scoring 24 points on the team’s first four drives. The offense spread the ball around with 10 players hauling in a reception. When the plays would break down, Weigman used his legs to improvise and keep the chains moving, totaling 33 yards on the ground.

Weigman finished the game 18-of-22 for 276 yards before redshirt freshman QB Marcel Reed came into the game midway through the fourth quarter to see the game out.

Run game and complementary football paved the way to victory

A&M’s stable of running backs continued to be the engine that powers the offense. Junior RB Amari Daniels got in the end zone twice to double his season total on his way to rushing for 34 yards. Junior RB Le’Veon Moss continued his stellar season with 138 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries, including a 75-yard rumble on the first play of the second half.

“[Missouri] thought they were about to come in and get a piece of cake, easily,” Moss said of the Tigers’ shock at A&M’s performance.

The Aggies’ defense allowed the offense to stay on schedule by stifling a potent Missouri offense and holding it to a scoreless first half. A&M sacked graduate QB Brady Cook six times as Scourton followed up his two-sack performance a week ago with another 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.

“I challenged them to come out and play a complete game,” Elko said. “I thought we did that. It was a very good Missouri team, and we knew we were going to have to play start to finish. We started fast and stayed on them.”

The Kyle Field crowd seemed to hear Cook’s comments this week about its lack of noise and made its presence felt on Saturday. The Tigers needed to take a timeout on the opening drive on third down as the crowd roared. Chants of “overrated” and “practice louder” taunted the Tigers as the clock wound down in the fourth quarter.

“The 12th Man certainly heard some of the statements made about how easy it was to play in Kyle Field,” Elko said. “They were certainly riled up, and we always appreciate that.”

The Aggies won the money downs

Coming into the game, Missouri had dominated teams on third down. Boasting the nation’s seventh-best conversion percentage on defense and the eighth-best on offense, the Tigers had made plays when it mattered the most.

It’s safe to say that A&M lowered those percentages.

While the Tigers found success late in garbage time, Cook led the Tigers’ offense to an unimpressive 5-of-15 on third down, while the Aggies converted at a 7-of-12 clip. There was a point in the Aggies’ early-game run of dominance when they were 5-of-6 on third downs, while Missouri was 0-of-4. The Tigers also went 1-of-4 on fourth-down attempts.

“I think it’s about preparation,” Scourton said of the defense’s success on third downs. “Not a lot of teams in the country do what we do in practice.”

The Maroon and White’s defense set the tone early with a third-down stop on Missouri’s opening drive and a subsequent fourth-down incompletion to force a turnover on downs. The momentum continued early for A&M with two third-down conversions on offense coming on the offense’s opening drive. A&M also made the most of its red zone opportunities, punching in touchdowns on four of its five trips past Missouri’s 20-yard line.

“They kind of lit a fire on us,” Scourton said. “Coming into our place, like preinterviews, talking down on Kyle Field, coming in here and stepping on our field and stuff like that. And I think guys were really motivated to go out there and be dominant.”