Some say a team’s defense is its best offense.
The saying rang true for Texas A&M during its second road game of the season against Mississippi State. Thanks to the defense, the Aggies were able to defeat the Bulldogs 28-14 with six sacks and one interception.
The A&M defense held Mississippi State to a net total of negative-2 rushing yards, 219 passing yards and only allowed the team that defeated the reigning national champions to put up two touchdowns in the second half.
A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said he was pleased with how his defense played on Saturday.
“I thought our defense was outstanding today,” Fisher said. “I thought they tackled well and had a great presence on the ball. They had six sacks and had an interception in the endzone. [They] just played an outstanding football game.”
Known as “The Wrecking Crew” in the 1990s, A&M’sdefense sacked Mississippi State’s senior quarterback K.J. Costello and freshman Will Rogers a total of six times.
Senior defensive lineman Jayden Peevy said the defense worked hard the entire week in preparation for this victory.
“It felt great,” Peevy said. “It’s just because of the practice. [Coach] Mike Elko had a great game plan against them. We practiced hard this week to have a great victory.”
Of the 14 points Mississippi State was able to score, seven were not at the fault of A&M’s defense. Early on in the third quarter, senior quarterback Kellen Mond threw an interception that MIssissippi State freshman cornerback Emmanuel Forbes ran for a 60-yard touchdown.
Peevy said this win over Mississippi State is a step in the right direction for the program.
“Any win on the road is a great win for us,” Peevy said. “I’m glad we got that accomplished.”
Peevy was a standout for the A&M defense with five total tackles and one sack. In addition, with about 9:30 left in the third quarter, Peevy recovered a Mississippi State fumble and ran the ball 19 yards. Two plays later, sophomore running back Ainias Smith ran the ball in for a 6-yard touchdown.
When asked if he thought he was going to score, Peevy said he was just trying to get the ball as far as possible.
“I was that close [to my first touchdown],” Peevy said. “I didn’t know who was behind me, I was just trying to run.”
While the A&M offense was able to put up 186 rushing yards, 139 receiving yards and 28 points, the Aggie defense is a huge credit to the 28-14 final score.
Senior offensive lineman Carson Green gave credit to the defense for the win.
“Honestly, this was a great team win,” Green said. “Defense definitely earned that win, they busted their ass and did a great job. They had big turnovers for us. It was just a big overall team win that we needed.”