As No. 16 Texas A&M travels to face Mississippi State, the environment in Starkville is just as important to prepare for as the game itself.
Kyle Field is often known to create problems for opposing teams because of the constant noise from Aggie fans and the abundance of yells from the student section. However, the cowbells heard at Davis Wade Stadium offer up enough noise to distract any team that plays there.
“Starkville with those cowbells is like no other,” junior running back Trayveon Williams said. “You think Kyle Field is loud, but when you hear all those cowbells it’s just something that if you’re not used to it as an away team, it’ll really bother you.”
Communication will be the focus for the A&M offense as it tries to balance the crowd’s noise and the dominant presence of the Mississippi defense, which leads the SEC.
“The communication really might not be super effective, but it’s something that we’re going to have to deal with,” said sophomore quarterback Kellen Mond.
A&M sophomore offensive lineman Carson Green said maintaining communication throughout the game will require a team effort from the offense.
“It’s going to be a big deal,” Green said. “It’s going to have to start from the center, to the guards, the tackles and all the way back down. Everyone’s going to have to be kind of engaged with each other.”
A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher said the noise presents a challenge for both coaches and players.
Since joining the SEC, A&M is tied 3-3 in games against Mississippi State, but the Aggies fall short in overall wins with a 6-5 record against the Bulldogs.
Fisher said Mississippi brings both talent and fans — two things the Aggies will need to overcome this weekend.
“They have good players,” Fisher said. “Mississippi State’s going to have a lot of [NFL] Draft picks on that team. … It’s a hard environment to go into. They built that stadium up real nice and they take a lot of pride in it.”
The last time A&M played in Starkville was during their 35-28 loss to Mississippi State in 2016. The Aggies were 7-2 going into the matchup but would soon be taken over by the Bulldogs’ offense, who were up two touchdowns by the time halftime rolled around.
Senior defensive lineman Landis Durham said the environment in Starkville got the best of the team, who was then ranked No. 4 in the conference. Durham said the team is not dwelling on the loss.
“I feel like we just got caught in Starkville with those cowbells and whatnot,” Durham said. “We’ll make sure that doesn’t duplicate itself. We were ranked pretty high at that time and looking to finish the season strong, and that one hurt us.”
With five games left in the season, A&M hopes to avoid another Starkville upset and continue their three-game win streak.
“This last stretch is very difficult and a very key point to what we want and the direction we want this university to go,” Williams said. “It’s very important after a bye week — it tells you a lot about your team. It’s a very key week for us.”