In a game where the entirety of Kyle Field was blacked out, it was the Aggie offense that looked hungover in the first half.

But, with a typical standout performance from junior wide receiver KC Concepcion and the less-expected emergence of redshirt sophomore running back Rueben Owens II, No. 6 Texas A&M football managed to stomp Mississippi State 31-9 in its “Operation Blackout.”

“The 12th Man was phenomenal,” coach Mike Elko said. “ … They are always behind Texas A&M football, but I think they are starting to get behind this program, specifically, the coach Elko version of A&M football.”

First-half offense sputters

In what’s becoming a trend after slow starts against UTSA and Notre Dame, A&M’s offense wandered around Kyle Field in a malaise for the game’s first period.

“SEC football games are not easy,” Elko said. “They are going to be four-quarter football games. Get this out of your mind that thing is going to go clean and smooth, and just go out there and compete and grind, we did that in the second half.”

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed’s first half was marred with inaccuracy and double clutches, as he struggled his way to 5-of-12 passing — and 1-of-6 over 15 air yards — with one touchdown and one interception. The offense had a chance for more, but was stuffed from the half-yard line on fourth down to come away empty-handed.

“We had to find ways to get Marcel settled down,” Elko said. “He saw some things not clean enough, missed a couple throws, we had the turnover as we were getting in the red zone to score points, we had the fourth-down stop again as we were going into score points. It wasn’t all negative in the first half, but we had to find ways to get into a rhythm.”

While Reed stumbled through the opening beats of the game and senior running back Le’Veon Moss spent time on the stationary bike, Owens shouldered the load. 

Still looking to return to pre-Lisfrac injury form, Owens sliced his way to 48 yards in the first half and, eventually, 143 on the night. Even Owens, though, was left with some red in his ledger, getting two tries from within the five to punch it in and coming up short.

“Coming off that Lisfranc, I had to get my movements back,” Owens said. “I feel like as the season’s been going on this year, I’m back in shape. … I feel like I’m way more explosive.”

In addition to the lack of firepower on offense, A&M couldn’t manage to get out of its own way with penalties for the second consecutive week, donating seven times in the first half and nine times in total to coach Mike Elko’s “coaches’ Cabo fund” penalty punishment.

Concepcion awakens A&M

The one consistent producer in the game and on the season, Concepcion, was a beacon of light in a stadium shrouded in black.

The NC State transfer continued to be both Reed’s binkie when things got scary and a bonafide big-play threat. As the passing game — and in turn the entire offense — limped out of the gates, Concepcion gave the 12th Man a shot of adrenaline by muscling his way into the end zone for his first touchdown of the day.

“It was an unbelievable effort by him,” Elko said. “The second effort by him to grind his way through it and finish that thing on the end zone. … He didn’t have a ton of catches tonight, but the two big ones he had really impacted the game.”

On his way to a 83-yard day, Concepcion reeled in his second touchdown of the game and his sixth all-purpose score of the year on a timing-based slant from the low red zone. Concepcion continued his ascension on special teams, as well, popping two big punt returns that were eventually called back due to penalties.

When Concepcion did rarely take a backseat in the passing game, his partner in crime, sophomore WR Mario Craver, functioned as an auxiliary weapon. Facing his former team, Craver managed to silence the smack talk and racked up 115 all-purpose yards and a rushing score.

Sanford steps up

Following senior linebacker Scooby Williams’ ankle injury suffered against Notre Dame and subsequent unavailability, A&M needed to find a running mate for junior LB Taurean York. 

He has been building over the last two weeks, but junior LB Daymion Sanford fully broke out against the Bulldogs.

“He’s a phenomenal kid,” Elko said. “He works really hard in practice. Mentally, he never, ever blinked when he didn’t win the starting job. … I told him, ‘I love you, you got to keep working, you got to keep grinding, your chance is going to come, you just got to be ready.’ His chance has come, and he’s played really, really well.” 

The Katy native flew through the Mississippi State offensive line untouched on a well-schemed pressure from Elko and Co., dragging down graduate student QB Blake Shapen for a sack on the game’s second play.

Later in the first quarter, Sanford teleported through the jetsam and flotsam to notch a tackle for loss the second redshirt freshman WR Ricky Johnson took a handoff from Shapen.

Sanford cemented his oeuvre as a masterwork with a right-place-right-time interception of a tipped Shapen pass, courtesy of redshirt senior defensive end Cashius Howell. Sanford — who has established himself as a more consistent piece of the defense even when Williams returns — finished with nine total tackles, two TFLs and the pick.

“He is really athletic, he’s really physical,” Elko said. “He is starting to get more and more comfortable in what we are doing, that’s been great to see. He is a really good blitzer, he has a lot of twitch and athleticism. He is a really complement with Taurean.”

Although Sanford earned his praise for the early-game splash plays, he was hardly alone in disrupting the Bulldogs’ offense. For the second time this season, Howell got himself a hat trick of sacks, bringing his total up to seven on the season — a far cry from his four from last season.

That defensive front will have a tall task next week on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. against a Florida team that just took down No. 9 Texas.  

“Just got to keep grinding, continue to get better,” Elko said. “We’re going to have a really, really good Florida team coming in here next week, and we’ll have to get ready for that.”