In the annual Maroon and White civil war between No. 14 Texas A&M and Mississippi State, the Aggies came out of Davis Wade Stadium with their sixth win of the season after a 34-24 victory. Despite the difference in records, the Bulldogs came out of the kennel defying expectations and bared their teeth, keeping it a close contest as they trailed by just four points at halftime.
However, the stewardship and new program identity set by coach Mike Elko has trickled down to his staff and players, shining especially in the second half. Here are some takeaways from the road win.
Klein’s coveted conversions
Offensive coordinator Collin Klein’s playcalling has gotten better with every passing week, and, more importantly, the players are executing them to near-perfection. However, the main dish Klein served up against the Bulldogs was third-down conversions.
Though Mississippi State ranks dead last in the SEC in many defensive stats — allowing the most passing, rushing and total yards as well as points — the Bulldogs clogged the trenches and made the usual rush-heavy Aggies turn to the air, dominoing into a plethora of A&M third downs.
Despite the surprising clamps through two downs, the Mississippi State defense was kept on the field as Klein routed the Aggies to nine first downs with a nice 69% conversion rate to boot.
However, the most soul-crushing one for the Bulldogs came when the Aggies accrued a long 3rd-and-23 — and converted it after redshirt sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman found a wide-open senior tight end Tre Watson, who found open space.
Had it not been for Klein’s calm third-down shots, the outcome of the game may have been different. For the Aggies, it’s their sixth straight win.
Don’t underestimate the Bulldogs
On paper, Mississippi State has little to boast about. It sat at 1-5 heading into its matchup against A&M, and statistically, there’s nothing to write home about. Beyond the defense, starting senior QB Blake Shapen suffered a season-ending injury after throwing eight touchdowns to just one interception.
With their backs against the wall, the Bulldogs turned to true freshman QB Michael Van Buren Jr., and though it hasn’t resulted in wins, it will sooner or later. They held their ground against No. 1 Texas with Van Buren making his first start and came to a near upset against No. 5 Georgia — all while on the road.
While Van Buren is still getting his feet wet, the Bulldogs’ ground game has been the hammer and sickle. While it chipped against Georgia with 79 yards, it found success against both Texas teams. The duo of running backs junior Johnnie Daniels and senior Davon Booth trampled Texan defenders for 100-plus yards in both games.
Defensively, Mississippi State has bolstered its game plan as well. It collected four picks in the past two games while holding it down in the trenches and it kept junior RB Le’Veon Moss to only 65 yards —- his lowest on the season and the first game where he failed to crack 70 yards.
So while the Bulldogs are now 1-6, a second win is in the making for this ever-improving Mississippi State team.
Guess who, it’s Scooby
When junior linebacker Scooby Williams came in from Florida, the A&M defense became that much more formidable. Though there were early-season struggles, the talented unit has found its stride week by week, and against the Bulldogs, it was Scooby’s turn.
The Birmingham, Alabama native became an early haunting for Van Buren, as no matter where the quarterback looked, Williams was there — including on a crucial 4th-and-5 where the linebacker jumped the route and found his first interception of the season.
At the half, the Aggies found themselves only up by four against the Bulldogs, allowing 17 points with uncharacteristic defensive struggles. During halftime, Elko’s speech sparked a rejuvenated A&M defense with Williams leading the charge, holding Mississippi State to only seven second-half points.
Though esteemed junior defensive end Nic Scourton was in and out on the field with a leg injury, Williams and Co. held it down en route to another A&M conference win.
