Breathe.
It took everything the Fightin’ Texas Aggies had. Starkville is always hell to play in. Mississippi State freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren had a great game. The cowbells were ringing. Officiating was a little bit too friendly towards the home side.
Don’t matter. The saying goes “just win”, and just win the Ags did.
In what has historically been a house of horrors for Texas A&M, the Aggies were able to head down to Starkville and secure a big road win against a rapidly-improving Mississippi State squad to move to 4-0 in conference play. Led by a massive second half performance - especially on defense - and some timely contributions from a host of guys, the Ags were able to fend off the pesky Bulldogs and earn a big win to set up a true showdown with #8 LSU on Saturday night.
For those that were a little upset with how the game went or that A&M “only won by 10” - honestly, I’m just glad we won, margin be damned. A&M’s kryptonite for so long has been playing in Mississippi, especially at Davis Wade Stadium, so being able to grind this win out against a team that I now firmly believe is better than their record indicates is a bigger stepping stone than a lot of people think. I’m pretty certain Mississippi State is going to upset someone this year. I’m relieved it wasn’t us.
(Also, the two times we’ve won in Starkville were 2012 and 2020 - two pretty special seasons. Encouraging trend for the future.)
Time to debrief a slug-it-out victory. Road wins are tough in the SEC. Savor it a little.
Scooby Williams
When Scooby Williams committed to Texas A&M out of the transfer portal, Mike Elko said the former Florida Gator was an “unheralded” addition in a loaded transfer class. Which makes sense a little bit - the former four-star recruit struggled a bit in Gainesville and fell out of favor in the linebacker room, not getting as much attention as some other transfers.
How’s that working out now?
Ever since arriving in College Station, Williams has thrived in his new home, and it culminated in arguably a career game in Starkville last Saturday. He recorded 6 tackles, 2 for a loss, a pass deflection, and an interception against the Bulldogs and was named as the Defensive MVP of this contest by Mike Elko.
The first-year Aggie made some massive plays in this one that were major swinging points, such as stonewalling the Bulldogs on a 4th-and-1 late in the game to basically ice it and intercepting a Michael Van Buren pass and returning it deep into Mississippi State territory to set up an Amari Daniels touchdown to make it 21-10 late in the first half.
He’s experienced somewhat of a career renaissance in College Station, and it’s been a joy to watch. Ever since the season started, he’s played hard and has made plays on a consistent basis, being a big reason why the linebacker position has now become somewhat of a strength after having some question marks the past few years (at least, before 2023).
Williams was the best player on the field Saturday, I thought. His steady presence has been invaluable all season, and his performance was top-notch when the Aggies had to grind this one out. His high level of play has been a big bright spot for the Maroon and White this season and shows how good the talent recognition and development has been for Mike Elko and his staff.
Shoutout to Scooooooooooob.
Linebackers
It wasn’t just Scooby Williams that was on one on Saturday - I thought the entire linebacking corps had their best showing as a position group of the season in this contest.
Taurean York looked like the Taurean York of 2023, notching 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and half a sack. Daymion Sanford tallied 7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 2 pass deflections, while Solomon DeShields was the special teams Player of the Week as voted by the Aggies coaching staff.
This performance was a crowning game for Jay Bateman’s guys and showed the wide variety of impact all four of them can really have on a game in multiple facets. Whether it’s playing hard on special teams in DeShields’ case (and even as a situational pass-rusher too), in run support, going sideline-to-sideline, and even in pass coverage and pass rush scenarios, this quartet consistently stepped up and made plays when A&M needed them the most.
It’s a deep, talented group that feels like they’re only going to get better and better. Big game on deck against a tough opponent, but I’ve really liked their trajectory this season and have given me no reason to think otherwise. The departure of Edgerrin Cooper doesn’t really hurt that much anymore because these guys have been really good.
Jabre Barber
Feels like every week, there’s a new receiver that steps up for this football team as of late.
First it was Cyrus Allen against Florida. Then Noah Thomas against Arkansas. Terry Bussey against Missouri. And now Jabre Barber against Mississippi State.
The transfer from Troy had by far his best game of the season on Saturday, notching six receptions for 92 yards to pace the wideouts, including a 58-yard catch-and-run that was the biggest play of the day for the Texas A&M offense. We’d heard so much smoke about how he was primed to be a critical part of the Aggies’ passing game before he suffered a major injury in the spring, but now he’s healthy and proving the coaching staff’s trust in him. For his efforts, he earned the Offensive Player of the Game recognition from Mike Elko.
Barber also acted in the Terry Bussey role with him getting some designed runs from out wide as well since the true freshman couldn’t go, but this is what so many wanted to see from the senior this season. He’s mainly been a possession guy for Weigman and the offense, but he flashed his big-play ability and what he can do for really the first time on Saturday afternoon.
That could be really valuable in not just getting his season kinda off the ground and kickstarted a little bit, but also for unlocking another dimension to the Ags’ aerial attack.
Conner Weigman
I will say it was a very up-and-down game from #15 on Saturday.
He didn’t have the greatest of performances against the Bulldogs, completing 15-of-25 passes for 217 yards for a touchdown and 2 interceptions. Still fine, of course, as it wasn’t even close to his worst performance of the year. But for the good moments that he flashed, there were bad ones as well.
His touchdown to Noah Thomas to even the score at 7 was beautiful. A perfectly placed lob to the 6’6” junior dropped perfectly in the bucket, in the corner of the endzone - there aren’t really many prettier throws you’ll see. His improvisation on a third-and-forever to find Tre Watson for a miraculous first down. Throwing on the run to Jabre Barber with pressure in his face. There were some very good moments for Weigman in this one.
But the bad moments were really bad. His turnovers were pretty bad - the first one was a massive overthrow that just sailed over Tre Watson’s head, and the other pick was just Weigman trying to fit the football into a rapidly closing window to Noah Thomas, with the defensive back having a great jump on the ball to pick that one off.
#15 also had a few more passes that easily could’ve been interceptions if the defensive backs actually caught the ball. But the Aggies got bailed out on that regard.
After having such a tremendous game against Missouri, this game was a little bit of a step back, but I’m confident he can fix that en route to a big showing next week.
Part of me thinks he just needs to get the jitters out from having to deal with extremely poor offensive line play early in his career. He’s used to dealing with pressure - per Pro Football Focus, he’s the third-best QB in the nation under pressure. He just kinda has to calm down in clean pockets and try to not do too much in those scenarios - he’s 4th-worst in the country when there’s no pressure. As long as he can get better at that, he’ll be fine.
Penalties
I usually don’t like to complain incessantly about the officiating, but lord, it was terrible on Saturday.
The amount of 50-50 calls that went Mississippi State’s way was absolutely ridiculous. Two big Le’Veon Moss runs were called back because of some questionable holding penalties that weren’t really holding. I’ve seen way more egregious instances of that (i.e. every single o-lineman against Nic Scourton) not be called. A really soft roughing the passer on Shemar Stewart, I believe, that gave the Bulldogs some more life on offense just before halftime. A very rare defensive holding that negated a sack.
Meanwhile, it felt like Texas A&M didn’t get those kinds of breaks to go their way at all, unless there were blatantly obvious penalties committed by the Bulldogs. Ultimately, A&M won so it shouldn’t really matter, but it was still extremely annoying to see unfold when watching the game live.
SEC refs struck again.
Adjustments
In some instances during the first half, A&M’s defense didn’t really look like the A&M defense that we’ve been used (and fortunate) to seeing this year. They let the Bulldogs’ offense get down the field way too easily on their touchdown drives, and there were times that I’m sure the 12th Man got nervous because of that.
But, as Mike Elko has been known to do ever since he even first arrived in Aggieland as a defensive coordinator, him and his staff made the halftime adjustments we all know and love. Very refreshing to see after being brutalized the last few years in that regard. After the halftime whistle, the Aggie defense played like they had basically all year, not allowing a single point on a regular drive from Mississippi State’s offense. The only points the Bulldogs scored in the second half were from a very short field, after Weigman’s second interception.
Those adjustments were a critical reason why the Aggies were able to escape with a win on Saturday. It feels good to see those back in Aggieland.
Brings a smile to my face.
That’ll put a bow on this one. Some other quick takeaways before I get outta here:
Even with Nic Scourton battling an illness and other injuries on Saturday, the defensive line showed out once again. This time, it was Cashius Howell and Shemar Turner who I thought had really big games to help overwhelm the Bulldogs’ o-line. Albert Regis, Rylan Kennedy, and Scourton also stood out to me. Continues to be one of the big strengths of this team.
BJ Mayes has to play more at nickel. His snap count is increasing week after week ever since getting healthy enough to get game action, and it makes sense. The UAB transfer fits that role so well. A&M is a better team with him on the field.
That was an extremely physical and chippy game. Loved seeing the guys trash talk Mississippi State late in the contest after they were trying to do that all match.
See y’all very soon for the LSU preview! One of the biggest games in recent memory for this program - buckle up.
-Sourav