I have a fever and the only prescription is NO more cowbell
Texas A&M vs Mississippi State recap and reaction.By: The Hammer
Thank goodness we don’t have to hear another cowbell until 2022. The reduced crowd made them slightly less annoying, but I still hate cowbells. That just might have been the perfect SEC road win. Sure, there is still plenty to work on but A&M absolutely abused Mississippi State on the line of scrimmage and earned a two touchdown victory on the road against a pesky opponent. I discussed A&M’s shortcomings against Mississippi State and Mike Leach at his previous coaching stops, but none of that mattered yesterday. Jimbo and A&M have the better team, and they showed it.
Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP Photo
After the best game of his career, Kellen Mond came back to reality with an average performance. He went 13-23 for 139 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. I will give him credit for responding to that fluke pick-six by leading the Aggies right back down the field on the next drive, squashing any hope of a Mississippi State comeback. After the Mond interception, it was just 14-7, so Mississippi State had the momentum and felt like they were right in this game in the third quarter. A&M got the ball back and roughly a minute and a half later, Kellen connected with Chase Lane on a 51 yard catch and run to make it 21-7. That kind of response in the face of adversity is great to see from Kellen and this team.
Thankfully the Aggies did not need a career performance out of Kellen because we obliterated Mississippi State in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Time to heap more praise on this offensive line. They are quickly proving to be one of the best offensive lines in the SEC, and probably the country. Coming into this matchup, the Bulldog defense had an SEC-leading 12 sacks through their first three games. On Saturday the Bulldogs had zero sacks, making that three straight games the Aggies have not allowed a sack. In the run game, A&M ran for 186 yards on 34 attempts. Leading the way yet again was Isaiah Spiller with 18 carries for 114 yards (6.3 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. Keep feeding that man!
A&M is establishing an identity on offense and it is impressive to see. This offensive line has pushed around another SEC opponent and allowed the Aggies to run all over the place. Kellen was great against Florida, but he won’t always need to be if we can continue to run the ball like this.
It was a great day defensively as well. Only allowing one good drive and seven points all day to Mike Leach? I’ll take it. Elko put together a great game plan and the players executed well. Obviously Mississippi State is going through growing pains and Leach’s system is still taking hold, but the Aggies only allowed 217 total yards. That’s a damn fine performance against any team. The defensive line and linebackers were in the backfield all day, recording eight tackles for loss, six sacks and holding the Bulldogs to negative two total rushing yards! Complete dominance. The front seven continues to be a strength for this team and it’s great to see the physicality and nastiness from this unit. You will not run on A&M.
Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP Photo
The secondary also played a great game. Coming into this matchup, A&M’s secondary had been through two very rough weeks. Mississippi State will throw the ball all over the yard (just ask Bo Pelini), so this was going to be a key matchup. Coverage was tight, and even though the Bulldogs completed 75% of their passes, they only averaged 7.3 yards per completion, meaning A&M defenders were right there and made tackles to prevent and yards after catch. It also means that they didn't give up any deep balls or blow coverage assignments, things that happened too often against Florida and Alabama. If the secondary can continue to improve, then look out because this defense could really make some noise.
The main thing that stands out to me watching this team in Jimbo’s third year is how we are winning games. Under the previous regime, A&M would get dominated in the trenches way too often. Never could stop the run and always had trouble running it ourselves. Not anymore. We are winning the battle at the line of scrimmage week in and week out. We are more physical, more dominant and are imposing our will on the opponent. Gone are the days when A&M has great skill players but gets beat up every week by a more physical team. We are now the more physical team and it is really fun to see.
The team is not quite at the elite level yet, as evidenced by the Alabama game, but you can see Jimbo’s mentality taking hold and this team is forming an identity. A tough, gritty workmanlike identity. We are going to hit you in the mouth and do it for the full 60 minutes. When this helmet comes to town, hell comes with it.
The Aggies have a bye week coming up in preparation for a big game against an improved Arkansas team on Halloween. Let’s rest up, practice well and continue dominating the Hogs.
#BTHOByeWeek
