The first third of the season was very successful for Texas A&M.
The No. 6 Aggies are 4-0 for the first time since 2016, and they have matched their highest ranking in the AP poll over the past four seasons.
The next test comes Saturday night against Mississippi State in College Station, Texas.
“What I would say about our players is it’s been a rough go for the kids that have been in this program for four years,” second-year Aggies coach Mike Elko said. “They’re learning that they have the ability to control the outcomes of games, and that’s a powerful mindset.”
The Aggies beat then-No. 8 Notre Dame 41-40 on the road two weeks ago and won their Southeastern Conference opener against Auburn 16-10 at home last Saturday.
Texas A&M held the Tigers to 177 total yards and didn’t allow a conversion on 13 third downs or two fourth downs.
But there remains room for improvement.
Texas A&M was penalized 13 times for 119 yards against Auburn, a week after being penalized 13 times for 86 yards.
“It’s something that we have to get fixed and addressed,” Elko said of the infractions. “We won’t continue to win games if we don’t solve that problem.”
The Aggies showed more discipline in their first two games of the season, committing seven penalties in an opening win against UTSA and only five the following week against Utah State.
Although Texas A&M could never establish a comfortable lead against Auburn, senior running back Le’Veon Moss helped the Aggies stay in control by rushing for 139 yards and scoring the team’s only touchdown.
Mississippi State (4-1, 0-1 SEC) is coming off its first loss of the season, 41-34 in overtime against visiting Tennessee last Saturday. The Bulldogs are still looking for their first conference win under second-year coach Jeff Lebby.
Even so, Lebby said the team showed “a ton of growth” in the loss to the then-No. 15 Volunteers, the Bulldogs’ closest SEC defeat in his tenure.
“The thing that I was most proud of was, without a doubt, how things had gone from play one to play 87,” Lebby said. “Our guys continued to play and believed that we were winning the football game the entire time. There was great energy.”
Fluff Bothwell had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 134 yards and his fifth and sixth rushing touchdowns of the season.
The Bulldogs are set to play their first game outside of Mississippi. They began the season with a road victory against Southern Miss before playing four consecutive home games.
Lebby said the timing of the visit to College Station is “pretty good” because Mississippi State has an open date next week before visiting Florida a week later.
“I think the coolest thing about going on the road in this conference is we’ve got 74 guys getting on the plane to go play in front of over 100,000 people,” Lebby said. “It’s about us being all in and having the right mindset and mentality to go play one play at a time and give us the best chance to go win.”
