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Instant reactions to No. 14 Texas A&M football team's win over Mississippi State

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Instant reactions to No. 14 Texas A&M football team's win over Mississippi State


The Texas A&M football team returned from a bye this week with a conference road matchup at struggling Mississippi State, which was much closer than it should’ve been.

The No. 14 Aggies (6-1, 4-0 SEC) beat the Bulldogs (1-6, 0-4) by a final score of 34-24 on Saturday evening at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville. While any double-digit victory in the SEC may look impressive on paper, this win was anything but that.

With Texas A&M well-rested following the week off, the Aggies should’ve dominated. Junior quarterback Conner Weigman‘s fourth quarter interception brought the game within one score and more stressful than it should’ve been.

It would have been one thing if Texas A&M jumped out to a big lead, put its backups in and the final score was closer than the matchup truly was. A prime example of that was the conference victory at Florida earlier this year.

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Ultimately, the Aggies won their sixth game in a row and remained unbeaten in conference play, which is nothing to be scoffed at. However, if Texas A&M plans to be a true contender and qualify for the expanded College Football Playoff this season, the Aggies need to take care of lesser opponents early.

Otherwise, the top-ranked Longhorns will embarrass Texas A&M to conclude the regular season at Kyle Field in November and squash any hopes for the program’s first national championship in the modern era.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.





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Mississippi

Miss the speeches at this year's Hobnob? Here's a recap – SuperTalk Mississippi

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Miss the speeches at this year's Hobnob? Here's a recap – SuperTalk Mississippi


Business leaders gathered in Jackson on Thursday to hear from various elected officials and candidates seeking political office at the Mississippi Economic Council’s annual Hobnob event. Hobnob is intentionally scheduled just before an election to allow politicians to give Mississippians one last pitch before voters head to the ballot box….



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SEC Football Week 10 Storylines: Mississippi State Gets Break in League Play

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SEC Football Week 10 Storylines: Mississippi State Gets Break in League Play


A visit from 2-6 UMass could not possibly come at a better time for Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs are physically and mentally spent, riding a seven-game losing streak that hit a new low with last week’s 58-25 loss to Arkansas.

So, hosting the Minutemen in Starkville presents all kinds of opportunities for Jeff Lebby & Co., such as getting reps for the young kids, opening up more of the playbook for QB Michael Van Buren … and, yes, experiencing winning for the first time since the opener.

Either Mississippi State or UMass is grabbing its first FBS win of 2024 this weekend. Here are 5 other storylines to watch in Week 10 of the SEC.

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The Tigers are coming off their best game, beating Kentucky behind the running of Jarquez Hunter. Now, they host Vanderbilt which could be subdued after losing a close one to Texas. With Louisiana-Monroe in the on-deck circle, Auburn can claw back to .500 if it first handles business Saturday.

Arkansas’ young QB is coming his most prolific game of the year, accounting for six TDs last weekend. But that was Mississippi State and this is Ole Miss, which allows just 11 points per game and is getting outstanding play from DT Walter Nolen and LB Chris Paul Jr.

The 6-1 Vols are positioned for a playoff berth, despite averaging just 21 points in four SEC games. Tennessee is winning with defense and the running of Dylan Sampson. Coming out of a bye, has Josh Heupel figured out how to unlock Nico Iamaleava’s potential in time for this week’s Kentucky game?

Florida, and head coach Billy Napier more specifically, has a massive opportunity to use the annual game with Georgia as a turning point of the season. An upset is not as far-fetched as it seems. DJ Lagway and the Gators have won three of their last four, only losing by six at Tennessee, and the Dawgs have had uncharacteristic bouts of vulnerability this fall.

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One week after rallying to beat LSU in a home thriller, Texas A&M travels to South Carolina for a night game. Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer is developing a reputation for delivering in these spots. Subplot: Does Mike Elko start Conner Weigman or last week’s hero, Marcel Reed, for this road test?

ESPN Analyst Boldly Compares Mississippi State QB to Heisman Trophy Favorite

UMass Brings Bottom-10 Ranking to Starkville: 5 Key Stats About the Minutemen

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Why Mississippi State football is examining these 5 drives to help struggling defense

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Why Mississippi State football is examining these 5 drives to help struggling defense


STARKVILLE — The first five offensive and defensive drives from another loss have been a teaching point for Mississippi State football.

Defensively, Mississippi State, which allowed its most points of the season last week in a 58-25 home loss to Arkansas, conceded three touchdowns and a field goal on the first five possessions. 

On offense, MSU (1-7, 0-5 SEC) lost a fumble, scored a touchdown, missed a field goal and had two turnovers on downs to trail 24-7 early in the second quarter.

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The numbers don’t hide how poorly the defense has played all season, but first-year coach Jeff Lebby has made it clear that the defense isn’t all to blame for a seven-game losing streak. His offense can do a better job, too, helping set up the defense for success with a nonconference game against UMass (2-6) at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday (3:15 p.m., SEC Network).

“We weren’t able to create any momentum,” Lebby said. “It’s both sides of the ball not finding a way to get momentum, create it and then keep it. As a group and as a team, looking at those five drives and seeing how we can change the game at that point is something that we’ve done a ton of and we’ve got to learn from.”

Mississippi State hasn’t been capturing momentum

Mississippi State tight end Justin Ball and defensive lineman Sulaiman Kpaka said the Bulldogs can feel momentum when it swings during games. 

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The problem is, momentum has been swinging away from the Bulldogs early and often. 

Mississippi State has only scored 14 points on opening drives this season. It has scored two touchdowns, punted without a first down four times, turned the ball over on downs once and lost the fumble against Arkansas. And in first quarters, MSU is averaging just 3.4 points in seven games against FBS opponents, tied for 102nd in the country and tied for second to last in the SEC.

Meanwhile, the defense has enabled five opening-drive touchdowns, and its 9.3 points allowed per first quarter against FBS teams is last in the SEC and tied for 124th nationally.

“Those first five drives we talked about when we go out and handle our business every one of those drives, it puts the defense in a much better position,” Ball said Tuesday. “It helps with momentum as well. It gets them a little more motivated to go out there and get some stops and get the ball back to us so we can keep doing our thing.”

It’s forced Mississippi State to play from behind virtually all season. In the seven games against FBS opponents, MSU has only led twice for a combined 11 minutes, 49 seconds. None of those leads have gone past the first quarter, and MSU has only been ahead for 2.8% of game time against the FBS. 

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“I want us to be able to go create momentum early in the game and then keep momentum,” Lebby said. “We have to find ways to do that.”

Is the Mississippi State offense feeling more pressure to score?

While the Mississippi State offense hasn’t started games well, it’s still found ways to score plenty of points, even with freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. 

In SEC play, MSU is averaging 24.2 points per game, 4.2 more than it did against Arizona State and Toledo in September. Three of the five conference games have been against teams currently ranked inside the US LBM Coaches Poll top 11, and the 31 points at Georgia are the most the Bulldogs have scored at an AP top five team since 1936.

So, yes, MSU is scoring. It just isn’t soon enough. 

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“I wouldn’t say it’s pressure, but at the same time I would say it’s pressure,” wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. said. “It is what it is. We got to do that. Our goal is to score a lot of points a game, and right now we haven’t been doing that. It’s pressure, but at the same time, it’s not pressure. We just got to go out there and do our job.”

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.



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