The double-edged sword of upper-crust contention includes a prohibition of regression or setbacks. The best teams — the ones that hope to play in college football’s most meaningful bowl games in December and January — must be equipped to quickly and seamlessly fill the holes that open along the path toward it.

Texas A&M, now down a workhorse weapon for the foreseeable future, is now among that group.

Running back Le’Veon Moss will miss a “significant amount of time,” head coach Mike Elko said after A&M’s win vs. Florida last week, but is expected to return this season. The Aggies — ranked third in the AP Top 25 poll and undefeated at 7-0 for the first time since the 1994 season — are in an enviable position as it pertains to the College Football Playoff and don’t have time to lag while Moss heals.

The Aggies’ rushing offense ranks within the middle of the pack nationwide and among the bottom third of all SEC teams, per Pro Football Focus, and sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed runs the ball fewer times per game on average this year compared to last year. The ground game could be an area that the Aggies could exploit this Saturday against LSU’s defense, which allowed 239 rushing yards in its loss to Vanderbilt last weekend.

A duo of A&M backs with prodigious backgrounds will now try to recreate Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. — and potentially for the rest of the season.

Sophomore Rueben Owens II, a once-prized recruit, has rushed for three touchdowns in two starts since Moss was sidelined. Senior E.J. Smith — the son of Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith — has been elevated from a depth position to a backup role and carried the ball seven times in Texas A&M’s win vs. Arkansas Saturday night.

Owens scored two second-half touchdowns vs. the Razorbacks to fortify a wild 45-42 win. Smith converted a critical 4th and 1 rush to sustain a fourth-quarter drive that ended in a 12-yard touchdown run from Owens.

“We answered the call every time we needed to, “Elko said. ”I thought it was really great the way we went out in the second half and just continued to make plays to find a way to win the game.”

Owens and Smith were among those to thank. Owens, a five-star recruit from El Campo, was the second-ranked running back nationally and the second-best signee in former head coach Jimbo Fisher’s last full recruiting class. He earned All-SEC honors as a freshman when he split time as a back and returner, but missed the entirety of last season with a lower-body injury.

The 5-11 back now leads the Aggies in yardage after just one-and-a-half games as the team’s de facto starter. He rushed for a career-high 142 yards vs. Mississippi State earlier this month, when Moss was still healthy, and totaled 120 yards and three scores against Florida and Arkansas in two games after that.

“I think he’s one of the kids who gets a lot better every week that he goes out there because those reps are so valuable for him,” Elko said. “He’s getting more and more comfortable with what we’re asking him to do in the run game with the run lines and the run angles … I just think he continues to develop every week and to be more of a complete back. Obviously we need him to continue to do that.”

Smith, a four-star recruit at Jesuit, chose Stanford over offers from A&M, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State and others nearly six years ago. He, like Owens, saw what could’ve been a breakout campaign end prematurely. Smith rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns in the first two games of the 2022 season but missed the remainder of it with a knee injury.

He was a third-stringer one year later and transferred to A&M prior to the 2024 season. The first-year result mirrored his final season at Stanford when he was no higher than third on the running back depth chart. His sixth and final season of collegiate eligibility began the same this year, too, with both Moss and Owens ahead of him.

“When you think about it, E.J. Smith’s not having all of the limelight he dreamed of having going into his senior year, I’m sure,” Elko said. “I’m sure he wishes he was the feature back carrying the ball 20 times a game.”

But.

“But,” Elko continued, “here it is, fourth and one at Arkansas, in our own territory, and he’s got to convert, and that’s a championship play. That play and that player will have as much to do with our success as anyone, right?”

The Aggies will hope so.

Find more Texas A&M coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

The wealthy Texas housewife accused of plowing into and killing a man on a first date while drunk and high claims her expensive high heels got stuck on the gas pedal of her Porsche 911 Carrera.

Kristina Chambers, 34, went on trial Friday for manslaughter in connection with the April 2023 crash that killed 33-year-old Joseph McMullin as he and his date were leaving a Voodoo Doughnut shop in Houston.

Prosecutors allege Chambers had been bar-hopping with friends that night, was four times over the legal alcohol limit, and had small baggies of cocaine in her car and purse, according to the Houston Chronicle.

But her attorney, Mark Thiessen, argued her designer shoes caused the fatal crash.

Thiessen claims his clients expensive Christian Louboutin heels had gotten stuck on the gas pedal of her Porsche as she drover down “one of Houston’s most dangerous curves.”

However, prosecutors Andrew Figliuzzi refuted the argument to the jury — believing Chambers was “itching to show off her sports car” to her two friends inside the Porsche at the time of the fatal wreck.

About an hour after the crash, Chambers registered a blood alcohol level of .301, nearly four times the legal limit, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing medical records.

Audio tech Briana Iturrino, who was on a date with McMullin that night, told the court they’d just left Voodoo Doughnuts around 2:25 a.m. when she saw blinding headlights barreling straight at them.

Iturrino testified that she realized the speedy sports car — estimated to be traveling over 70 mph at the time of impact — was about to make a sharp turn directly toward them.

In the blink of an eye, the Porsche whipped past, missing Iturrino by inches — and when she turned to shout a warning to McMullin, he had vanished.

“I thought he had gotten out of the way, because I couldn’t find him,” Iturrino said.

Iturrino said she felt something brush against her hip, which she first thought was the car, but later realized was McMullin being thrown about 30 feet as Chambers drove on and slammed into a pole.

She then called 911 and a dispatcher instructed her to perform CPR until paramedics arrived, but McMullin died at the scene.

Chambers and her two passengers were injured in the wreck.

The general manager of the nearby Slick Willie’s pool hall, Alfredo Ponce, also testified, telling the court he heard the crash and ran outside to help, the outlet reported.

“I’ve seen so many accidents on that road,” Ponce said. “Every time, I get out and help whoever needs help and is injured.”

Ponce testified that the crash was one of the worst he had seen and said when he reached the sports car to help those inside he remembered it reeked of alcohol. 

Chambers was charged with manslaughter in McMullin’s death. She has pleaded not guilty, with prosecutors alleging she was driving at an excessive speed and lost control of her vehicle.

In the two years since her arrest, Chambers’ case has seen a string of legal battles.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by McMullin’s parents against Chambers in June 2023 remains pending.

The suit also partly blames Chambers’ former partner — hedge fund manager, Xuan Si, who filed for divorce from her just days after she was released on bail — for purchasing the luxury sports car just months before the fatal crash.

However, Si has denied purchasing the sports car for his ex-wife, claiming instead that she bought the car herself using cash from their joint account.

Si also denied that his wife had a drinking problem, and said he had never seen her consume drugs or drive drunk.

Sebastian Lopez — a close friend who was riding with Chambers the night of the fatal crash — described her as an “alcoholic” in his deposition and claimed Si knew she regularly drank and did drugs.

He added that she’d driven drunk “a handful” of times, even after getting the luxury Porsche.

McMullins grieving parents are seeking over $1 million in compensation for their son’s death.

Lawyers in Chambers’ criminal trial have been forbidden from mentioning the explosive claims in the civil lawsuit, which is slated for an April court date.

Welcome to our guide to the commodities powering the global economy. Today, Will Wade looks at how soaring energy demand is making Texas excited about nuclear power.

Country music was playing during lunch as conference attendees wearing cowboy boots talked energy. But the chatter wasn’t about oil — all the buzz was for “electrons.”