Texas A&M football charges into the second half of the season sporting a 5-1 record and a No. 14 national ranking after winning its last five games. The Aggies look to build upon their 3-0 mark in conference play when they hit the road to face SEC cellar-dweller Mississippi State Saturday at 3:15 p.m.

Starkville, Miss. hasn’t been a kind place to A&M, though, with the Aggies dropping four of their last five games at Davis Wade Stadium. Here are a few takeaways from Monday’s weekly press conference as coach Mike Elko previewed the matchup.

Aggies not taking Bulldogs likely

Mississippi State’s unassuming 1-5 record and 0-3 mark in SEC action may lead one to think that A&M shouldn’t have its hands full on Saturday. However, one doesn’t need to look far back for evidence of what the Bulldogs are capable of. The same team that got blown out by Toledo at home hung tough with No. 5 Georgia on the road this past weekend in a 41-31 defeat.

Elko understands the parity between teams in the conference this season and the weekly potential for upsets, as seen with then-No. 6 Ole Miss’ loss to Kentucky on Sept. 28 and Vanderbilt’s stunning upset of No. 1 Alabama a week later. Beyond the talent of other programs, Elko challenged his team to reflect on its own recent struggles against its SEC foes, pointing to the Aggies’ 42-24 loss in StarkVegas in 2022.

“This group of kids, the last time they went down to Starkville, it wasn’t pretty,” Elko said. “I don’t even know that we need to look at other people. I think we just need to be aware of our own history and understand what it takes to be successful, why we’re doing things to give ourselves a chance to have success and understanding that if we stop for any second, we’re going to put all of that at risk.”

The Bulldogs are battle-tested, though, with top-5 road matchups in their past two games against No. 1 Texas and Georgia. They’ve entered both games with freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren under center, who threw for three touchdowns at Georgia.

“They’re a solid team,” sophomore linebacker Taurean York said. “You’d be a fool to look at their record and think that they were a bad team. They played some stout teams as well. My hat goes off to the true freshman quarterback. … You’ve got to have some guts to be a kid fresh out of high school going against those two top-5 teams, so my hat’s off to him, for sure.”

A&M will have to prepare for the constant din of cowbells ringing when it reaches Davis Wade Stadium, and Elko said the Aggies are preparing for the road atmosphere with speakers blaring at practice. Playing cowbell noise over the speakers is a line he won’t cross, though.

“I swore I would never do that to our guys,” Elko said with a laugh.

A&M seeing buy-in to team culture

Developing a quality on-field product is only part of a head coach’s job when he takes over a program. He’s also expected to install a winning culture in the locker room, a task that Elko has taken upon himself by instilling hard work, effort and discipline. Halfway through the season, he said he’s already seeing the players embrace this mindset and jump in head-first.

“I think the culture in terms of togetherness, trying to do things the right way, trying to do things for each other, I’m extremely proud of our guys and how they’ve taken to that,” Elko said. “I tell them this all the time, when a new coach comes in and he’s talking a different way, kids have a choice. … They can just kind of let it go in one ear and out the other and [say], ‘Yeah, I’m not really interested in this, this is not my thing.’ These kids haven’t done that.

“I think they’ve bought in to everything that we believe a football program should be about. You see that continually show up in how they fight for each other, and that part is really, really cool to see. Really proud of that and I think that plays a huge part of it.

Six games remain on the schedule, though, and Elko realizes the job isn’t finished. Rather, it’s a daily process that he said needs to be brought to the facility throughout the week as the Aggies look to make a push for the College Football Playoff.

“Now, it’s, can we continue to have the right frame of mind?” Elko said. “Can we continue to have that championship mindset? Can we continue to have that growth [and] focus every single day as we go into this back half of the season? That’s a whole other challenge in and of itself, but in terms of the togetherness, I’m really happy with where we are.”

Conner Weigman works his way back under center

Redshirt sophomore QB Conner Weigman didn’t miss a beat when he returned to the field for the first time since Sept. 7 against then-No. 9 Missouri on Oct. 5. Don’t be fooled by the lack of touchdowns next to his name in the box score, as Weigman completed 18 of 22 passes for 276 yards and picked up 33 yards on five rushes in a decisive 41-10 A&M victory.

“If I get backed in a corner, I come out swinging,” Weigman said. “I’m not going to go down without a fight. That’s just how I am, that’s how I was raised. Just being able to come out there, stick to the gameplan coach [Collin] Klein had and just the trust he had in me to go out there and spin the ball around, I mean, we had a good game. It was fun.”

Weigman said his time sidelined from action with an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder allowed him to reevaluate how he approaches the game. Not being on the field for three games didn’t stop him from improving his chemistry with the Aggies’ offense.

“Just sitting there watching film, watching the games from a different point of view,” Weigman said. “Not being behind the center and just taking things in. Watching how some of my guys work, what makes them click, what makes them go and how to get some of my playmakers, get the ball into their hands as quick as possible. I felt like it was a good three weeks.”

Weigman also said he saw his relationship with QB Marcel Reed strengthen after the redshirt freshman was 3-0 in his place as starting quarterback. Weigman said the pair has a sense of reliance on one another with support for their accomplishments.

“That’s my brother, I love him to death,” Weigman said. “Whenever I’m out there, whatever I need done, whether it’s watching a safety or watching the iPad and vice versa, whatever he needs me to help with, I’m right there for him.”

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AUSTIN — Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart met with the media Monday ahead of Saturday’s meeting against the No. 1 Texas Longhorns and previewed the top-five matchup.

Here’s what he had to say about Texas:

On his relationship with Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian:

“Lot of respect for Sark. You know, I’ve gotten to know Sark really well over the last couple years. We take a trip every year together, and really enjoy getting to know him and have a lot of respect for the job he does.”

On Texas being a “complete team”:

“I mean, the most complete team that we’ve seen or faced this year, and probably in multiple years. When you look at what they’re doing, defensively, offensively and special teams, they are clearly one of the best teams in the country.”

On the Texas offense:

“They’re balanced and they do a great job of putting you in conflict in terms of run, pass, play action, turn your back to the ball. I mean, they can take shots. They got really good wideouts to take shots with. You know, I think they lost a couple backs, maybe in preseason camp. And I thought like, ‘Okay, well, they’re not going to have — (laughs), wel these two backs they got are really good. And I’m like, ,an, I’m watching them against Mississippi State. … I was really impressed. And then against Oklahoma, they even got better. So it’s not like, there’s these weaknesses. They’re big, physical, upfront, on defense and offense. … In the trenches, they’ve got really good players, and they’re built like an SEC team, and it’s hard to prepare for (Sarkisian), because he knows what he’s doing. I mean, offensively, he’s really different in terms of what he makes you adjust to.”

On Texas QB Arch Manning:

“You watch the games that Arch played, he played really well. He did some really good things. I mean, look at his numbers. He played and he comes out first couple plays against Mississippi State ripping it and firing it in his first SEC (game) and played really good.”

On what makes the Texas defense great and how it reminds him of some former Georgia teams:

“Size, speed, two best front guys. I mean, let’s, let’s every every defense starts with train wreckers, big guys, physical guys at the point of attack that are hard to move. They got them. They’ve got guys on the edge that are elite rushers. They got an elite player out of the portal. They went and got DB from Clemson (Andrew Mukuba), who’s playing really good. They patched up some holes they had, and they’re the complete package on because they’re really consistent. They don’t give up explosives. They’re really good in the red area. They’re hard to run the ball on. The consistency you watch them play with, it reminds me of some of our better teams here, our best teams here, I’m like, man, they’re good on D, they’re good on O good on special teams, and they’re playing at a high level.”

On former Georgia defensive tackle Bill Norton, now at Texas:

“What a great kid, man. This guy worked his tail off here and worked really hard. … One of his key roles with special teams, and he played on our field goal urotection Unit, and was the best at doing it we had. And he was a backup defensive tackle and played some snaps, but that was his role that I want to say, maybe the Ohio State game, or one of the games we lost somebody, and he had to go in and take over and play a role at that. And he did it with great pride. He was always like positive and enjoyed practice, and was fun to be around, funny guy. And now he’s been, I guess, two places, you know, and he’s playing for them, and he’s doing a really good job.”

On Texas tight end Gunnar Helm:

“Well, first of all, he’s a tremendous blocker. He’s not a one-way tight end. He’s got great size. I mean, this guy’s huge on film, but he’s a great pass catcher. And the scheme that Sark has, they do a great job. It’s not like they just say, hey, go out here and go one-on-one and get open. They’re sprinting out throwing back, their play action, boot(leg) naked, throw a screen off of it. Everything that you don’t honor because you’re thinking about another play, they got a play off of it. That makes you honor him. And he’s a tremendous blocker. I think the quarterbacks are really comfortable with him, so when you get zone elements and holes and zones, they trust him to go to be at that spot and catch the ball. But I wasn’t aware of him going into the week because I had not really heard of him. And now watching tape, this guy’s a really good player, and you’re right. He had a big game last week.”

On Texas QB Quinn Ewers:

“There’s nothing he sees that he hasn’t seen. … He’s a really good athlete. He’s been in Sark’s system. I mean, I think the comparisons between he and Carson (Beck) are so similar in terms of the kind of quarterbacks they are. They’re both better athletes than people think. They both have awareness of coverage, and they’re really good in the pocket, and this guy’s taken off and hurt people running when he needs to, but he also can stand in the pocket and make all the throws and change the protection. So I’ve really been impressed with him. But that was the case even last year when I saw him play.”

The Detroit Lions suffered a huge loss on Sunday during their blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys. Aidan Hutchinson, their star defensive end, broke his leg early in the third quarter and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher.

Hutchinson fractured his tibia and fibula and underwent surgery at Baylor White Medical Center in Irving, Texas on Sunday night. The Lions shared an update on Hutchinson on Monday, confirming that he would be returning to Detroit this week and is expected to make a full recovery.

Everyone should be optimistic that Hutchinson will be ready to return next season.

Hutchinson, 24, was named to his first Pro Bowl last season and was leading the NFL with 7.5 sacks before he broke his leg on Sunday. He will leave a huge hole in the Detroit defense in a season where the expectations are extremely high. Last year Hutchinson had three sacks and eight QB hits during the Lions postseason run to the NFC Championship Game.