There is Batman. There is Superman. And now there is “The Other Kid.”
In his return from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for three games, normally mild-mannered quarterback Conner Weigman — aka “The Other Kid” — was almost otherworldly as No. 25 Texas A&M (5-1, 3-0) roared to a dominant 41-10 Southeastern Conference football victory over No. 9 Missouri (4-1, 1-1) on Saturday.
Weigman arrived just in time to complete 18-of-22 passes for 276 yards.
Coach Mike Elko figured Weigman was destined for a big day when he completed a back-shoulder pass to Noah Thomas for a 21-yard gain in the second quarter.
“The one where Noah went up and rose up over the DB? Yeah, that was kind of the one where like, ‘OK, he’s feeling it because he put that thing right where it needed to be for Noah,’” Elko said. “The ball placement on that one was really good. When he made that throw, it was like, ‘OK, he’s in a good rhythm right now and feeling good about himself.’”
His passing also provided extra opportunity for the Aggie running game.
Le’Veon Moss rushed for a career-high 137 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard blast to open the second half. Amari Daniels had 34 yards, including a pair of touchdowns.
That wasn’t too surprising. Moss is on a roll, and A&M entered the game ranked second in the SEC in rushing offense.
But who could’ve envisioned Weigman would have such an impactful performance?
Certainly not Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz.
Earlier this week, Drinkwitz made it clear he was preparing to face A&M redshirt freshman quarterback Marcel Reed, who led A&M to consecutive victories over Florida, Bowling Green and Arkansas while Weigman was recuperating from a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder.
“I know on their depth chart it says the ‘other kid’ is the starting quarterback, but I mean, that's just semantics, in my opinion,” Drinkwitz said.
Semantics? Nope.
Some antics? Definitely.
Among some of Weigman’s antics were consecutive completions of 13 and 15 yards on A&M’s first drive for a Daniels’ 1-yard touchdown run.
Next, Weigman completed a 29-yard pass to Thomas on a drive for a Randy Bond field goal.
Weigman scrambled for nine yards to start A&M’s third series. He then completed five consecutive passes for 52 yards. That set up another Daniels touchdown.
On the fourth drive, he completed three passes, including a 40-yarder to Jahdae Walker, and scrambled for 15 yards on third-and-7.
That led to a Moss 1-yard touchdown run and a 24-0 halftime lead.
That was more than enough for the A&M defense, which hasn’t allowed more than 23 points in a game all season.
Missouri’s passing game is loaded with big-play ability. Quarterback Brady Cook is proven. Receiver Luther Burden III has All-American credentials. Receiver Theo Wease Jr. is a deep threat. Also, running back Nate Noel rushed for 320 yards in Missouri’s previous two games.
But the Tigers were limited to season lows in rushing yards (66), passing yards (186) and total yards (254).
“We’re capable of being a really good defense,” Elko said. “When we communicate, when we do things the right way, when we play the game we’re capable of being a really good defense.
“For the most part, we did that today. Still some things to fix and clean up, but if we keep progressing, we have a chance to be a pretty good defense.”
Missouri managed just one touchdown. That came via a 59-yard pass to Wease, which never should have counted. Cook was only able to throw because Missouri tackle Armand Membou egregiously held A&M defensive end Shemar Stewart.
Maybe the officials cut Cook a break because the Aggie defense never did.
Earlier this week, Cook questioned whether the boisterous Kyle Field crowd would have an effect on the Missouri offense.
Though seemingly rattled much of the game, Cook may have benefitted from the noise. At least he couldn’t hear the thundering footsteps of a stampeding pass rush that treated him like a piñata.
Cook was sacked six times. He was pressured six more. That doesn’t include an ill-advised zone read that ended with a bone-jarring tackle by Nic Scourton for a 4-yard loss on third-and-1.
“I think the 12th Man certainly heard some of the statements made about how easy it was to play in Kyle Field,” Elko said. “That was good. And they were certainly riled up, and we always appreciate them. We knew they would be there strong this week.”
The Aggies could be in for a strong season. The Aggies will rise in the national polls. They will be viewed as contenders for the 12-team College Football Playoff.
They have a powerful defense, an exceptional running game and apparently a hot quarterback.
“Conner Weigman is a dog,” Scourton said. “ We battled some injuries. This is my first year playing with him. Just to see what he’s been going through, the media talking bad about him and things like that. For him to just fight, he’s a warrior, and he’s a ballplayer.”
Indeed, after a subpar showing in a season-opening loss to Notre Dame, Weigman faced more attacks on social media than from the Missouri defense.
Elko clearly was disgusted by those attacks.
“Some of the stuff that has been said about this kid and written about this kid — not by you guys, you guys have been great — is embarrassing,” Elko said. “It’s absolutely embarrassing the stuff that gets out there on this kid. This kid is a winner. He’s a competitor. He does everything that he needs to do for Texas A&M football. There’s a lot of people right now that need to stand up and recognize what they’ve said over the last three weeks and take some [expletive] ownership in it.”
Obviously, Weigman wasn’t fazed. His play was the strongest of rebuttals to his critics.
“That’s how we’re gonna play the rest of the season,” Weigman vowed to ABC-TV immediately afterward.
He later added: “Guys got tremendously better over those three weeks I was out. Now, it’s just ride with my guys, give it to my playmakers, and let them go make plays.”
This... this is next level writing Olin. Job well done as always.Quote:
"Though seemingly rattled much of the game, Cook may have benefitted from the noise. At least he couldn't hear the thundering footsteps of a stampeding pass rush that treated him like a piñata."
Drundel said:
I tend not to follow the dram of sports writing too much, esp. during hunting season, but what was said personally about Connor as a person?
I don't think it was sports-writers, because they probably just said he was inaccurate, altho plenty of sports-writers said Reed appeared better. It was TexAgs users who said stupid sht.. Think of how dorky the anti-weed crowd is, and then imagine the half-dozen insults they'd lob at someone…from his voice, leadership, "drugs", fat, slow, etc.Drundel said:
I tend not to follow the dram of sports writing too much, esp. during hunting season, but what was said personally about Connor as a person?
$3 Sack of Groceries said:
It's "dorky" to be anti-weed?
Oooookay.
