Starkville win generates relief, belief as Texas A&M extends streak

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Relief and belief.

Those were the prevailing emotions — in that order — for the prevailing football team on Saturday night at Davis Wade Stadium.

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko admitted a hard-fought 34-24 road victory over Mississippi State generated more relief than anything else.

“I think in this day and age it’s always relief that’s the first feeling,” Elko said. “You get to keep this thing going. Opportunities like this don’t come along much. That’s always the first feeling.”

“This thing” is a six-game winning streak that enabled the No. 14 Aggies (6-1, 4-0) to continue leading the Southeastern Conference championship race.

Wins in Starkville are rare. A&M is just 2-4 here. In each of those losses, they were the higher-ranked team.

So it matters not that Mississippi State (1-6, 0-4) feeds at the bottom of the SEC like a freshwater catfish. Nor does it matter that attaining that victory was more difficult than many might have envisioned.

Some of those expecting an easy victory may have been in A&M’s locker room. Elko tried to warn them of the struggle that awaited.

“I said it all week,” Elko said. “I’m not sure that everyone in my locker room believed me, but we certainly said it all week. It played out that way today.

“When you come on the road in this conference, nothing is ever going to come easy,” he said. “They certainly didn’t make it easy.”

Indeed, Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby pulled out all the stops.

He had true freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. pass 41 times. Lebby went for it on fourth down seven times — sometimes in his own end of the field.

One of those was an ill-advised fake punt that put A&M in position to take a 31-17 late in the third quarter.

But the Bulldogs wouldn’t surrender. They pulled within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. They even had the football with a chance to tie.

But A&M’s defense forced a three-and-out. The offense then drove for a Randy Bond field goal that produced a 34-24 lead with 6:13 to play.

Then Aggie linebacker Scooby Williams, who was brilliant throughout the game, stonewalled MSU’s Davon Booth on fourth-and-1 at midfield.

A&M denied one more Mississippi State drive in the final minutes to finally settle the issue.

Matt Bush-Imagn Images

Texas A&M’s offense finished 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) on third downs — its highest third-down conversion percentage this season.

Past A&M teams likely would’ve collapsed on the road, especially in Starkville. The mistakes and missed opportunities would’ve been too much to overcome.

Quarterback Conner Weigman threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Noah Thomas, but also had two interceptions. He was fortunate Mississippi State players dropped two other would-be interceptions.

Costly penalties nullified runs of 30 and 38 yards by Le’Veon Moss, who was held to only 65 rushing yards.

The Aggies’ running game never really got going. Meanwhile, their vaunted run defense was gashed for 100 yards in the first half alone. The defense tightened up in the second half and allowed just 25 rushing yards and 94 total yards.

Also, A&M held a 21-10 lead when Amari Daniels scored on a six-yard touchdown run with 1:48 left in the half. But the defense allowed Van Buren to lead the Bulldogs to a touchdown just before intermission.

At halftime, this had the feeling of another Starkville stumble. A&M fans have seen this horror film before. But these Aggies have resiliency that past teams didn’t.

They drove 17 plays for a Bond field goal to open the second half. Then, Myles Davis thwarted the fake punt to set up a 32-yard drive for a Moss touchdown.

Matt Bush-Imagn Images

Capturing a fourth straight SEC win, the Aggies have now matched their best start in league play (2016).

When Mississippi State turned an interception into an easy touchdown, the Aggies were able to add another Bond field goal and mount two key defensive stops to settle the issue.

That’s where the belief comes in. A&M has a legitimate chance to win an SEC championship. Some may scoff because they struggled to subdue Mississippi State.

Championship teams often struggle to beat inferior opponents. Just last year, SEC champion Alabama needed a last-play miracle to defeat hapless Auburn.

“The goal is to win,” Elko said. “All of the sudden, you start having success. Then, the expectations change. Everything starts changing to when was the last time we were 4-0 (in the SEC)? When was the last time we won back-to-back road games in true road environments?

“You can’t take away from those things. It wasn’t pretty. I know it wasn’t pretty. We didn’t play pretty football today. The kids know that. I know that. Everybody knows that.

“They know there’s a lot of things we’ve got to clean up. Let’s not take away some of the highlights of where this team is right now coming off back-to-back seasons when we won 12 total games.”