Cowbell Corner

Instant Reaction: Texas A&M gives Mississippi State reality check in 31-9 win

The Bulldogs' flaws were exposed in the second half against the Aggies, including more troubles along the offensive line.
Taylor Hodges|
Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver KC Concepcion (7) runs the ball in for a touchdown during the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Kyle Field.
Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver KC Concepcion (7) runs the ball in for a touchdown during the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Kyle Field. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

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Mississippi State BulldogsTexas A&M Aggies

No. 6 Texas A&M just showed Mississippi State it still has a long way to go to compete with the SEC’s best teams.

Despite a very close first half that saw both sides fail to take advantage of the other’s mistakes, the Aggies pulled away in the second half to defeat the Bulldogs 31-9.

That final score isn’t fully accurate. Texas A&M led 7-3 at halftime and the Bulldogs’ chances at a miracle upset didn’t end until Anthony Evans III’s fumble early in the fourth quarter.

A lot of the first half trends continued in the second half, at least for the Bulldogs.

Texas A&M continued its relenting pass rush and adapted it to its run defense to hold Mississippi State scoreless in the second half.

There are some positive takeaways for Mississippi State in the loss. For example, the Bulldogs had a great goal line stand in the first half to force a turnover on downs

But the negatives will outweigh the positives for Mississippi State’s fans. The biggest negative being the injury running back Fluff Bothwell suffered late in the fourth quarter.

The replay shows a Texas A&M defender tackling Bothwell after catching a pass and Bothwell's right knee was hit from the outside.

Bothwell was on the ground for a long time and the medical cart was brought onto the field to carry him off. No further information is known at this time.

Texas A&M exposed how much work Mississippi State’s offensive line has to do in the upcoming bye week.

And the Bulldogs’ defense still has to improve its run defense, even though they showed some flashes of greatness Saturday night.

Unfortunately, the final reaction is that this game feels an awful lot like some games last season: Mississippi State keeps it close and may (or may not) have had a realistic chance at winning, but never came close fulfilling that destiny.

One final note: Kamario Taylor came into the game in the first half and was lined up to receive the snap. However, a penalty was called before the snap was made on Mississippi State and Taylor never actually ran a play.

Based on a cursory reading of the NCAA redshirt rules, it doesn't appear that Taylor burned a potential redshirt season because the ball wasn't snapped. If the ball had been snapped, then it might've been burned.

First Half Instant Reaction

(Note: Below are my halftime thoughts. Sometimes our first half thoughts and reactions are drastically different than what see in the second half. Or they’re exactly the same. At this point, though, I have no clue.)

Well, that wasn’t pretty.

Ten total penalties, but seven of those penalties were on Texas A&M. The most impactful penalties from the Aggies were on defense and special teams that either extended drives or put their offense in bad situations.

Mississippi State’s defense has held it’s own. The Bulldogs stuffed the Aggies four times at the goal line for a turnover on downs and held the Aggies to less than 200 yards of offense.

The biggest reason why the Bulldogs haven’t taken advantage of their defensive efforts is because their offensive line can’t stop or slow down the Texas A&M pass rush.

The Aggies have three sacks in the first half, including two on the first drive of the game. They were also directly responsible for Shapen’s first-half interception.

Cashius Howell made contact with a Shapen pass from behind that caused the pass to wobble high into the air and into the arms of Daymion Sanford.

To make that interception all the more painful, wide receiver Brenen Thompson had gotten behind the Texas A&M defense for what could’ve been a touchdown.

This won’t be shocking to anyone watching the broadcast, because it did a good job of highlighting the Bulldogs’ mistakes, but whatever upset potential Mississippi State will be wasted if it can’t protect Shapen better.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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