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Texas A&M Leads Mississippi State After Sluggish First Half

The Texas A&M Aggies' offense is still trying to get going against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Jon Alfano|
Oct 4, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) warms up prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
Oct 4, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) warms up prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

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Texas A&M Aggies

Last week, the Texas A&M Aggies beat the Auburn Tigers 16-10 despite a sluggish offensive performance, but the hope was that the unit would get back on track in Saturday's prime-time game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

That hasn't been the case through 30 minutes, as the Aggies lead the Bulldogs by a score of 7-3 heading into the locker room.

However, they might just be finding their stride at the right time.

Texas A&M Finishes Strong After Slow Start

Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby and Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko
Oct 4, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby greets Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elkoprior to the game at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The first 28 minutes of this game featured some downright ugly offensive football from both sides, as a Bulldogs field goal marked the only points for a long while. The Aggies came close to taking the lead on a 17-play, 82-yard drive that lasted nearly eight and a half minutes, but failed to punch it in after an agonizing goal-to-go situation.

After that, Marcel Reed threw a bad interception while looking for a receiver in double coverage. Then Bulldogs quarterback Blake Shapen threw an interception of his own on the following drive, only further reinforcing that this game was going to be a defensive slugfest.

On their penultimate drive of the half, though, the Aggies finally found their grove, marching 64 yards on six plays in less than two and a half minutes of game time. Reed found KC Concepcion along the sideline, and the NC State transfer fought through two Mississippi State defenders to get Texas A&M on the board.

The Aggies then forced a three-and-out on the Bulldogs' final drive of the half, giving them some time to go down and add to their newfound lead. However, the drive quickly stalling out led Mike Elko to just take the game into halftime.

Reed completed just five of 12 passes for 71 yards and the aforementioned touchdown and interception. Rueben Owens II has carried the load on the ground with 12 carries for 47 yards, while Concepcion has two receptions for 46 yards and the touchdown.

For the Bulldogs, Shapen completed six of nine passes for 45 yards and and interception. Fluff Bothwell has nine carries for 46 yards to lead the way on the ground.

These two teams got into a dogfight last year in Starkville, and now they're in another one with both heavily improved now compared to then.

The Aggies will get the ball to start the second half as they look to build on their momentum.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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