No. 17 Texas A&M Stumbles at Mississippi State
Jimbo #Jimbo
Wasted opportunities early haunt the Texas A&M Aggies in a road loss.
The positive vibes No. 17 Texas A&M had going went up in smoke Saturday afternoon.
The mistake-prone Aggies coughed up the ball twice in the red zone in a lopsided 42-24 loss at Mississippi State.
After beating ranked teams in consecutive weekends, Texas A&M appeared to turn a corner under quarterback Max Johnson. Instead, the Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies (3-2, 1-1 SEC) left Davis Wade Stadium bemoaning miscues and missed opportunities.
On two occasions in the second quarter, the Aggies were in position to score deep in Bulldogs territory. The first would have given A&M an early lead, with the second potentially MSU’s halftime lead in half.
Instead, both drives ended in turnovers.
The Aggies could never recover.
Texas A&M had new-found confidence after beating Miami and Arkansas, the latter a comeback win to open the Aggies’ SEC schedule. Those were also the first two A&M starts for Johnson.
The left-hander was under constant attack by the Bulldogs, who sacked Johnson XX times and forced him to fumble late in the first half. That turnover told the tale for the wasted, few chances the Aggies actually had.
The first chance to score came early in the second quarter. After a solid punt return by Moose Muhammed and several tough runs by Devon Achane, the Aggies were poised to break a scoreless tie. But the standout back fumbled after another big gain inside the MSU 10-yard line.
The Bulldogs (4-1, 1-1), led by quarterback Will Rogers, responded with a 94-yard touchdown drive for a 7-0 lead. Rogers’ second scoring throw made with 14-0 with 58 seconds left in the first half.
Achane followed with a long kickoff return and the Aggies quickly drove back into the red zone. With the ball at the 10 with 10 seconds left, Johnson was blindsided and lost the football.
Again, the Aggies failed to get points. Those lost possessions would haunt A&M in the second half.
Even a field goal to open the third quarter – Even Stewart dropped a sure touchdown on the drive – and a turnover deep in the Bulldogs’ territory didn’t help. The Aggies had to settle for another field goal try, but it was blocked and returned for touchdown by MSU.
Down 21-3, the Aggies were effectively done.
MSU coach Mike Leach continued his mastery over the Aggies, going back to his days at Texas Tech. Leach is 9-4 against Texas A&M.
Achane finished with 111 yards rushing on 16 attempts. Muhammed caught six balls for 119 yards, including a 18-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Johnson was 19-of-26 passing for 203 yards and left the game with an apparent hand injury in the fourth. Former starter Haynes King scored a touchdown in relief, but also threw two interceptions, one being a pick-6.
The road doesn’t get easier for Texas A&M with a visit to No. 2 Alabama up next week.
You can find Art Garcia on Twitter @ArtGarcia92.
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