SLIPS AWAY
AGGIES LOSE GRIP ON PLAYOFF HOPES DAYS AFTER EARNING NO. 4 NATIONAL RANKING
STARKVILLE, Miss. — On the first play of Texas A&M’s game at Mississippi State, a couple of Aggies bumbled around the kickoff before Keith Ford finally got enough grip on the ball for a 6-yard return.
Who knew that would turn into a Texas A&M highlight, as the prelude to the program’s most humiliating day of the season. With it, the No. 4 Aggies lost their grip on a potential College Football Playoff bid.
“We got whipped,” said A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, his eyes watery and red, following the Aggies’ stunning 35-28 loss to previously oftbeaten Mississippi State.
The final score is closer than how the game played out over four quarters, considering the Bulldogs led 28-7 late in the first half before the Aggies awoke from a slumber in the latemorning game.
“It hurts,” said A&M receiver and returner Christian Kirk, the team’s brightest spot on a dim day. “You put so much into this game. The amount of love I have for all of these guys, it hurts. These are your brothers.”
The Aggies (7-2, 4-2 SEC) will tumble from any playoff talk, a week after making noise as No. 4 behind Alabama, Clemson and Michigan. Sumlin vowed such a ranking didn’t impact his players’ psyche on the road against an Mississippi State team that owns a losing record at (4-5, 2-3).
“People are going to say that, but I don’t think these guys acted (overconfident),” Sumlin said. “I didn’t see that reaction internally or outwardly.”
What he did see was a running game that had been a strength this season fail to gain steam. Quarterback Trevor Knight led the Aggies with 54 rushing yards, and he left the game in the first half with an injured right shoulder. Sumlin said Knight’s status is to be determined moving forward.
A&M finished with 117 rushing yards against a defense that had allowed 41 points to Samford of the Football Championship Subdivision a week earlier in a 15-point victory on the same field. The Aggies rushed for a season-low 114 yards in a 33-14 loss at Alabama on Oct. 22, but that was thought to be an aber- ration against the nation’s top team.
It wasn’t. Meanwhile, A&M’s run defense reverted to its horror-story non-glory of the past couple of seasons, in allowing 365 rushing yards to the Bulldogs, including a gamehigh 182 by sophomore quarterback Nick Fitzgerald.
“We couldn’t stop the run,” Sumlin said, “and we couldn’t run.”
Asked why, he said he would have to review the game video to pinpoint the letdowns. At least part of it had to do with injuries. The Aggies lost starting right guard Connor Lanfear in the first half to what Sumlin called a “serious knee injury.” Kirk a rare bright spot
Star defensive end Myles Garrett, frustrated as he has ever been at A&M, pounded the grass while on his knees at Davis Wade Stadium at one point in the third quarter, having aggravated a high ankle sprain. He suffered the injury against Arkansas on Sept. 24 and hasn’t been at full speed since.
A&M’s defenders declined postgame interviews, leaving Kirk, who caught a touchdown pass and returned a punt for a touch- down, and backup quarterback Jake Hubenak to field the questions for the players on what went wrong.
Kirk’s five career punt returns for touchdowns, including three in the past two games, are an A&M record, two more than any- one else.
“We’re upset about (the loss), but it’s not going to take much to get everybody going,” said Hubenak, who replaced Knight and led A&M to two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a failed comeback bid. “This is going to light a fire under us.”
Fans figured the flames were burning brightly with A&M’s most promising season stretching into November since 1998, when the Aggies won a Big 12 championship. They weren’t likely to win an SEC West Division title with the loss to Alabama, but the Aggies stood a decent chance of making their way into the four-team playoff, and perhaps even face the Crimson Tide in a rematch.
Until Saturday. No Willis a problem
Dan Mullen’s Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 as recently as two seasons ago, but this season had fallen on hard times with losses to South Alabama, LSU, Auburn, BYU and Kentucky.
“This is up there with beating Auburn at No. 2 and Texas A&M the year we were at No. 1,” Mississippi State linebacker Richie Brown said. “Honestly, this is better because this team was so hungry for a win, that we’re not taking it for granted.”
The Aggies played without injured starting cornerback Priest Willis, and it was evident throughout as Fitzgerald made Willis’ replacement, DeShawn Capers-Smith, pay time and again through the air. Fitzgerald teamed with receiver Fred Ross, a former John Tyler standout, for two second-quarter touchdown passes. Willis also had missed the Aggies’ previous game, a 5210 non-conference victory over New Mexico State.
“It didn’t show up last week as much as it did today,” Sumlin said of Willis’ absence.
The score might have been more lopsided save for two interceptions by A&M defensive backs Nick Harvey and Donovan Wilson in the Aggies’ end zone, forcing touchbacks. The staggered Aggies, following their final road game, return to Kyle Field for three games to wrap up the regular season against Mississippi, UTSA and LSU.
“We’ve got confidence in Jake moving forward, and let’s see what happens with Trevor,” Sumlin said of his quarterbacks. “We’ll see where he is, injury-wise.”