Aggies hope to ring up a win over Bulldogs

Forget the cowbells: A&M aiming to shake off Starkville curse

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Running back Trayveon Williams and the rest of his Texas A&M teammates freely admit playing at Mississippi State isn’t just another game.

“Being down there in Starkville with those cowbells — it’s like no other,” Williams said. “If you’re not used to it, as an away team, it will really bother you.”

Why are opponents so bothered by the Bulldogs’ nearly 80year-old tradition?

“They keep on ringing,” Williams explained. “And they’re loud.”

A&M sophomore quarterback Kellen Mond will play his first game at Mississippi State, and naturally he turned to his upperclassman teammates for wisdom about playing at Davis Wade Stadium.

“The things they mention,” Mond said, shaking his head, “are the cowbells.”

One thing bothers the older players at least as much as the cowbells, but it’s mentioned in more hushed tones, if spoken of at all: The No. 16 Aggies’ recent track record in Starkville.

“We’re just worried about this week and this year,” A&M senior defensive lineman Kingsley Keke said. “All the talk — we don’t really care about that.”

The chatter surrounding the Aggies stems from their past two visits to Davis Wade. The Aggies vow things are different this season under first-year coach Jimbo Fisher, and in a sense they’re right. This is the first time in their past three sojourns to Mississippi State they aren’t ranked in the top 10 with national title aspirations.

A big reason why Kevin Sumlin no longer is the coach is what happened on their past two trips here. Four years ago, the Aggies were ranked No. 6 and undefeated in early October, before future Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and the Bulldogs whipped them 48-31. A&M lost five of its last eight games that season prior to disgruntled quarterback Kenny Hill transferring to TCU.

Two years ago was even more of a heartbreak for the Aggies, as they were No. 4 in the first College Football Playoff ranking of 2016 when they rolled into Starkville in early November. Quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and Mississippi State sprang to a 28-7 first-half lead and held on for a 35-28 win, again squashing the Aggies’ dreams of playing for a national title for the first time since 1939.

“We’ve struggled down the stretch; that’s something everybody knows,” Williams said. “This is a new year, a new team and a new opportunity. I feel like we’re getting stronger as the year goes on, and this is a key point in the direction we want this university to go.”

The Bulldogs (4-3, 1-3 SEC) have lost three of their past four games, including 19-3 at No. 4 LSU a week ago while the Aggies (5-2, 3-1) were enjoying a Saturday off. But Mississippi State is still a slight favorite over A&M.

“Times like these, after losses, are usually when the suggestion box is full, and the answer you pull out is always right with the benefit of hindsight,” said firstyear Bulldogs coach Joe Moorhead, who replaced new Florida coach Dan Mullen. “… (But) the criticism is warranted when we don’t perform well.”

The Aggies earned a reputation for late-season collapses under Sumlin, who was fired last November after six seasons, perhaps the No. 1 reason A&M lured Fisher from Florida State with a 10-year contract worth a guaranteed $75 million.

“This is pretty much where the real season begins,” A&M defensive end Landis Durham said of the final five games of the regular season. “You can tell where teams finish strong, and where teams just kind of fall off.”

Meanwhile, the Aggies this week acted as if their ears might fall off from the incessant ringing of cowbells.

“Cowbells, that’s all I’ll be hearing,” Keke said. “I don’t hear anything besides that.”

Keke, who offered a solid and irritating imitation of the ringing, said the noise had subsided by the time the crestfallen Aggies climbed on a plane bound for College Station two years ago in Starkville.

“Once it’s done, it’s done,” he said. “But during a game, it’s annoying.”