Shaking the blues in Oxford
After slow start on offense, Aggies’ defense provides big plays in second half to beat Rebels
OXFORD, Miss. — As halftime closed in at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, a fog slowly rolled over the field. About the same time, Texas A&M began shaking its collective fog nearly two quarters into the contest with its first touchdown on the hazy night.
It turns out the Aggies needed those seven points in a big way, along with a couple of big-time defensive plays in the second half to grind out a 24-17 victory over Mississippi in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
A&M’s first play from scrimmage resulted in a sack of quarterback Kellen Mond. At times over the next three quarters, things were even more unsettling for Mond and the Aggies. He entered the game with four interceptions in six games but threw two in the first half against the Rebels, with the second coming on a deflection.
Each team’s kicker also was in a bit of a fog in the first half, as A&M’s Seth Small and the Rebels’ Luke Logan each missed tries from about 50 yards wide right.
The Rebels (3-5, 2-3) appeared to have all the momentum midway through the third quarter when that abruptly changed with a lone play. Mississippi quarterback John Rhys Plumlee dropped back to pass and blitzing cornerback Elijah Blades forced a fumble.
Linebacker Buddy Johnson scooped up the loose ball and dashed 62 yards for a touchdown, lifting the Aggies (4-3, 2-2) to a 17-14 lead with 7:37 left in the third quarter. It marked the longest fumble return by A&M since Jonté Buhl’s 98-yard return 15 years ago against Texas.
The Aggies had trailed 7-3 late in the second quarter, when they finally got things rolling a bit offensively courtesy of Logan’s miss with 1:55 remaining in the first half. The Aggies, thankful to have another shot at the end zone, responded with a 67-yard drive, with Mond finding rangy Kendrick Rogers on the left side of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown toss with 38 seconds remaining in the first half.
The sudden turn of events lifted the Aggies to their first lead of the game, and the teams then traded leads in the third quarter. A&M finally salted away the game with a 22-yard touchdown run by true freshman Isaiah Spiller with 2:34 remaining in the contest, although the Rebels would add a late field goal.
A&M coach Jimbo Fisher earned his first SEC West true road victory in his second season. The Aggies had lost at Auburn, Alabama and Mississippi State in their three true road West games last season.
A&M true freshman Ainias
Smith turned in a solid game as the team’s full-time punt returner, as previous punt returner Roshauud Paul announced a few weeks ago he intends to redshirt this season and determine his football future from there.
Smith returned four punts for 65 yards, in steadily collecting the ball out of the fog. The former Dulles High standout was a signingday addition to the Aggies’ class of 2019. Mond finished 16 of 28 for 172 yards with a touchdown pass and two interceptions. He also was sacked four times but finished with 76 rushing yards, second on the team only to Spiller’s 78.
The Aggies played without starting defensive end Micheal Clemons, defensive backs Keldrick Carper and Charles Oliver and tight end Glenn Beal, all out with an assortment of injuries. Defensive back Roney Elam missed his fourth consecutive game for an undisclosed reason.
The Aggies return home for three consecutive games against Mississippi State, Texas-San Antonio and South Carolina, with the UTSA contest their final nonconference meeting of the season. A&M then closes out its regular season with road games at No. 10 Georgia and No. 2 LSU.
The Aggies took another step toward shaking their overall Mississippi blues that started a couple of years into their SEC tenure. After going 4-0 against Mississippi and Mississippi State in 2012-13, the Aggies lost consecutive games to the Mississippi schools in 2014, split the contests in 2015, lost both again in 2016 and split last year in Fisher’s first season at A&M.
Saturday night’s game was played around the same time the Astros and Yankees were mixing it up in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, so plenty of A&M fans were either anxiously watching both contests on a split-screen television or sneaking peeks at their phones while at Minute Maid Park.
Meantime the Aggies improved to 4-1 in Oxford, with Mond directing the last two victories in 2017 and on Saturday night.