No. 25 Texas A&M absolutely steamrolled No. 9 Missouri 41-10 on Saturday in College Station.
Nothing went right for the Tigers. Nearly everything went right for the Aggies. Texas A&M built a 24-0 lead at halftime and made it clear at the start of the second half that Missouri was not going to come back when Le’Veon Moss took the first play of the third quarter for a 75-yard touchdown.
Missouri then lost four yards on a third-and-short on its next possession and the game was as good as over given how well A&M was playing.
A&M QB Conner Weigman made just his second start of the season since he suffered a shoulder injury in the Aggies’ season-opening loss to Notre Dame. Weigman picked apart a Missouri defense that couldn’t get any pressure on him and also made good use of his legs when he had room to run. Weigman finished the game 18-of-22 passing for 276 yards. Texas A&M was up so much in the fourth quarter that Weigman was able to sit out much of the final frame.
Missouri had every right to be upset about a pass interference penalty that was inexplicably picked up on a fourth-down pass attempt on the Tigers’ first drive. Missouri would have been in prime scoring territory had the flag been rightly left on the field.
But that doesn’t explain how poorly the Tigers played the rest of the first half. And even when they showed flashes of excellence, there was something to nullify it. Mizzou had a 75-yard TD pass to Luther Burden III after Texas A&M took a 10-0 lead, but that got wiped away by an accurate call for a lineman down field.
Later in the half, QB Brady Cook made a heck of a play to scramble for a first down, but that got called back for an illegal formation and Mizzou then punted after failing to convert the ensuing third down.
Moss ended the game with over 100 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Conner Weigman shines in return
It’s not a stretch to say that A&M’s ceiling hinges on how well Weigman can play the rest of the season. Marcel Reed played well in his absence over the last three games, but Texas A&M was viewed as a second-tier contender in the SEC ahead of the season because of Weigman’s potential.
After being named the Aggies’ starter at the start of 2023, Weigman suffered a season-ending foot injury in the fourth game of the season against Auburn. In that time, he showed how he could be the Aggies’ QB answer. Before he was injured, Weigman was 82-of-119 passing for 979 yards and eight touchdowns with just two interceptions.
Weigman started in Week 2 this season after he hurt his shoulder against the Irish but aggravated the injury against McNeese. Reed took over as the team’s starter for the last two games, and he led the Aggies to wins over Florida and Arkansas.
If Weigman can be as good as he was on Saturday, Texas A&M still has plenty to play for in the SEC and can be much more than a spoiler. The Aggies have just two ranked teams remaining on their schedule in No. 13 LSU and No. 2 Texas.
A big setback for Missouri
The Tigers are also still in the mix for the SEC and the College Football Playoff, but it’s much harder to envision both of those possibilities than it was before Saturday. The Tigers were dominated by the Aggies on both the offensive and defensive lines and the passing game has still not wholly clicked.
Missouri was 10-2 a season ago thanks to Cook’s emergence as a passer. This year, Missouri’s pass game has been up-and-down at best. Without a reliable downfield passing game, the Tigers have been forced to rely on a run game that had been effective until Saturday.
After playing at UMass in Week 7, Missouri hosts Auburn in Week 8 ahead of a trip to Alabama in Week 9. We’ll know a lot more about the Tigers at the end of October, but it’s very fair to question if this can be a playoff-caliber team.
