Texas A&M 30, Mississippi State 17: What We Learned

Kyle Allen’s command is really starting to impress.  Dan Mullen griped at halftime that his team wasn’t doing a very good job of getting pressure on Allen, and while that was true, Allen wasn’t exactly making it easier on them. He was decisive with his throws, showed little hesitation with his decisions, was smart with the ball when nothing was available to him, and to cap things off, made truly opportunistic plays with his feet. Allen has seemingly improved with each game this season, and while he hasn’t yet made a leap into the conversation with the nation’s top quarterbacks, he is starting to look like a truly savvy operator behind that visor. He finished the night with 25 completions on 41 attempts for 322 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Squeaky clean. Maybe he won’t be Johnny Football, but if he plays like, say, A.J. McCarron, that’ll certainly do. (And hey, look at that, his next opponent is Alabama.) It’s still early, but the signs remain positive and the poise looks good. This a small, but significant feather in the cap for the Aggies defense. We’ve written a lot about not being sure who Texas A&M has really played, but a few things happened Saturday night that make the Aggies look a lot better. First, while they did surrender 406 offensive yards to Mississippi State, they kept the big plays down and held Dak Prescott in check. He turned in a nice night with 210 passing and 96 rushing yards, but never seemed to be able to break through after his team got down early (again, credit Allen and the A&M offense for going after them out of the gate). Second, Arizona State beat UCLA, suddenly making their previously putrid reputation less stinky. What does it tell us about the Aggies’ chances when the Crimson Tide comes into town? Not much, but we’re definitely feeling better about it than we were last week. The Aggies are no longer winless at home under Kevin Sumlin against ranked teams. Before Saturday, ranked teams had rolled into College Station five times and walked out with a win. Finally getting that elusive win in front of the 12th man could be symbolic of something larger brewing, and while we won’t know for sure until that Oct. 17 showdown with Nick Saban’s crew, the Aggies certainly have to feel better knowing that zero no longer looms over their heads. Call it the “new” Kyle Field effect. Can it keep working its magic? 2772302f47cd9c3cf816e477a1776c4b