Mississippi State football: remembering the 2014 Texas A&M game
Most people are aware of the similarities that exist between Mississippi State and Texas A&M.
The two schools share much in common – team colors, dog mascots, land grant university status, military school heritage and first rate veterinary schools, as well as a strong dislike for the “University of” state school in their respective states. Those similarities, along with some coaching connections, were highlighted in detail in a M&WN article from a couple of years ago.
Despite the many similarities, Mississippi State and Texas A&M are relative strangers on the football field. Saturday’s meeting will be only the tenth time the two school have played football, but it will mark the fifth time they have played as members of the SEC.
A&M holds a 5-4 advantage in the series, but lead 3-1 in games played since 2012 when the Aggies joined the SEC. Today, we look back to the Bulldogs’ lone conference win over A&M back in 2014.
The Bulldogs were fresh off 34-29 upset road win over LSU and sported a 4-0 record. The Aggies and their explosive offense were 5-0 heading into Davis Wade Stadium that day. It was a beautiful sunny fall day and much like this week’s game, the game kicked off at 11 AM.
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The Aggies took the opening kickoff and promptly marched 69 yards in 6 plays in just under two minutes to take a 7-0 lead. But the Bulldogs were undaunted and promptly responded with a 7 play 75 yard drive that concluded with a Josh Robinson 1 yard run to knot the score at 7.
The Bulldog defense held A&M to a 3 and out on the next series, but a fumble on the punt return set the Aggies up on the MSU 26. The Bulldog defense made a huge statement and stuffed the Aggies on a 4th and 1 to end the threat. After an exchange of punts, MSU drove 66 yards in 8 plays, capped by a 2 yard Robinson run to take a 14-7 lead at the end of quarter one.
MSU slowly but steadily gained control of the game in the second quarter with two touchdown drives, while giving up a field goal to take a 28-10 halftime lead.
The teams essentially exchanged scores in the second half as the Bulldogs wrapped up a 48-31 victory. The Bulldog offense rolled up 559 yards of total offense, led by quarterback Dak Prescott’s 20 of 26 passing for 268 yards and 2 touchdowns, while adding 77 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Josh Robinson also ran for 107 yards on 17 carries and 2 touchdowns.
The victory shot Mississippi State to a #3 ranking in the polls, the highest ranking in school history at the time, only to be surpassed by the #1 ranking achieved in the following weekend’s win over then #2 Auburn.
Want to re-live that moment? Here’s the “one-hour” version of the game for your viewing pleasure: