Texas A&M Football: 3 Takeaways from Aggies’ loss to Mississippi State

1. What does Kevin Sumlin do during bye weeks?

The bye week is supposed to be a coaches’ best friend. The team gets an extra week to rest up, get healthy and theoretically get prepared for their upcoming opponent. Then why do Kevin Sumlin’s team seem to regress every time they get two weeks to prepare?

Here’s how Sumlin’s Texas A&M teams have fared following a bye week:

• 2012 – No bye
• 2013 @ Ole Miss – Win 41-38
• 2014 vs. UL-Monroe – Win 21-16
• 2015 @ Alabama – Loss 41-23
• 2016 @ Alabama – Loss 33-14
• 2017 vs. Mississippi State – Loss 35-14

It’s hard to fault the Aggies for losing to Alabama. Yet both of those games were winnable. In 2015 the Aggies came ready to play but Kyle Allen threw three pick-sixes. Last year the Aggies led the Tide before a late defensive touchdown put the game out of reach.

The 2013 win against Ole Miss took a 10 minute rally behind the legs of Johnny Manziel. The 201 win over Louisiana Monroe might have been the ugliest win in Sumlin’s tenure. At least until Nicholls State this year.

Texas A&M came out flat against Mississippi State on Saturday. Whatever Sumlin and his staff spent doing over the past two weeks it didn’t make much of a difference.