I think all of Aggieland can sense how big this game is. This Texas A&M football team needs a win, and needs it badly. The good news is that they’ll be playing at home for the first time in over a month. The bad news is that they’ll be facing off against the 7-1 Ole Miss Rebels, who will be looking to get things back on track after a bad loss to LSU.
This game is fascinating for several reasons. Many of the A&M faithful had this matchup circled in the preseason as a possible stumbling block on the way to a 9-or-10-win regular season, due mostly to concerns about defending Lane Kiffin’s potent offensive scheme. Obviously, aspirations to that kind of win total are out the window by now, as the Aggies would need to win out to reach even an 8-win mark in the regular season— but this matchup has taken on intrigue for a few entirely different matters. Per 247Sports and Texags, 5-star freshman Conner Weigman is slated to start this game after Haynes King has been unable to go in practice this week. King appeared to injure his shoulder in the waning minutes of last week’s loss at South Carolina. Given how low the bar has been for the A&M passing game so far this season, even a mediocre statistical performance would be reason for hope for many Aggie fans.
Another reason this game is particularly of interest is Ole Miss’s schedule thus far. They entered last week’s contest with the Bayou Bengals at 7-0 and ranked within the top 10; however, their strength of schedule up until that point was lacking, to put it kindly— for reference, four of their wins came against Tulsa, Central Arkansas, Georgia Tech, and Vanderbilt. They close the season with this weekend’s matchup against the Aggies, a home matchup against Bama, a trip to Arkansas, and the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State; if they lose this game, they could certainly be staring down the barrel of an 8 or possibly even 7 win regular season after starting out undefeated through the first 7 weeks.
So what edges do the Aggies have in this matchup? What could this Texas A&M football team look to as an advantage against the rebels? Let’s dive in.