Texas A&M football just did what many considered unthinkable at the beginning of the season: closed out their three-game road trip without dropping a single one of their contests. Wins over Arkansas, LSU, and Missouri move the Aggies to 4-0 on the road this year and 9-0 on the season.
The Aggies were able to pull this one off thanks in large part to the disciplined play of Marcel Reed, who was taking what the excellent Missouri defense was giving him all day, frustrating a unit that likes to keep everything in front of them and make the offense make a mistake. Reed made precious few of those on the day, confounding Corey Batoon's unit to no end.
On the other side of the ball, the Aggie pass defense played excellently. First-time starter Matt Zollers had his head spinning all day thanks to the complex schemes that Mike Elko had cooked up for him, and the excellent coverage from Will Lee and Dezz Ricks completely shut down the Missouri passing attack.
Instant reaction: Texas A&M suffocates Missouri in Columbia to move to 9-0
There were still a lot of things that Aggie fans didn't necessarily like to see in this one, not least of which was an injury to Mario Craver in the middle of the game (one from which he did indeed return pretty quickly, however). Ar'maj Reed-Adams left the game at some point early on as well, but the Ags recovered well by putting Trey Zuhn in at center.
There were some special teams gaffes as well, including giving up a massive kickoff return to the Tigers that led to their first touchdown of the day. That will be overlooked most likely thanks to the two great special teams plays that the Aggies made: first, the 48-yard fake punt by Dalton Brooks, and then the kickoff recovery at the end of the game when Missouri muffed it.
There were missed fits up front from the defense that led to Missouri's final touchdown of the game, a long scamper by league-leading rusher Ahmad Hardy. The Aggies need to be better at preventing explosive plays on the ground, full stop.
Even so, this team just keeps showing that they know how to win. When the Tigers began to look like they were threatening the Ags, they ran the aforementioned fake. Late in the game, when the Aggies needed to bleed the clock, they ran the same veer offense that dominated the second half against LSU, and they scored with ease.
The exciting thing here is that the Aggies keep getting better. They are smashing every single thing that opposing fans have held against them— road woes, issues against ranked teams, Death Valley— and doing it with style. Texas A&M moves to 9-0 and are now looking hard at a possible undefeated finish to this regular season.