No. 25 Texas A&M had plenty of doubters heading into this weekend’s game against No. 9 Mizzou. If I’m honest, I was one of them. The Aggies were 4-1, but after somewhat lackluster performances (at least offensively) against Bowling Green and Arkansas, there was reason to question whether they were ready to face one of the SEC’s top teams in the 2024 season.

After what we just saw, I don’t know why you’re doubting this team now.

The biggest catalyst for change in this game was obviously the return of QB Conner Weigman. After missing the last three games with a shoulder injury and leaving some both nationally and in the fan base wondering whether he should be the starter when he was healthy again, Weigman paced the Missouri defense with 18 all afternoon to 22 allocated 276 yards, including 33 yards on the ground. He didn’t throw a TD pass (or an interception), but he often set up A&M to beat him on the ground. And they often did. But Weigman’s performance was far from the only impressive performance of the day. His offensive line gave him plenty of time to stay in the pocket and find open receivers (oh, and the receivers often went open). And for the second straight game, Le’Veon Moss had a dominant second half, recording ANOTHER 100-yard game on the ground. 12 carries for 138 yards and three touchdowns to be exact.

Both lines seemed to be the more physical unit, Brady Cook was under pressure for most of the day and Missouri’s running game was largely kept under control throughout the day. That’s four straight games in which the A&M defense has held opponents to 100 rushing yards or fewer.

But from a broader perspective, this seems like the type of game SO MANY Aggie teams from years past would lose. How often have we had the perceived opportunity to beat a ranked opponent, make a statement and significantly increase our chances of a special season without failing? 2023 Alabama and 2021 Ole Miss immediately come to mind, but that’s only in recent memory. There were many others. For A&M to play a top-10 team and not just win, but dominate, speaks volumes. It speaks to the culture change of this team, the physicality of this roster and the changes head coach Mike Elko should bring about.

There’s certainly talk about how good Mizzou is. They certainly didn’t look like a top-10 team today, and one could argue they didn’t look like one in their last two games against Boston College and Vanderbilt either. But college football is an exercise in constantly trying (and failing) to figure out exactly what a team is. Mizzou might as well have come out today and put it all together and justified their ranking with a clean sweep. Instead, we saw the opposite, and as an A&M fan, it feels like it’s been a long time since we’ve seen that. WE SET BACKUPS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER!

In fact, I can tell you exactly how long. This was the largest winning margin A&M had over a ranked team since they beat BYU 65-14 in the 1990 Holiday Bowl and the largest winning margin over a top-10 team ever.

Now we can spend all two weeks reveling in this victory as A&M enters the bye week at 5-1 and 3-0 in SEC play. The ONLY 3-0 team in the SEC. They can rest, clean up mistakes, and then head to Starkville to face what appears to be a very disappointing Mississippi State team. But as much as Davis Wade Stadium was a house of horrors for the Ags, you still can’t take that for granted.

But the next game is a conversation for another day. For now, appreciate this because what a victory this was. We have all endured a lot of suffering to support this team, so this great joy is very welcome. And if you’re still on the fence about whether to believe in this team, it’s probably time to jump in.