COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Conner Weigman threw two touchdown passes and Le’Veon Moss scored two more touchdowns before halftime as Texas A&M extended its lead and rolled to a 52-10 victory over McNeese State on Saturday.

“I’m proud of how we handled it,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “When you go into these games, it’s important to play at your level, and I think we did that in the first half.”

Texas A&M (1-1) scored touchdowns on its first five possessions to build a 35-0 lead. Moss scored touchdowns of 2 and 6 yards and Amari Daniels scored a 2-yard touchdown to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter.

Weigman then threw touchdown passes of 15 and 3 yards to extend the lead to 35-0 with 4 ½ minutes left before halftime.

On McNee’s next possession, the Aggies intercepted a pass from Kamden Sixkiller for the second time, and on the ensuing drive, backup quarterback Marcel Reed took over for A&M.

Sixkiller completed 9 of 19 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown for McNeese (1-2), an FCS school that plays in the Southland Conference.

Weigman, who threw two interceptions in last week’s loss to Notre Dame, completed 11 of 14 passes for 125 yards in less than two quarters.

“Conner was efficient,” Elko said. “He did what we asked him to do. I thought he read things well. Most of the time he did what he wanted to do.”

Moss, who also did not play in the second half, had nine carries for 84 yards.

“We like to move the ball, so it was very important to do that today,” he said.

Elko was impressed with Moss’ performance.

“We gave him a lot of space to run today and he was able to take advantage of that,” Elko said. “Running the ball is going to be key for us in this conference.”

Daniels scored his second touchdown on a 7-yard run that made the score 45-0 with about six minutes left in the third quarter.

The Cowboys took the lead when Sixkiller played 10 yards to Jalen Wright and a 10-yard touchdown pass with 10 ½ minutes left in the game made it 45-7.

Freshman Terry Bussey, a five-star recruit, ran 65 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the next drive, extending A&M’s lead to 52-7.

THE RESULT

McNeese State: This will certainly be the toughest game of the year for the Cowboys, who need to put this game behind them quickly to prepare for conference games next week.

Texas A&M: The Aggies looked good against a weaker opponent on Saturday, but they still have to prove they can play well when the competition gets tougher next week. It was hard to tell if they have fixed the problems that plagued them in their loss to Notre Dame in that debacle.

ELKO’S FIRST VICTORY

On Saturday, Elko got its first win at Texas A&M. Elko, a former defensive coordinator at the school, was hired to replace Jimbo Fisher, who was fired toward the end of his sixth disappointing season.

Elko returned to the Aggies after compiling a 16-9 record in two seasons at Duke in his first head coaching job.

STATISTICS AND STUFF

Texas A&M dominated in every statistical category. The Aggies beat McNeese State 529-279 and had 29 first downs while the Cowboys managed just 14.

The Aggies had a 196-99 lead in the air and 333-180 on the ground.

The Aggies forced two turnovers and had none themselves.

The Aggies scored on six of their seven red zone attempts, while the Cowboys were successful on their only two attempts.

Next

McNeese State: The Cowboys open conference play by visiting Stephen F. Austin next Saturday night.

Texas A&M: The Aggies make their first road trip when they begin SEC play at Florida next Saturday.

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