Texas A&M (6-4, 4-3 SEC) defeated Mississippi State 51-10 on Saturday night in one of their most complete performances of the season behind the surprising play of third-string quarterback Jaylen Henderson in his first start of his young Aggie career.
Starting quarterback Max Johnson’s injury during the final minutes of last week’s road loss to Ole Miss placed him on the bench until further notice, leading to Henderson’s breakout performance as the sophomore duel threat threw 150 yards and two touchdowns while adding 60 rushing yards and two more scores in one of the more memorable Aggie debuts in recent memory.
Defensively, star linebacker Edgerrin Cooper stated after the game that his impressive performance against the Bulldogs (10 tackles, six solo) was fueled by being left off the Butkus Award semifinalists list, one of the biggest snubs of the year.
With five sacks on the night, freshman linebacker Taurean York continued his productive season (6 tackles, one sack, 1 TFL). At the same time, sophomore Jared Kerr delivered a massive hit on Bulldogs QB Mike Wright, resulting in a scoop and score by defensive tackle Shemar Stewart.
The bottom line is that this team was determined to wipe away last week’s loss, and, most importantly, these young men had fun after every score while ignoring all of the outside noise surrounding head coach Jimbo Fisher’s future.
With Abilene Christian set to visit, earning their seventh win is all that’s on the Aggies’ mind while the season finale matchup with LSU looms large. Here are five takeaways from Texas A&M’s 51-10 win over Mississippi State.
UPDATE: Jimbo Fisher was fired from Texas A&M on Sunday, Nov. 12.