Texas A&M might have felt like it lost twice on Nov. 2 when it sustained its first conference loss of the season to South Carolina and lost starting running back Le’Veon Moss to a season-ending injury.
The Aggies needed a well-timed bye week to recover from both setbacks and return to the field Saturday night at home to play 40-point underdog New Mexico State at College Station, Texas.
Texas A&M (7-2) enters the week tied atop the Southeastern Conference with Tennessee and sits at No. 15, after dropping one spot in the latest College Football Playoff rankings that were revealed on Tuesday night.
Texas A&M, which defeated New Mexico State (2-7) in its lone previous meeting in 2016, knows there is still an opportunity to both win the SEC and secure a spot in the playoffs even if they don’t. But A&M is dealing with a potential game changer in Moss’ injury.
Moss ranks third in the conference with 765 yards and had amassed 906 yards of offense overall.
Junior Amari Daniels is expected to take over the bulk of the workload with Moss out, with EJ Smith backing him up. Daniels has 466 yards and six touchdowns on 94 carries this season and Smith has 107 yards and no touchdowns on 33 carries.
“A lot of things are on the table,” A&M coach Mike Elko said Monday. “Obviously, losing Le’Veon is a big loss. That’s a lot of touches. We’re going to have to figure out the right way to handle that. I think there’s a lot of different opportunities and options to go about that. Amari is certainly one. EJ is certainly one. There’s other ways that we can do that.”
Texas A&M’s passing game has not been very effective this season despite the team’s lofty status in the SEC and the national polls. Texas A&M ranks 111th in passing offense and has not surpassed 200 yards passing in six games.
New Mexico State enters Saturday’s game having lost back-to-back games and seven of its past eight.
A major issue all season which reared its head once again last week was turnovers. New Mexico State saw an opportunity to pick up a Conference USA victory against Western Kentucky slip away when running back Mike Washington fumbled with 12:45 left in the fourth quarter, swinging the momentum toward a 41-28 Hilltoppers’ victory.
New Mexico State committed five turnovers overall and for the season, the Aggies rank 133rd among 134 FBS teams in turnover margin with a minus-15.
“When you turn the ball over five times, it’s hard to win a football game,” New Mexico State coach Tony Sanchez said after the game. “That was a critical moment right there. We needed to turn the corner, and we weren’t able to do it.”
New Mexico State can’t continue that trend if it wants to have any chance against Texas A&M, which ranks 26th in the nation in turnover margin (plus-6).
Washington and running back Seth McGowan, who have combined for 1,172 yards and nine touchdowns rushing, have been two of the bright spots for New Mexico State in an otherwise dismal season. New Mexico State enters the game in last place in Conference USA.
