COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Conner Weigman threw two touchdown passes and Le’Veon Moss ran for two more scores before halftime as Texas A&M built a huge lead and rolled to a 52-10 win over McNeese State Saturday.
“I’m proud of the way we handled it,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “It’s important when you get in these games that you play to your standard, to 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 race out to a 35-0 advantage. Moss had scoring runs of 2 and 6 yards and Amari Daniels added a 2-yard TD scamper 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 remaining before halftime.
The Aggies intercepted Kamden Sixkiller for the second time on McNeese’s next possession and backup quarterback Marcel Reed took over for A&M on the ensuing drive.
Sixkiller was 9 of 19 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, was 11 of 14 for 125 yards in less than two quarters of work.
“Conner was efficient,” Elko said. “He did what we asked him to do. I thought he saw things well. For the most part he did what he wanted to do.”
Moss, who also didn’t play in the second half, had nine carries for 84 yards.
“We like to run the ball so it was very important to do it today,” he said.
Elko was impressed with the performance of Moss.
“We gave him a lot of space to run today and he was able to take advantage of it,” Elko said. “Running the ball is going to be critical for us in this conference.”
Daniels got his second touchdown on a 7-yard run that made it 45-0 with about six minutes left in the third quarter.
The Cowboys got on the board when Sixkiller connected with Jalen Wright on a 10-yard touchdown pass that made it 45-7 with 10 ½ minutes left.
Freshman Terry Bussey, who was a five-star recruit, ran 65 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the next drive to extend A&M’s lead to 52-7.
THE TAKEAWAY
McNeese State: This will certainly be the toughest game all year for the Cowboys who will have to put this one behind them quickly to get ready for conference play next week.
Texas A&M: The Aggies looked great against a lesser opponent on Saturday, but still must prove they can play well when the competition gets tougher next week. It was hard to tell if they fixed the problems that plagued them in their loss to Notre Dame in this blowout.
ELKO’S FIRST WIN
Saturday was the first victory at Texas A&M for Elko. A former defensive coordinator at the school, Elko was hired to replace Jimbo Fisher, who was fired near the end of a sixth disappointing season.
Elko rejoined the Aggies after going 16-9 in two seasons at Duke in his first job as a head coach.
STATS AND STUFF
Texas A&M dominated in every statistical category. The Aggies outgained McNeese State 529-279 and had 29 first downs to just 14 by the Cowboys.
The Aggies had a 196-99 advantage in the air and a 333-180 advantage on the ground.
The Aggies forced two turnovers and had none of their own.
The Aggies scored on six of their seven trips inside the red zone while the Cowboys cashed in on their only two visits.
UP NEXT
McNeese State: The Cowboys open conference play with a visit from 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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