'Wasn't Our Mindset!' Mike Elko, Jeff Lebby Enter Saturday's Game with Similar Forte

The Texas A&M Aggies and Mississipi State bulldogs are entering Week 7 with similar mindsets about preparation and assumptions.

Sep 28, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies coach Mike Elko looks on at the field prior to a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at AT&T Stadium. / Matt Guzman-Texas A&M Aggies On SI

If the Texas A&M Aggies entered their Week 7 matchup against the Mississippi State Bulldogs counting on a win, they'd likely be in for a rude awakening.

Assumption can be a team's downfall, and especially for a team experiencing such vast highs and lows, there isn't any room for them. Especially not with things looking up.

"We don't talk about 5-1," Aggies coach Mike Elko said following a blowout win over the Missouri Tigers. "We don't talk about how good the result was against Missouri. We don't talk about how bad the result was against Notre Dame. We talk about how to get better."

So far, that's been the mantra of the season. After Conner Weigman struggled in Game 1, he bounced back in the first half of the Aggies' bout with McNeese State. When the run game wasn't working to begin the season, Le'Veon Moss and Amari Daniels increased their workload.

When the Aggies lost Tyreek Chappell or Mark Nabou Jr., they instantly shifted to a "next-man up" mentality. That's been the biggest part of their recent success. But they still aren't done working.

"When given the opportunity," Elko began, "the response is to relax. In order to be great at anything you have to make the conscious decision to fight that. ... We're building that mindset."

Right now, the signs might point toward relaxation. Texas A&M is fresh off a big-time win and currently sits at No. 1 in the SEC. With a struggling Mississippi State squad on the horizon, as well, it would be easy to assume that things will continue to go well.

And the Bulldogs? They're on the other end of the spectrum, having lost five in a row after a season-opening victory over Eastern Kentucky.

For them, it would be easy to assume that the Aggies would be entering town ready to roll over them. But they aren't thinking that way. In fact, when Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby was asked about his team's near upset over Georgia, he wasn't focused on that.

It wasn't seen as positive momentum, either.

"It has nothing to do with that," he said. "For me, for us, no part of it. We got on the plane to come here to win a football game. So, (nearing an upset) sure wasn't our mindset getting on the plane yesterday."

No team in the SEC can write off a road game, no matter the environment. Luckily, the Aggies aren't in that business. They'll prepare just the same as they have all week — assumption-free.

And if they come away with another win? More power to them.

At that point, it falls on the Bulldogs to recover, and the Aggies to capitalize.