Labor Day Weekend is as good as it gets for college football fans. Tailgates are back in session, stadiums open their doors for the first time in seven or eight months, and games are constantly airing from Thursday evening through Monday night.
For some campuses, the first home game feels like a national holiday. That is the case at Texas A&M, which will welcome approximately 100,000 fans to Kyle Field for its Saturday night opener against Missouri State.
This is the first-ever meeting between the maroon
and white programs, which both enjoyed successful seasons — albeit standards — in 2025. The Aggies are coming off their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance, while the Bears transitioned to the FBS and secured seven wins in year one.
To preview this matchup, we brought Robert Behrens of Texas A&M’s SB Nation site Good Bull Hunting to talk all things Aggies. You can follow Robert at @rcb05 and Good Bull Hunting at @GBHunting on Twitter.
Steve Helwick, Underdog Dynasty: Texas A&M finally made the College Football Playoff in 2025. Why can this team be even better in 2026? And if they’re worse, why would that be?
Robert Behrens, Good Bull Hunting: The case for A&M regressing is a bit easier to make, but I don’t necessarily think that makes it more likely.
The Aggies lost 10 players to the NFL Draft (tying a school record), and they’re placing 8 of 9 starters along the OL/DL. Add in that both coordinators departed in the offseason, and it absolutely looks like a rebuilding year on paper. But I don’t think that will be the case. The portal era means “rebuilding” can often just be “reloading,” and I think A&M is set up well to do that. They brought in four OL transfers who started in the SEC last season (Alabama’s Wilkin Formby, LSU’s Tyree Adams, LSU’s Coen Echols and South Carolina’s Trovon Bough), as well as an imposing EDGE in Northwestern’s Anto Saka. Add those players to the depth A&M already had up front, and I still think those can/should be above average units in the SEC. If that happens, I think this team is set up VERY WELL elsewhere to once again be challenging for a College Football Playoff spot.
UDD: The arrivals of KC Concepcion and Mario Craver completely transformed the wide receiver room last year. Are there any new transfers on this team you could see making a similar impact?
GBH: Staying at the receiver position, Alabama transfer Isaiah Horton gives A&M the big-bodied/large catch radius player they at times lacked in 2025. Expect him to be a downfield thread and, in particular, a favorite red zone target for QB Marcel Reed. Other impactful transfers look to be LB Ray Coney, who has drawn rave reviews in fall camp after coming to Aggieland from Tulsa, and Tennessee’s Rickey Gibson, who is fighting for a starting cornerback spot with Dezz Ricks. I’ll also throw in TE transfers Richie Anderson and Houston Thomas. The TE room especially is a bit murky, but I’d expect both of those guys to be in the mix, with Anderson as more of a blocker and Thomas as a pass-catching specialist.
UDD: There are a lot of returning faces on defense, but the loss of Cashius Howell could loom especially large. Does Texas A&M have an All-SEC caliber replacement ready?
GBH: I think most Aggies are pinning their hopes to the ascension of sophomore Marco Jones, and it doesn’t seem like a bad bet to make. Coming out of high school, Mike Elko was on record that he believed Jones was the best pass rusher in his recruiting class. He backed that up almost immediately by posting a whopping five sacks in the Ags’ 2025 Maroon & White spring game (granted it was a split-squad OL made even thinner by injury). Jones gained experience in 2025 and looks ready to take on the role of A&M’s primary pass-rushing threat in 2026.
UDD: What is the best-case scenario for this opener? Is there any specific player Aggie fans are dying to see excel? Conversely, what is a realistic worst-case scenario at Kyle Field on Saturday (injuries aside)?
GBH: The best case is no injuries, the starters never see the fourth quarter and A&M covers the spread. Obviously you’d like to see every unit excel, but in particular, I think fans will zero in on A&M’s run defense and the play of QB Marcel Reed. Especially down the stretch, those were two perceived weak points that caused A&M’s season to end how it did, and lots of conversations about both have persisted all offseason. Certainly there is no performance against a G6 team (all due respect) that will fully allay those concerns, but you hope to not see glaring mistakes that would only get exacerbated as the competition level increases in the coming weeks.
For worst case? Marcel misses several open downfield passes, the defense gives up several frustrating chunk plays to extend Missouri State drives, and bad turnover luck makes the game is way closer than it should be until the Aggies mercifully pull away late. A win is a win, but in games like these, you’re looking for style points, and with only a one game sample size, any mistakes will get put under the microscope. So let’s just make no mistakes, amirite?
UDD: If you had to teach Missouri State fans one of Texas A&M’s many traditions, which tradition are you educating them on?
GBH: When something good happens, we don’t just cheer, we “WHOOP.” So if you hear a shockingly coordinated high-pitched sound, it’s not a tornado siren or a smoke alarm. Is it a little unusual? Of course it is. Unusual is what we do best. But whether you’re making your way to College Station or just watching on ESPN, just embrace the weirdness and enjoy it. Uniqueness is what makes college football fun, after all.
UDD: How does this game unfold, and score prediction?
GBH: I think Casey Woods will have a few tricks up his sleeves, and the Bears will have some success on their first few drives. It happens when there’s so little film to go off of with this combination of coaches/players on the Bears’ roster. But ultimately the A&M defense will adjust (one of Mike Elko’s specialties) and the significant talent gap will show itself as the game wears on, with the A&M defense in particular really stifling the Bears offense in the second half. I think the A&M offense will bring a balanced attack and really rely on their playmakers outside to break things open (which I believe they will). Mistakes may happen but this offense should be one of the better ones we’ve seen at A&M in the past decade, so they should be able to do a ton against the Bears defense. I’m hesitant to predict A&M to cover the spread, as 40+ point spreads are a tough nut to crack. So much can happen to throttle that number down, be pulling the starters, fluky turnovers, junk time TDs. etc. But A&M will seize control in the second quarter and never look back, cruising to a relatively easy victory and getting their season off on the right foot.
Thanks to Robert and Good Bull Hunting for exchanging questions with us. Missouri State’s road contest at Texas A&M kicks off Saturday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Some other helpful links to prepare for this matchup:
- Our Q&A session with Good Bull Hunting, where we preview Missouri State
- Good Bull Hunting’s “Trenches Preview” of the Texas A&M-Missouri State matchup
- Underdog Dynasty’s Texas A&M-Missouri State game preview
