1. Defense handling adversity: Last weekend, the Aggies found themselves behind the 8-ball a lot, and Alabama made them pay for it. A&M's offense turned the ball over twice and gave momentum to Ole Miss multiple times -- and the defense held them to zilch. Nada. Nothing. Their performance in the first half after the second possession helped the Aggies stay in the game, and forcing Ole Miss off the field in the late third and early fourth quarters was decisive.

2. Johnson and Johnson cure what ails you: Justin Madubuike had a great game last night, but Buddy and Tyree Johnson were also true difference makers. Buddy Johnson had 10 tackles and played a key role in stopping the Ole Miss inside run game. Of course, he also had the scoop and score to give A&M the lead. Ole Miss allegedly "dropped back" to throw 31 times, but they rolled out or got rid of the ball extremely fast most of the time. If they didn't, Tyree Johnson was in the face of Matt Corral or John Rhys Plumlee. He had a sack, a TFL that should be considered a sack and nearly had a safety but forced Ole Miss to punt out of their end zone anyway. This is what the Aggies have really needed from both.

3. Newbies stepping up: The Aggies used a lot of players that they have not used much or at all before Saturday night. Brian Williams went from third team to starter at safety and only allowed one reception on four targets. Tyree Wilson got his first serious playing time since week 3 and responded with 3 tackles and a lot of pressure. Devin Morris had a huge tackle for loss on Plumlee and was good enough in pass coverage to warrant more playing time. DeMarvin Leal got sucked in on Ole Miss' 70-yard TD run in the first quarter and got pushed around some -- but he also had five tackles. Micheal Clemons, who he replaced in the lineup, has only had more tackles than that once in his career. Andre White had a sack and Clifford Chattman an interception. Demani Richardson had his second straight high-quality game and seems to be coming into his own. Whether it was deserving or desperation, new faces were in the lineup a lot last night. And they all brought something good.

4. Braden Mann, superstar: It's pretty incredible that Mann's net punting average is still right at 50 yards a punt after the coverage debacles against Alabama. Mann didn't take any chances last night, pinning Ole Miss against the sideline frequently or just booming it past their returners. His 55-yard kick that went out of bounds at the 1 was a key point in the game, and he acted like he expected the punt to work exactly that way. If anyone could actually do that, it's him.

5. Revived running game: A&M ran for 165 yards last night, with Isaiah Spiller picking up 78 and Kellen Mond 70. That's 40 yards a game more than what Ole Miss had given up on average so far this year. The biggest deal here is that A&M finally was able to run when they needed to. On their final scoring drive, they ran the ball six out of seven plays, with the two biggest being a beautiful QB run by Mond on 3rd and 6 when Ole Miss vacated the middle of the field (he picked up 12), and Spiller's 22-yard touchdown. Spiller was more decisive and quicker to the hole last night. It was probably his best performance.

1. Weak passing game: Mond was 16-28 for 172 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT against the nation's 122nd-ranked pass defense. The offensive line gave up four sacks and Mond was pressured all game. Quartney Davis was hardly targeted at all. The Aggies should have shredded the Ole Miss secondary; instead, they did just enough to get by.

2. Too many big runs: Jerrion Ealy's 70-yard TD run was the longest the Aggies have given up in two years. Later runs of 38 and 36 yards are in the top 10. That's more than half of Ole Miss's rushing yards in three plays, but the fact they occurred is disturbing. The biggest run came on an outside run and the Aggies failed to control the edge, a continued issue.

3. Small's inaccuracy: After missing 50- and 24-yard field goals last night in a 1 of 3 performance, Seth Small is 11-15 on the year. Three of those four misses are from long range, but blowing a 24-yarder with the game on the line is a scary sign and probably bears watching.

4. PI passing game: Ole Miss's passing attack last night was pitiful. Rich Rodriguez should get a lot of criticism, because Matt Corral = deep pass. Every time. And none worked. Well, sort of. A&M was burned for four pass interference calls, even though the one on Devin Morris was garbage. Still, there were too many examples of the corners getting lost and running right through their receivers. The A&M corners did more to help the Ole Miss passing game than anyone else.

5. Predictability: To be fair, Jimbo Fisher added a few new wrinkles last night with the use of the tight end and getting the fullback back into the game. But even with slightly different personnel, the playcalls themselves were the same. Unless and until A&M shows a few new things and/or pushes the ball down the field (not an easy task with a poor protecting offensive line), it's going to be very difficult to get defenders out of position and will just make life tougher on the offense.