As the victories continued to mount, just as they had done in the previous few years, we maintained that this team looked different. It had a different feel, a different sort of swag if you will.

On Saturday, it was confirmed. This year’s Aggies aren’t like those in the last two years who won the first five games of their respective seasons only to fizzle out and finish with identical 8-5 records.

No, the 2016 Aggies have broken through. They’ve navigated through the first half of the season unscathed and enter their bye week at 6-0 leading up to an Oct. 22 showdown with No. 1 Alabama in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

With their dramatic 45-38 victory over Tennessee in two overtimes, the Aggies start the season 6-0 for the first time since 1994 when they finished 10-0-1. It’s also the first 4-0 start in conference play for the school since the 2004 campaign.

What a difference a year makes. Coming into this season, head coach Kevin Sumlin sat on one of the hottest seats in the country. Still, Saturday’s victory over No. 9 Tennessee was the 12th for Sumlin over an AP Top 25 team since taking over at Texas A&M in 2012. That’s the second-most in program history next to R.C. Slocum’s 17 wins over his 14 seasons (1989-2002).

It was also Sumlin’s fourth victory over a top 10 team and first at Kyle Field, something that can’t be underestimated as Sumlin had yet to notch a marquee home win since arriving at College Station.

Sumlin’s seat has cooled because of a balanced attack offensively under new OC Noel Mazzone, incorporating the leadership of graduate transfer QB Trevor Knight and an effective running game to churn out the yardage.

The Aggies piled up 353 rushing yards on Saturday, averaging 7.1 yards per carry, and the top two runners weren’t even on the team a year ago. Freshman Trayveon Williams led the way with 217 yards, the most ever by a true freshman in program history. The other was Knight, who rushed for 110 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Add in Keith Ford, another transfer from Oklahoma, and the Aggies lead the SEC in rushing with an average of 274.3 yards per game this season. That’s an incredible transformation from a team that ranked 12th in the league just two years ago and eighth last season.

It’s that balance that keeps the opposition honest and has allowed the Aggies to break off 16 explosive plays of 40-plus yards — second in the nation next to Alabama’s 17.

Couple that with an ever-improving defense in its second year with DC John Chavis, and the Aggies are forgetting all about the past couple of seasons. Saturday’s effort displayed both the highs and lows of it.

The 684 total yards given up to Tennessee on Saturday were the most ever allowed in program history, surpassing the previous mark of 669 to Kliff Kingsbury and the 2003 Texas Tech Red Raiders.

That’s the bad news, but there was very good news as well. The Aggies continued to be disruptive on defense, coming up with a season-high seven turnovers. That’s the most since taking it away seven times from Oklahoma State back in 2005. The five fumble recoveries were the most by an Aggies team since taking away six from Louisiana-Lafayette (then Southwestern Louisiana) in 1997.

In addition, eight Aggies were involved in 8.0 tackles for loss on Saturday, raising the team’s total to an SEC-best 58 TFL through the first six games. Defensive linemen Jarrett Johnson and Zaycoven Henderson lead the charge with 1.5 TFL each.

Yes, it is abundantly clear by now that this Aggies team isn’t the same as we’ve seen the past couple of years, and Sumlin and his supporters can take a deep breath for now.