Texas A&M has turned the page on the 2023 season, making a change at the top by bringing back Mike Elko as the program’s next head coach. But there’s still 1 more game to play before the book is closed on this era of the program’s history.

The 7-5 Aggies will take on Big 12 runner-up Oklahoma State in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27 in Houston. The No. 20 Cowboys (9-4) are fresh off a 49-21 loss to Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday in Arlington.

Unlike the Aggies, the Cowboys turned their season around. After a mediocre 2-2 beginning, Oklahoma State won 7 of its final 8 games to earn a berth into the conference title game. It will be making its 18th straight bowl appearance under head coach Mike Gundy, the 6th-longest active streak in the nation.

The Cowboys are 21-12 in bowl games with a nation-leading .636 winning percentage among the 41 FBS teams with at least 30 bowl appearances. They have won 5 of their past 7 bowl games.

Texas A&M is 20-22 in bowl games, including the most recent, a 41-27 victory over North Carolina in the 2020 Orange Bowl.

Here are 5 things to know about this matchup.

1. Old rivals meet again

As a former Big 12 member, Texas A&M is familiar with Oklahoma State. The teams have met 28 times, with the Aggies holding an 18-10 advantage in the series. The teams last met, coincidentally enough, in the 2019 Texas Bowl, where the Aggies took down then-No. 25 Oklahoma State, 24-21.

That snapped a 4-game win streak for the Cowboys over Texas A&M, their longest in a series that dates back to 1913. As Big 12 members, the teams played yearly from 1996 until 2011 before the Aggies bolted for the SEC.

Texas A&M will be making its 45th bowl appearance and 4th at the Texas Bowl. The Aggies are 2-1 in Texas Bowl games and 3-2 in bowl games played in Houston. They are 3-1 in games played at NRG Stadium, home of the Texas Bowl.

2. Ainias Smith is out

The Aggies playmaker will not be available for the bowl game. The graduate WR broke his finger in the regular-season finale against LSU. He finishes his career at Texas A&M with a reception in 39 consecutive games. That ties Christian Kirk (2015-17) for the 5th-longest streak in program history and the 7th-longest streak in the nation.

Smith has been referred to as a Swiss Army Knife. The do-it-all talent totaled 2,407 receiving yards over his career with the Aggies. That ranks 7th all time within the program. His 19 receiving TDs ranks 5th. And the 836 punt return yards ranks 6th. His 4,008 all-purpose yards ranks 8th. In addition, Smith chalked up 405 rushing yards and 4 rushing TDs along with 360 kick return yards.

Smith will be sorely missed. The Aggies will need to find another avenue in which to generate some offense if they hope to hang with the Cowboys.

3. Aggies haven’t stopped good offenses

The Aggies’ 5 losses this season came against teams that were ranked among the nation’s top 50 in total offense. Oklahoma State ranks No. 43, averaging 421.2 yards per game, and is No. 55 in scoring offense, averaging 29.5 points per game.

That does not bode well for Texas A&M, which looks to win 8-plus games for the 5th time in the past 6 seasons and 11th in the past 13.

Oklahoma State rolled up 400-plus yards in 9 games this season, including a season-high 601 in a 45-13 victory over Cincinnati. The Cowboys had 4 games of 500-plus yards as well.

They scored at least 39 points in 5 games this season, with a season-high 48 against West Virginia.

4. Gordon leads the nation in rushing

If the Aggies are to have any chance against the Cowboys, they’ll need to slow sophomore Ollie Gordon II, who led the nation this season in rushing. The bruising back ran for 1,614 yards and 20 TDs while averaging 6.26 yards per carry.

Gordon turned in 8 100-yard games even though he wasn’t really featured until around the 4th game, when he carried 18 times for his first 100-yard game (124) against Iowa State. That started a string of 6 100-yard games, including consecutive games against West Virginia and Cincinnati in which Gordon carried a total of 54 times for 553 yards and 6 TDs.

5. Cowboys can throw it, too

But the Cowboys moved the ball through the air this season as well. Senior QB Alan Bowman ranked 3rd in the Big 12 with 3,058 yards passing. He tossed 13 TD passes but also fired off 12 picks.

Bowman turned in 4 300-yard passing games, including a 348-yard performance in a 43-30 victory at Houston. He threw for 3 TDs in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Senior WR Brennan Presley was Bowman’s main target. Presley led the Big 12 with 85 receptions (ranking 9th nationally) for 839 yards and 6 TDs. Presley hauled in a season-high 15 catches for 189 yards against Houston, his only 100-yard game of the year. But he also had 97 receiving yards against Oklahoma, 93 vs. Texas and another 90 in a victory over BYU.