The No.17 Texas A&M Aggies (3-1, 1-0 SEC) are coming off two ranked wins over No.13 Miami Hurricanes and the No.10 Arkansas Razorbacks. Next, the Aggies continue their five-week stretch of games away from College Station with their first true road game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (3-1, 0-1).
Coming off the Southwest Classic win over Arkansas and with a trip to No.2 Alabama scheduled for October 8, A&M could easily overlook the Bulldogs. After all, when the Aggies and Bulldogs kick off on Saturday, it will be almost exactly a year to the day of last season’s matchup, which ended in a Mississippi State win.
Last season, the Bulldogs went to College Station and stunned what was then the country’s 15th-ranked team, 26-22, maybe the Aggies’ most bitter loss of their 8-4 season.
Key in the win was Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers’ phenomenal day as he completed 46 of his 59 passes for 408 yards and three touchdowns.
Since starting for Mississippi State as a true freshman, Rogers has become one of the top quarterbacks in college football. As a sophomore last season, he broke program records in completions (505), passing yardage (4,739), and touchdowns (36).
He entered this season as the Bulldogs’ leader in career completion percentage and is already on track for another successful season. Going into the A&M game, Rogers has put up 1,386 passing yards and is currently tied for the national lead in passing touchdowns with 16.
Rogers and the entire Mississippi State offense, which has seen 10 different players score touchdowns this season, will undoubtedly test the Aggie defense. Last Saturday alone, five different players scored touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 45-14 win over Bowling Green. Rogers delivered a 409-yard, 6-TD performance in the win.
Under head coach Mike Leach, Mississippi State employs an air raid offense that does not rely heavily on the run. The team only produces an average of 80.8 rushing yards per game while averaging 351.0 passing yards.
Mississippi State is sixth in points per game in the SEC, averaging 37.3 points per game, while A&M is last in the SEC with an average of 21.3. This could be cause for concern for A&M as the Bulldogs have already put up 149 points against opponents while the Aggies have only put up 85.
With its low-scoring offense, the Aggie defense must keep Mississippi State well below its scoring average to compete. The A&M defense is capable, as it stepped up multiple times against Miami and Arkansas.
The Bulldogs are seeking their first SEC win after losing its conference opener at LSU two weeks ago. LSU scored 21 fourth-quarter points and exposed the Mississippi State run defense, racking up 206 rushing yards.
The Aggies’ running game went off on Saturday against Arkansas as Devon Achane had a 63-yarder en route to a 159-yard day on 19 carries. They will need another big game from Achane to keep up against Mike Leach’s high-scoring offense, especially since the A&M passing offense has been almost nonexistent this season.
The passing offense will be even more disadvantaged following the news Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher shared at Monday’s press conference. Fisher confirmed that senior receiver Ainias Smith will miss the remainder of the season with a lower leg injury suffered in the third quarter of the win over Arkansas.
Smith leads A&M in receptions (15), yards (291), and touchdowns (two). He had caught a pass in 27 consecutive games. Smith debated entering the NFL draft last season before opting to return to College Station.
The loss of Smith leaves Evan Stewart, a freshman from Frisco Liberty, as the top receiver on the team. Stewart has 13 receptions for 141 yards and one touchdown despite missing one game with a suspension, while no other A&M receiver has more than five catches this season.
Coach Fisher said despite Smith not being able to contribute on the field, he would still be able to contribute off the field with his intangibles.
“Diversity and leadership and experience, when you go through all three of those things,” Fisher said. “But he’ll be around to help those guys and mentor those guys, and that’s the best he can do. As far as it goes, he’ll be right there with them, I know that. … it’s just an unfortunate situation.”
The Aggies and Bulldogs will kick off at 3 p.m. CT Saturday with the game set to be broadcast on the SEC Network.
