Texas A&M Football: Aggies should be favored at Mississippi State
A win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs should place the underdog Texas A&M football in the top 15 rankings exiting Week 9.
One of the teams that got slighted in Week 9 by the Vegas lines was No. 16 ranked Texas A&M football, on the road against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Texas A&M Aggies were listed as a field goal underdog against Mississippi State coming out of its bye week.
Texas A&M football and Mississippi State are trending in different directions right now. Mississippi State is coming off a lame offensive performance in a road loss to a top five-ranked LSU Tigers in Week 8. Texas A&M does come into this game rested and with momentum out of the bye after its Week 7 road victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia.
To keep any shot at an appearance in a New Year’s Six Bowl alive, Texas A&M needs to emerge victorious in matchups like this one. The Aggies have a three-game winning streak and should be able to keep that going until it faces LSU in the regular season finale. Up until that point, Texas A&M football gets the Auburn Tigers on the road and the Ole Miss Rebels and UAB Blazers at home.
Mississippi State already fell short against a team that was defeated by the Aggies. The Kentucky Wildcats handily knocked off the Bulldogs in Lexington while Texas A&M knocked them off in overtime in College Station. This game should deliver in terms of entertainment value since both the Mississippi State and Texas A&M defenses are solid.
Since this is expected to be a low scoring game, the reason why the line is so tight could be the impending defensive struggle between these teams on Oct. 27. Texas A&M thrives from the ground game from the likes of junior running back Trayveon Williams. But, it can still beat you through the air with sophomore quarterback Kellen Mond.
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On the other hand, Mississippi State is going to thrive if quarterback Nick Fitzgerald can get going with his legs. If the Aggies can learn from what LSU did to completely shut down Fitzgerald and hold Mississippi State to three points, this could go very well for them at Davis-Wade Stadium in Week 9.