Texas A&M football looking to avoid dreaded letdown at Mississippi State

After knocking off Florida, Texas A&M football hits the road to Mississippi State to take on the Bulldogs. Here’s our preview of the matchup.

Texas A&M is coming off an upset of No. 4 Florida after falling to Alabama the week before. They saw strong performances from many on the offensive side of the ball, including one from all-time A&M passing leader Kellen Mond. However, the game brought the injury bug as now Caleb Chapman, the star wide out from the game against Florida, has been sidelined with a knee injury.

Mississippi State is coming off losses to Arkansas and Kentucky. The Bulldogs had 70 pass attempts on Saturday against Kentucky, but threw six interceptions and as a result were only able to put up two points.

Now, the Bulldogs are 1-2 and looking for a win however they can get it.

Here is how you can catch the matchup:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 17
Time: 4 p.m. ET
Location: Starkville, Miss.
Venue:  Davis Wade Stadium
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

For Mississippi State and for the Aggies, this game starts with defense.

Mississippi State has been terrific at getting into the backfield and getting to the quarterback, but the Aggie offensive line has been strong as well, so that will be an interesting battle. Texas A&M hasn’t had the best defense so far this season, but Mississippi State has thrown eight interceptions in the last two weeks and if the Aggies can be opportunistic, things could continue to trend that way.

It will also be a battle of the running backs, assuming Mississippi State starts really using theirs. Kylin Hill is extremely talented and deserves more touches.

The Aggies, on the other hand, have a duo of running backs in Ainais Smith and Isaiah Spiller. Those two have been great for the Maroon and White so far and I don’t see that changing against Mississippi State, despite a strong run defense from the Bulldogs.

Prediction

This one will be closer than many think as the Aggies’ secondary isn’t all that great and Mississippi State likes to throw the ball, which could be a check in their column. However, I think the Aggies take care of the ball a little better in this one and force a turnover or two on defense to really seal the deal.

Final Score: Texas A&M 34, Mississippi State 21