Mississippi State Football: Everything You Need To Know About This Week's Matchup vs Texas A&M
Mississippi State hosts No. 17 Texas A&M this Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi.
The last time the two teams played each other was last season on Oct. 2, 2021, when the Bulldogs defeated the Aggies by a score of 26-22.
Even before his stint as the Bulldogs' head coach, the Aggies are a familiar opponent for Mike Leach, who faced them during his time as the head coach of Texas Tech. He currently holds a 8-4 record versus Texas A&M.
The Bulldogs have a lot of leverage in this weekend's matchup. Quarterback Will Rogers continues to cement himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. He is coming off of a 45-14 home win versus Bowling Green, where he threw for over 400 passing yards and six touchdowns. It was his second career game with six passing touchdowns and he is the only quarterback this FBS season with over six touchdowns across multiple games.
Rogers is looking to continue that success when the Aggies come into Starkville this Saturday. In last season's matchup against Texas A&M, he threw for 46-of-59 passes with 408 yards and three touchdowns.
“I thought he improved. But you know, I thought the guys around improved, too," Mike Leach said in this week's press conference. "And that’s one thing you tell the quarterback, is what they do is they elevate the guys around them. And the better those guys play the better the quarterback looks. So it all goes kind of hand in hand.”
Another player to look out for in the Bulldogs offense is standout wide receiver Caleb Ducking. He currently leads the team with 21 receptions and 258 receiving yards. He is also tied for seventh in the FBS and second in the SEC with five touchdown catches.
Texas A&M's offense will look a little different going into Saturday's matchup. The Aggies have recently switched to quarterback Max Johnson as their starter. In last week's game versus Arkansas, he threw for 11/21 passes with 151 yards and one touchdown.
Last week, the Aggies lost their top receiver Ainias Smith with a season ending leg injury. Their offense has also struggled this season, finishing their games with an average score of 18-16 so far this season, including an upset loss at home to Appalachian State in Week 2.
That is not to say, however, that they will respond differently to the Bulldogs and Mike Leach's signature Air Raid offense. A key part in the Bulldogs success is how the defense will be able to shut down the Aggies without losing momentum, especially after their loss against LSU in Baton Rouge in Week 3.
“They’re like everybody on our team," Leach said about the defense. "I mean, we can be a lot better but we’re off to a decent start, I think.”
In this week's press conference, Leach also spoke about how their next four opponents, including Texas A&M, are all ranked going into Saturday.
"We’ve kind of talked about the day’s practice and that sort of thing," Leach said. "Our schedule, especially what’s coming up, it would be pretty tough to look ahead... We’ve got some guys, some are smarter than others but they would be monumentally stupid to look ahead to anybody now.”
The game kicks off this Saturday at 3 p.m. CT in Starkville and will be broadcast SEC Network.
