Mississippi State upsets Texas A&M in College Station

The Mississippi State Bulldogs pulled off an upset victory of Texas A&M Saturday evening, winning by a 26-22 margin.

Will Rogers excelled in the win for the Bulldogs, finishing the evening 46-59 for 406 yards and three touchdowns. Makai Polk hauled in 13 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

The game seemed like it would be a bit of a shootout early on after both teams scored on their first drives. Mississippi State opened the game with a field goal and Texas A&M answered with an 11 yard touchdown pass to Jalen Wydermyer. Mississippi State followed that up with drive concluding in a Rogers touchdown pass to Jaden Walley, to which Texas A&M answered with another field goal to make it 10-10 going into the second quarter.

Both defenses stepped up for most of the second quarter, though. A&M tacked on another field goal and that looked like it would be the quarter’s only score, but late in the quarter, Mississippi State led a drive down the field, ending with Rogers’ first of two touchdown passes to Polk on the day. This send the Bulldogs into the half with a 17-13 lead.

Rogers found Polk again midway through the third quarter, extending the lead to 24-13 with a 20 yard touchdown. Suddenly for Zach Calzada and A&M, the pressure was on. Calzada answered the pressure brilliantly though, ending the next drive with a 25 yard touchdown run to keep A&M alive for the time being.

A&M would tack on a field goal midway through the fourth quarter to pull to 24-22. The Aggies got the ball back with 2:11 to play, but Calzada got sacked in the end zone by Nathan Pickering, giving Mississippi State two points and the ball back. The Bulldogs ran out the clock for the win.

Mississippi State improves to 3-2 on the year and 1-1 in SEC play. They’ll have a bye week next week before hosting Alabama the following week.

Texas A&M falls to 3-2 on the year and 0-2 in conference play. They’ll host Alabama next weekend.