Texas A&M vs Mississippi State preview

Two teams coming off polar opposite performances collide in Week 4 of SEC play. The Texas A&M Aggies is coming off of the first signature win of the Jimbo Fisher era while Mississippi St. Bulldogs discovered the low point on the Mike Leach roller coaster in a 24-2 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats.

Last week was the first time in Fisher’s run in College Station that the Aggies really looked like they belonged on the big stage with a Top 5 caliber team. One big reason was the play of Kellen Mond. Mond had one of the best games of his career, throwing for over 330 yards with 3 touchdowns. If Mond is going to throw for 300 yards for the 3rd straight game, he is going to have to do it without one of his favorite targets, Caleb Chapman. Chapman, who caught 2 big scores last week, is unfortunately out for the season with a lower body injury. Mond was also helped vs Florida by a strong performance from running back Isaiah Spiller, who has emerged as one of the best back in the league.

They will go up against a Bulldogs defense that has looked devastatingly good they last few weeks, despite the ineptitude on the other side of the ball. They allowed under 100 yards both rushing and passing vs Kentucky but were torched by LSU to open the season though, so this will a big test to see just how good Zach Arnett’s defense really is.

While it is strength on strength when the Aggies have the ball, based off of the past two weeks it is certainly weakness on weakness when the teams switch sides. K.J. Costello and Will Rogers combined for 6 interceptions against Kentucky and Kylin Hill has predictably been in to something not resembling a running back, only netting 17 yards on 7 carries against UK.

The Aggie defense is a bit more forgiving than Kentucky’s, but they’ve also faced some very tough competition. Do you trust in the defense that struggled against Alabama and Florida or the offense that went nowhere against Arkansas and Kentucky. With Leach being famous for his inflexibility on offense, this game pretty much rests on whether Costello or Rogers can connect consistently with Osirus Mitchell, Hill, and Malik Heath.

We know college football, and Mike Leach teams in particular, can produce wild swings from week to week but it’s hard to see anything but a Texas A&M win in this one unless Jimbo Fisher and his defensive staff didn’t watch any tape of MSU’s last few games. Let’s see if the Mad Pirate can prove me wrong.

How To Watch

Time: 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT

TV: ESPN

Watch Online: WatchESPN