Texas A&M Football: Preview and score prediction vs. Mississippi State

The Texas A&M football team will look to bounce back from their first loss of the season, which came at the hands of the red-hot Arkansas Razorbacks. The Aggies will get this bounce-back opportunity against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who hoist a completely beatable squad.

The Bulldogs aren’t the most threatening SEC team on the Aggies’ schedule, but they’ve given reason for opposite teams to prepare double. At 2-2, their two losses have come by a combined five points, while their wins have given us a mixed bag to work with.

Their first win game against an underwhelming Louisiana Tech team, where they snuck out of a home matchup against the Bulldogs (ironically, that was the mascot for both teams) by a single point.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs are capable of beating ranked teams, as is evident by their win over NC State

Mike Leach’s best game of the season came against North Carolina State earlier in the year. At the time, it didn’t seem like much, as neither team seemed like much of a contender. That said, NC State continues to prove that this was a big win for the Bulldogs.

The Wolfpack went on to give Clemson their second loss of the season last weekend, which made the Bulldogs’ win over them look even more impressive. The point is this — Mississippi State is a dangerous football team, even if their record doesn’t indicate so. The Aggies can’t be lackadaisical in this game.

But what does this mean for the Texas A&M football team on Saturday?

The primary takeaway from Mississippi State’s first two games is the fact that they love to pass the football. Even though their squad is around the middle of the pack in terms of yards per attempt, they’ve had such a pass-heavy offense that they stand in the top ten in passing yards per game.

On the ground, their offense has been abysmal, rushing for the second-fewest yards per game in college football this season with 62.8. This bodes well for Texas A&M, a team that has one of the best pass defenses in the country. I expect Mike Leach’s offense to have a lot of trouble on Saturday.

This will be a defensive battle, but I think Zach Calzada will manage to do just enough to give A&M a comfortable cushion ahead of the Bulldogs. I have the Aggies winning in a relatively dominant defensive contest.

Score Prediction: Texas A&M 20, Mississippi State 7