Breaking down Texas A&M football's Mississippi State matchups, position by position

Let's get granular about how Texas A&M football matches up with Mississippi State all over the field.
Oct 5, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies running back Amari Daniels (5) in the first quarter against the Missouri Tigers at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images.
Oct 5, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies running back Amari Daniels (5) in the first quarter against the Missouri Tigers at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images. / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
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Breaking down Texas A&M football's matchup with Mississippi State, position by position

Texas A&M football heads to Starkville this Saturday for their first game out of the bye. The Ags have a ton of momentum right now, and fans are counting on them being able to continue that momentum into this one.

Of course, Starkville hasn't been kind to the Ags in seasons past. The converse of that, though, is that the Aggies have tended to have great seasons when they do win in Davis-Wade Stadium, so winning this weekend is a great sign.

But where will the key matchups be this Saturday? Let's go through the positional matchups for this game and see who has the advantage.

As a reminder, I'll discuss the matchup briefly before assigning an advantage to one team or the other and rating how lopsided it is on a scale from one to five. Let's jump in.

Texas A&M pass offense vs. Mississippi State pass defense

The Bulldogs have allowed every opponent but one to exceed their season-long yards per attempt average. Arizona State was held to a mere 3.5 YPA, but the lowest MSU has allowed since that point is 9.6. It's not just big plays, either—MSU has allowed at least 58% passing success to each of those teams in this run. Toledo had a 70% passing success rate, which is pretty mind-boggling. With Conner Weigman at the helm, this is pretty lopsided in favor of the Aggies.

Advantage: Aggies by 4

Texas A&M rush offense vs. Mississippi State rush defense

Okay, I know I just said the last category was lopsided, but this one may be even more so. Every single FBS team that the Bulldogs have played have exceeded their season-long yards per carry average. Every one of those opponents except Toledo has exceeded 5 YPC. Teams are better able to stay on schedule with the run game against MSU than they are in general, too—the Bulldogs allow 114% of rushing success rate averages on the season, and no FBS team has had lower than a 40% rushing success rate against them.

Advantage: Aggies by 5

Texas A&M pass protection vs. Mississippi State pass rush

Through six games, Mississippi State has notched five sacks, two of which came against Eastern Kentucky. That means they register a sack on 2.53% of pass attempts that they face—the next-lowest mark in the SEC is Auburn at 6.06%. The Aggies allow a sack on only 4.61% of passing plays, which is about middle of the pack. Even so, I feel more confident that the Bulldogs fail to register a single sack than I do that they get at least one.

Advantage: Aggies by 4