Texas A&M football is set to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs tonight in a blackout game, which looks as though it is set to become a yearly tradition under Mike Elko. The Aggies are heavy favorites in this one, which is due in part to the amount of injuries that the Bulldogs have sustained.
We've been talking all week about the key injuries for the Bulldogs that could affect this game, as well as how the Aggies could be getting back some important players from the injured list. With less than 24 hours to go before the game kicks off, there's a lot of buzz around these factors.
The Aggies are certainly much healthier right now than the Bulldogs are— but we've known that since the beginning of the week. The real question is who Mississippi State will have on the field for this game that they were not necessarily expected to.
Saturday morning injury update: Bulldogs trending down, Aggies trending up
According to the latest availability report from the SEC, Texas A&M has three players listed as questionable: LB Scooby Williams, S Bryce Anderson, and OL Blake Ivy. Those first two players have been on there the entire week, but Ivy (a redshirt freshman backup) is a new addition to this list.
The Bulldogs, though, are trending downward with some key names. Pete Thamel reported yesterday that MSU will be without tackle Albert Reese in this game, which opens up some pretty high potential for the Aggies to create some chaos off the edge.
He joins DL Will Whitson and OL Blake Steen (their other starting tackle) as players who are out for this game. One trending that way is safety Isaac Smith, one of the best players on the Bulldog defense, who is listed as doubtful.
That could mean a lot for an Aggie team that will look to create a few explosive plays in this game. Texas A&M has a chance to run up the score in this one if they can connect downfield, and that huge spread is looking more and more like a reasonable one as game time draws nearer.