KEYS TO THE GAME: Texas A&M v. Mississippi State

Texas A&M has passed each test so far this season as they sport a 4-0 record and a No. 6 ranking in the AP Poll. However, they have yet to put together a complete, clean game. The defense faltered against Notre Dame, the offense stalled out against Auburn, and A&M accrued 13 penalties in both contest.

With this week’s game against Mississippi State being the first big night game of the season and Kyle Field going full blackout, it would be a great opportunity for the Aggies to put everything together. And they might need to if they want to advance to 5-0.

The Bulldogs are 4-1 with their only loss coming last week in a 41-34 overtime loss to Tennessee. They are much improved from last season and present some tough matchups. Let’s take a look at this week’s keys to the game.

Stop the run

This could be said every week, but is the single biggest key in this game. While Mississippi State is more of an air raid team, they are 8th in the country in rushing success rate. Leading the charge is sophomore running back Fluff Bothwell. The 5’10 230-pounder is a violent runner and will absolutely be an NFL draft pick when he is eligible. Bothwell racked up 134 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries against Tennessee last week.

Where State does most of their damage is outside runs. Tennessee’s defensive ends failed to set the edge over and over and over again, and the Bulldogs made them pay. Cashius Howell and Dayon Hayes will need to be disciplined in maintaining their gaps.

The Aggie defense has worked it’s way up to 13th nationally in rushing success rate allowed, so we know they are up for the challenge. This is a big test for them.

Keep the QB clean

Auburn threw some looks at A&M last week that they did not seem prepared for. It didn’t help that penalties and miscues kept them in 3rd and long all day, but the pass protection had some busts last week where they allowed free runs at the QB and Reed was sacked a season-high four times.

Mississippi State has blitzed on roughly 30% of the dropbacks they have faced against power opponents, but after seeing Auburn blitz the Aggies 46% of the time last week and have success, that could be part of their game plan this week. State also just doesn’t do a very good job of getting to the QB when they don’t bring extra defenders.

Clean. Up. The. Penalties.

I agree that the Auburn game was poorly officiated on many different levels. However, there are still things that A&M can clean up in their technique to minimize the flags. The score against Auburn is likely closer to 30-3 instead of 16-10 if the Aggies aren’t averaging 9.14 yards to go on 3rd down. If A&M plays a clean, complete game, I would expect them to not only improve to 5-0, but cover the -16.5 spread.