Game preview: Texas A&M's offense vs. Mississippi State's defense
AggieYell.com’s look at the matchup between No. 6 Texas A&M (4-0, 1-0 SEC) and Mississippi State (4-1, 0-1 SEC) begins with a look at the Aggie offense against the Bulldogs defense.
Where, when, weather and TV
Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
When: Saturday, Oct. 4, 6:30 p.m. central time
Weather: Sunny, high of 91; temperature likely dropping through the 80s during the game
TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart, play-by-play; Jordan Rogers, analyst; Cole Cubelic, sideline)
How they got here
Texas A&M (4-0)
Beat UTSA 42-24
Beat Utah State 44-22
Beat Notre Dame 41-40
Beat Auburn 16-10
Mississippi State (4-1)
Beat Southern Miss 34-17
Beat Arizona State 24-20
Beat Alcorn State 63-0
Beat Northern Illinois 38-10
Lost to Tennessee 41-34 (OT)
Texas A&M offensive depth chart
QB: #10, Marcel Reed (6-1, 185, R-So.)
#16, Miles O’Neill (6-5, 220, R-Fr.)
#13, Brady Hart (6-4, 195, Fr.) OR #9, Jacob Zeno (6-2, 215, Gr.)
RB: #8, Le’Veon Moss (5-11, 210, Sr.)
#4, Rueben Owens II (5-11, 215, R-So.)
#5, Amari Daniels (5-8, 197, R-Sr.) OR #23, Jamarion Morrow (5-9, 205, Fr.) OR #22, EJ Smith (5-11, 211, Gr.)
WR: #7, KC Concepcion (5-11, 190, Jr.)
#18, TK Norman (6-0, 182, Fr.)
WR: #1, Mario Craver (5-9, 165, So.) OR #2, Terry Bussey (5-10, 195, So.)
#0, Izaiah Williams (5-11, 185, R-Fr.)
WR: #3, Ashton Bethel-Roman (6-0, 185, R-Fr.) OR #2, Terry Bussey (5-10, 195, So.)
#11, Kelshaun Johnson (5-11, 168, Fr.)
TE: #17, Theo Melin Öhrström (6-6, 257, R-Jr.) OR #87, Nate Boerkircher (6-4, 250, Gr.) OR #84, Amari Niblack (6-3, 235, Sr.)
#88, Micah Riley (6-5, 257, R-Jr.)
#21, Kiotti Armstrong (6-5, 275, Fr.)
LT: #60, Trey Zuhn III (6-6, 319, Gr.) OR #76, Reuben Fatheree (6-7, 333, Gr.)
#79, Lamont Rogers (6-6, 337, Fr.)
LG: #71, Chase Bisontis (6-5, 315, Jr.)
#73, Ashton Funk (6-6, 322, R-Fr.) OR #77, Tyler Thomas (6-4, 329, Fr.)
C: #54, Mark Nabou (6-3, 322, R-So.) OR #60, Trey Zuhn III (6-6, 319, Gr.)
#61, Koli Faaiu (6-3, 333, Sr.)
RG: #55, Ar’maj Reed-Adams (6-5, 325, Gr.)
#52, Blake Ivy (6-3, 336, R-Fr.)
RT: #78, Dametrious Crownover (6-7, 336, Gr.)
#70, Robert Bourdon (6-6, 318, R-Fr.)
Mississippi State defensive depth chart
JACK: #44, Branden Jennings (6-3, 240, R-Sr.) OR #8, Malick Sylla (6-6, 255, Sr.)
#37, Nevaeh Sanders (6-4, 230, Gr.)
DT: #22, Kedrick Bingley-Jones (6-4, 320, RS-Sr.)
#42, DJ Reed (6-4, 285, RS-So.) OR #25 Ray Thomas (6-4, 300, Gr.)
NT: #92, Jaray Bledsoe (6-4, 315, RS-Jr.)
#35, Kalvin Dinkins (6-2, 320, RS-Jr.) OR #88 Jamil Burroughs (6-3, 330, RS-Sr.)
DE: #6, Deonte Anderson (6-3, 280, RS-Sr.) OR #23 Trevion Williams (6-4, 295, RS-Jr.) OR #27 Red Hibbler (6-2, 275, Gr.) OR #46 Joseph Head Jr. (6-4, 255, RS-So.)
DIME: #7, Zakari Tillman (6-2, 235, Jr.) OR #16, Derion Gullette (6-3, 240, RS-So.)
#11, Tyler Lockhart (6-2, 225, Fr.)
MIKE: #40, Nic Mitchell (6-2, 230, RS-Sr.)
#10, Jalen Smith (6-2, 230, RSo.) OR #0, Fatt Forrest (6-2, 235, RS-Fr.)
SAM: #2, Isaac Smith (6-0, 220, Jr.)
#9, Tony Mitchell (6-1, 215, Jr.)
CB: #20 Jett Jefferson (6-1, 190, Jr.) OR #4, DeAgo Brumfield (6-0, 190, RS-Sr.)
#26, Dwight Lewis III (6-1, 195, RS-Sr.)
CB: #1, Kelley Jones (6-4, 195, RS-So.) OR #15, Jayven Williams (6-2, 185, RS-Jr.)
#24, Elijah Cannon (6-0, 180, RS-Fr.) OR #17, Kyle Johnson (5-11, 185, Fr.)
S: #3, Brylan Lanier (6-1, 190, RS-Sr.) OR #13, Jahron Manning (5-10, 195, Sr.)
#28, Tanner Johnson (6-0, 185, RS-Jr.)
S: #21, Hunter Washington (5-11, 200, RS-Sr.) OR #13, Jahron Manning (5-10, 195, Sr.)
#19 Cyrus Reyes (6-1, 200, So.)
Injury update
Will be added after the SEC reports are released at 7 p.m. central time Wednesday.
Texas A&M statistical leaders
Passing: Reed, 73-121 (60.3%), 1,076 yards, 9 TD, 2 INT
O’Neill, 4-7, 101 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Moss, 54 carries, 307 yards (5.7 YPC), 5 TD
Owens, 18 carries, 136 yards (7.4 YPC)
Reed, 32 carries, 119 yards (3.7 YPC), 1 TD
Receiving: Craver, 24 catches, 477 yards (19.9 YPC), 4 TD
Concepcion, 20 catches, 340 yards (17 YPC), 3 TD
Bussey, 8 catches, 97 yards (12.1 YPC), 1 TD
Mississippi State defensive statistical leaders
Tackles: Smith, 28
Manning, 27
Three players with 23
Tackles for loss: Tillman, 2.5
Reed, Bledsoe and Thomas, 2
Sacks: Reed, 2
Tillman, Anderson and Thomas, 1
Interceptions: Seven players with 1
Forced fumbles: Williams, 2
Ray and Johnson, 1
Head to head: Texas A&M’s offense vs. Mississippi State’s defense
| Category | Texas A&M | National/SEC rank | Category | Mississippi State | National/SEC rank |
| Scoring offense | 35.8 PPG | 19th/4th | Scoring defense | 17.6 PPG | 32nd/9th |
| Total offense | 463.8 YPG | 23rd/6th | Total defense | 305.6 YPG | 33rd/8th |
| Rushing offense | 169.5 YPG | 61st/10th | Rushing defense | 135.4 YPG | 63rd/11th |
| Passing offense | 294.3 YPG | 23rd/6th | Passing defense | 170.2 YPG | 73rd/12th |
| 3rd down conversion % | 30.6% | 125th/16th | 3rd down conversions defense | 32.4% | 32nd/7th |
| First downs | 92 | 68th/11th | First downs allowed | 88 | 71st/12th |
| Red zone offense | 100% | 1st nationally | Red zone defense | 76.9% | 28th/3rd |
| Sacks allowed/game | 1.5/game | 52nd/10th | Team sacks/game | 1.4/game | 106th/12th |
| Tackles for loss allowed/game | 3.75/game | 19th/4th | Team tackles for loss/game | 4.8/game | 97th/12th |
| Turnovers | 3 | 18th/3rd | Turnovers forced | 10 | 4th/1st |
| Turnover +/- | -1 | 84th/10th | Turnover +/- | +6 | 14th/2nd |
| Time of possession | 30:23 | 64th/11th | Time of possession | 26:43 | 122nd/15th |
What Texas A&M wants to do
Stay balanced between the run and the pass. You can’t do it better in that category than they did last week, when they split their 414 total yards right down the middle at 207 each.
Mississippi State’s stats look good, but they’re skewed by the blowouts of FCS Alcorn State (a bad FCS team, at that) and North Illinois (just flat bad). Southern Miss and Arizona State both had over 300 yards of total offense, and Tennessee went for 466 last weekend. Alcorn had 131 yards of total offense and Northern Illinois had 267. Arizona State ran for 282 yards, while Tennessee threw for 335. So there’s definitely some opportunity for the Aggie offense here.
The Aggie offensive line pushed around Auburn’s front, which is very similar to State’s in terms of size, last weekend and Le’Veon Moss rushed for a career high 139 yards (while missing more than a quarter puking). The Bulldogs are missing their best defensive tackle, Will Whitson, after he suffered a season-ending injury against Arizona State. He still leads them in tackles for loss (4.5) and sacks (2) in spite of only playing in less than two full games. So it would certainly make sense for the Aggies to line up and go right at State the way they did against Auburn, which had done a far better job statistically to this point against the run, only to have A&M gash them for nearly four times their previous season average.
State seems to be more of a bend but don’t break defense, normally bringing four rushes and playing a lot of zone coverage. If they keep playing zone, that’s what Marcel Reed and the Aggies will want. Reed has picked zone defenses apart this year, but has been a lot less effective against man coverage. Tennessee had two receivers go over 100 yards in their shootout win in Starkville, so while the Bulldogs have corners with size, they don’t seem to feel comfortable leaving them on an island. That could open up some opportunities for Craver and Concepcion in the quick passing game in the deep middle, two areas where they have thrived this season.
How Mississippi State may try to counter
Keep forcing turnovers. The Bulldogs may not get a lot of pressure or tackles for loss, but they’ve been incredibly opportunistic. Against Tennessee they recovered a muffed punt and picked off two passes and scored off of all three. If a ball gets tipped into the air, as Reed’s pass to Terry Bussey was last weekend, there’s a really good chance a Mississippi State player will be around it.
State is far, far better defensively compared to last year, but that just gets them to the middle of the pack. They’ve had to adjust with the loss of Whitson and, if safety/linebacker Isaac Smith can’t play, they’ll be down their best defender.
The Bulldogs make you work for anything you get. They don’t give up a lot of big plays and keep things in front of them. They’ve been pretty effective getting off the field on third down, while the Aggies have been horrible converting. If they can keep the A&M offense from picking up big plays on first and second down, then they’ll be a little more creative and try to cause trouble for Reed. And if A&M goofs, the opportunistic Bulldogs will likely pounce.
