Mississippi State's offense vs. Texas A&M's defense

Location: Davis-Wade Stadium, Starkville, Miss.

Time: 3 p.m. central

TV: ESPN

QB: #3, K.J. Costello (Sr.-TR; 6-5, 225; ProFootballFocus score of 58.8) OR

#2, Will Rogers (Fr.; 6-2, 205; PFF score of 30.9)

RB: #8, Kylin Hill (Sr.; 5-11, 210; PFF score of 69.6)

#21, Jo’quavious Marks (Fr.; 5-10, 195; PFF score of 63.2)

WR: #4, Malik Heath (Jr.-JUCO; 6-3, 215; PFF score of 53.9) OR

#18, Cameron Gardner (So.; 6-4, 200; PFF score of 55.7)

WR: #0, JaVonta Payton (Sr.; 6-1, 180; PFF score of 59.1)

#11, Geor’quarius Spivey (So.; 6-5, 240; PFF score of 52.6)

WR: #85, Austin Williams (Jr.; 6-3, 200; PFF score of 53.8)

#31, Jaden Walley (Fr.; 6, 180; PFF score of 57.4)

WR: #9, Tyrell Shavers (Jr.-TR; 6-6, 200; PFF score of 56.8)

#5, Osirus Mitchell (Sr.; 6-5, 210; PFF score of 70.4)

LT: #67, Charles Cross (RS-Fr.; 6-5, 290; PFF score of 61.2)

#58, Kameron Jones (So.; 6-5, 305; n/a)

LG: #55, Greg Eiland (Sr.; 6-8, 335; PFF score of 50.4)

#63, LaQuinston Sharp (Sr.; 6-3, 300; PFF score of 55.4)

C: #57, Cole Smith (So.; 6-3, 305; PFF score of 44.5)

#71, James Jackson (Jr.; 6-3, 330; 53.3)

RG: #56, Dareuan Parker (Sr.; 6-4, 355; PFF score of 76.7)

#72, Brandon Cunningham (RS-Fr.; 6-4, 300; n/a)

RT: #69, Kwatrivous Johnson (So.; 6-7, 315; PFF score of 33.8)

#78, Scott Lashley (Sr.-GR; 6-7, 315; n/a)

DE: #2, Micheal Clemons (RS-Sr.; 6-5, 270; PFF score of 67.7)

#15, Jeremiah Martin (Jr.; 6-5, 262; PFF score of 51.9)

DT: #92, Jayden Peevy (Sr.; 6-6, 295; PFF score of 64.2)

#6, Derick Hunter (RS-Fr.; 6-4, 310; PFF score of 63.6)

DT: #5, Bobby Brown (Jr.; 6-4, 325; PFF score of 58.4)

#35, McKinnley Jackson (Fr.; 6-2, 335; 51.2)

DE: #8, DeMarvin Leal (So.; 6-4, 290; PFF score of 77.8)

#3, Tyree Johnson (RS-Jr.; 6-4, 240; PFF score of 68.3)

WLB: #33, Aaron Hansford (RS-Sr.; 6-3, 245; PFF score of 62.5)

#32, Andre White (So.; 6-3, 225; PFF score of 43.6)

MLB: #1, Buddy Johnson (Sr.; 6-2, 230; PFF score of 48.9)

#24, Chris Russell (So.; 6-2, 240; PFF score of 52.4)

Nickel: #4, Erick Young (So.; 6-1, 205; PFF score of 64.4)

#7, Devin Morris (RS-Jr.; 6-1, 202; PFF score of 59.4)

CB: #10, Myles Jones (Sr.; 6-4, 185; PFF score of 56.7)

#16, Brian George (Jr.; 6-2, 190; 62.5)

S: #26, Demani Richardson (So.; 6-1, 216; PFF score of 64.3)

#13, Brian Williams (So.; 6-1, 210; PFF score of 60)

S: #9, Leon O'Neal Jr. (Jr.; 6-1, 210; PFF score of 48.3)

#14, Keldrick Carper (Sr.; 6-2, 195; PFF score of 48.8)

CB: #17, Jaylon Jones (Fr.; 6-2, 205; PFF score of 55.4)

Mississippi State: OL Scott Lashley is out for the year.

Texas A&M: Nickel Erick Young (arm) is questionable; DT Bobby Brown (knee) will play. CB Elijah Blades, LB Anthony Hines and S Derrick Tucker have opted out.

Rushing: Marks, 15 carries for 64 yards (4.3 YPC), 1 TD

Hill, 15 carries for 58 yards (3.9 YPC)

Passing: Costello, 115-174 (66.1%), 1,168 yards, 6 TD, 9 INT

Rogers, 9-15 (60%), 43 yards, 2 INT

Receiving: Hill, 23 catches for 237 yards (10.3 YPC) and 1 TD

Mitchell, 14 catches for 247 yards (17.6 YPG), 2 TD

Marks, 14 catches for 61 yards (4.4 YPC)

Tackles: Buddy Johnson, 30

Richardson, 17

Hansford and O'Neal, 15

Tackles for loss: Clemons, 2.5

Leal and O'Neal, 2

Sacks: Clemons, 2.5

Brown, 1

Interceptions: 3 players with 1

Passes broken up: 9 players with 1

Forced fumbles: Johnson, 1

Fumble recoveries: Leal, 1

Rushing offense: 38.7 YPG (76th nationally, 14th SEC)

Passing offense: 403.7 YPG (1st nationally)

Total offense: 442.4 YPG (25th nationally, 6th SEC)

Scoring offense: 20 PPG (66th nationally, 12th SEC)

First downs: 66 (50th nationally, 7th SEC)

3rd down conversions: 34% (62nd nationally, 10th SEC)

Red zone offense: 54.5% (73rd nationally, 13th SEC)

Sacks allowed: 8 (51st nationally, 8th SEC)

Penalties: 19 (30th nationally, 8th SEC)

Penalty yards: 122 (16th nationally, 6th SEC)

Team turnovers: 14 (75th nationally, 14th SEC)

Turnover +/-: -9 (75th nationally, 14th SEC)

Rushing defense: 101.3 YPG (18th nationally, 5th SEC)

Passing defense: 299 YPG (64th nationally, 9th SEC)

Total defense: 400.3 YPG (38th nationally, 8th SEC)

Scoring defense: 32 PPG (54th nationally, 10th SEC)

First downs allowed: 39 (13th nationally, 3rd SEC)

3rd down conversion defense: 44.4% (46th nationally, 7th SEC)

Red zone defense: 85.7% (39th nationally, 6th SEC)

Penalties: 20 (44th nationally, 10th SEC)

Penalty yards: 175 yards (35th nationally, 13th SEC)

Turnovers forced: 4 (45th nationally, 8th SEC)

Turnover +/-: -2 (59th nationally, 12th SEC)

Welcome to the Air Raid. The Bulldogs throw the ball 80% of the time, if not more, and Mike Leach probably isn't going to stop that this week. Most of the passes are short, quick outs with the backs and wideouts making plays in space with their legs. When opponents start to sneak up to take those away, then State will try to go deep, likely to Hill or Mitchell. They're the game-breakers, while the rest are largely possession receivers.

Here's how the Air Raid works: the wideouts and backs will go to a predetermined zone on the field, depending on coverages and look for 1-on-1 matchups. The quarterback then gets the ball to the guy quickly and he advances up the field. If a wideout sees a certain coverage, he may run a drag route or an out. If he's covered in another way, he may try to bust it deep. The idea is to put pressure on the defense by hitting it at its weakest points.

That worked really well against LSU, which played man coverage and blitzed a lot. Costello had 1-on-1s and did a good job getting the ball out. Most of those passes were really quick ones, but there were some good deep balls as well.

One thing State has not done much of at all is run. They're averaging 2.1 yards per carry and preseason All-SEC RB Kylin Hill doesn't have 60 rushing yards yet. Their long rush so far is 12 yards. Instead, Hill has caught 23 passes, many of which are like handoffs. They get him the ball the most. Mitchell is the wideout that has been the real deep threat to this point, while the rest of the wideouts average 10 yards a catch or under.

Costello and Rogers have been sacked 8 times in 189 attempts, but teams aren't really trying to get sacks since the LSU game. They're being patient and waiting for State to make mistakes, which they have. The Bulldogs have turned the ball over 14 times in 3 games and are already -9 in the turnover +/- category. Last week was the first time a Mike Leach offense has been shut out.

That doesn't mean that the Bulldogs are to be trifled with. If Costello gets hot and the Aggies continue to make mental blunders, State can put up a lot of yards. But they need to avoid turnovers, something they have yet to do.

Dust off the playbook from last year's LSU game, which worked horribly. No, seriously. Playing three down linemen and dropping eight into zones drives Leach and the Air Raid insane. The wideouts and backs run into zones, inadvertently running right into coverage. Arkansas and Kentucky learned from what Washington did to Washington State, and they stifled Mississippi State the past two weeks. LSU did not run the Air Raid and promptly gutted the idea. Leach doesn't alter his plan.

What to do against the Bulldogs is easier than actually doing it. The Aggies can cause problems with their three down linemen, especially if they're big guys like Bobby Brown, Jayden Peevy and DeMarvin Leal. If they want more speed, they can rotate Micheal Clemons and Tyree Johnson in.

The key for the Aggie defense, if they choose to take this route, is to be patient and TACKLE. There will be a lot of plays where defenders will have to make tackles in space, something they did terribly against Florida. They need to understand their zones and not freelance. If they do, Costello and has shown impatience which has led to interceptions. If the Aggies play smart, and they are able to get off the field on third down, then they should be in pretty good shape.