Where, when, weather and TV
When: 3:15 p.m. central time Saturday, Oct. 19
Weather: Sunny, high of 75
TV: SEC Network (Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb, Ashley Stroehlein)
Mississippi State (1-5, 0-3 SEC) depth chart
No. 14 Texas A&M (5-1, 3-0 SEC) depth chart
Mississippi State statistical leaders
Passing: Blake Shapen, 74-108 (68.5%), 974 yards, 8 TD, 1 INT
Van Buren, 39-73 (53.4%), 550 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Daniels, 56 carries, 262 yards (4.7 YPC), 2 TD
Booth, 64 carries, 224 yards (3.5 YPC), 2
Keyvone Lee, 29 carries, 140 yards (4.8 YPC), 1 TD
Receiving: Coleman, 36 catches, 447 yards (12.4 YPC), 3 TD
Craver, 11 catches, 313 yards (28.5 YPC), 2 TD
Mosley, 14 catches, 205 yards (14.6 YPC), 2 TD
Texas A&M statistical leaders
Tackles: York, 28
Lee, 22
Ratcliffe, 20
Tackles for loss: Scourton, 10
Brooks, 4.5
Turner, 3.5
Sacks: Scourton, 4.5
Stewart, 1.5
Seven players with 1
Interceptions: Ratcliffe, 3
Anderson, Lee and Thomas, 1
Forced fumbles: Four players with 1
Fumble recoveries: Williams and Hill, 1
Head-to-head
What Mississippi State wants to do
Build off their second half success against Georgia, which means cranking up the long passing game. The Bulldogs hit on four passes over 20 yards against UGA, easily their highest total since Van Buren took over. There were three huge chunk plays: a 72-yarder, a 42-yarder and a 35-yard touchdown pass with under two minutes left in the game. Van Buren threw for 306 yards, the first time he'd thrown for more than 200.
The running game for State has been non-existent, and it hasn't been for lack of trying. They give up a lot of tackles for loss and sacks. But now they have a quarterback with a big arm and some very fast receivers on the outside who can do damage if they get deep. If you have a puncher's chance of winning, big plays in the passing game are the hardest punches you can throw.
How A&M may try to counter
Come after Van Buren. The true freshman has already started at Texas and at Georgia, so facing the Aggie defense probably won't intimidate him. But A&M will probably throw him a lot more looks than any opponent he's seen to date, and that has messed up quarterbacks with significantly more experience than he has -- see Taylen Green and Brady Cook as examples.
The best way to eliminate a deep passing game is to make sure the quarterback doesn't have time to throw deep passes. The Aggies hurried Cook 21 times and Green 15 times, and those offensive lines have had far better seasons that State's have to this point. If Luke Work starts at left tackle for the Bulldogs, Nic Scourton will line up against a true freshman who was flagged for three penalties last week.
Obviously, a lot of importance in this one will be placed on the defensive line, but the linebackers and corners will not have easy days. Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby can get pretty exotic with his looks and uses a lot of motion to free up his receivers on quick passes, so the linebackers have to read the play right, get to the edges and make swift tackles. The corners, of course, will have to play effective man coverage to stop the big play.
The Aggie defense has gotten better each week, and should have an advantage here. But, simply put, they've got to get to Van Buren before he cranks it up and goes deep.
