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

Location: Davis-Wade Stadium, Starkville, Miss.

When: 3 p.m. central time, Oct. 17

TV: ESPN

QB: #11, Kellen Mond (Sr; 6-3, 217; ProFootballFocus 2020 season score of 64.8)

#13, Haynes King (Fr.; 6-3, 200; PFF score of 68.2)

RB: #28, Isaiah Spiller (So.; 6-1, 225; PFF score of 76.4)

#0, Ainias Smith, (So.; 5-10, 190; PFF score of 65.4)

FB: #43, Cagan Baldree (RS-Sr.; 6-4, 250; PFF score of 57.7)

TE: #85, Jalen Wydermyer (So.; 6-5, 265; PFF score of 71.8)

#46, Ryan Renick (RS-Sr.; 6-2, 225; PFF score of 63.5)

WR: #5, Jalen Preston (RS-So.; 6-2, 205; PFF score of 60.9)

#1, Demond Demas (Fr.; 6-3, 180; PFF score of 58.5)

SLOT: #18, Kam Brown (RS-Fr.; 6-1, 192; PFF score of 61.8)

OR #2, Chase Lane (RS-Fr.; 6, 190; PFF score of 67.5)

OR #7, Moose Muhammad (Fr.; 6-1, 196; PFF Score of 60)

WR: #9, Hezekiah Jones (RS-Jr.; 5-11, 180, n/a) OR

#4, Dylan Wright (RS-Fr.; 6-4, 210; n/a) OR

#16, Kenyon Jackson (RS-Fr.; 6-6, 195; n/a)

LT: #65, Dan Moore (Sr.; 6-5, 315; PFF score of 59.9)

#76, Chris Morris (Fr.; 6-4, 290; n/a)

LG: #55, Kenyon Green (So.; 6-4, 325; PFF score of 71.8)

#70, Josh Bankhead (Fr.; 6-5, 320; n/a)

C: #77, Ryan McCollum (RS-Sr.; 6-5, 300; PFF score of 61.2)

#52, Smart Chibuzo (Fr.; 6-4, 340; n/a)

RG: #73, Jared Hocker (Sr.; 6-5, 325; PFF score of 59.4)

#64, Layden Robinson (RS-Fr.; 6-4, 325; PFF score of 68.1)

RT: #54, Carson Green (Sr.; 6-6, 315; PFF score of 75.7)

#53, Blake Trainor (RS-Fr.; 6-7, 325; n/a)

DE: #52, Kobe Jones (Sr.; 6-4, 260; PFF score of 54.4)

#15, Jack Harris (RS-Fr.; 6-3, 250; PFF score of 43.1)

NT: #94, Jaden Crumedy (So.; 6-5 300; PFF score of 61.8)

#22, Nathan Pickering (So.; 6-4, 310; PFF score of 70.2)

DT: #42, Marquiss Spencer (Sr.; 6-4, 300; PFF score of 63.4)

#17, Aaron Odom (Jr.; 6-3, 275; PFF score of 57.6)

SAM: #2, Tyrus Wheat (Jr.-JUCO; 6-2, 260; PFF score of 71.3)

#6, Jordan Davis (Jr-JUCO; 6-4, 260; PFF score of 53)

MIKE: #40, Erroll Thompson (Sr.; 6-1, 250; PFF score of 53.5)

#14, Nathaniel Watson (So.; 6-2, 260; PFF score of 63.6)

WILL: #3, Aaron Brule, (So.; 6-1, 230; PFF score of 64.9)

#44, Jett Johnson (So.; 6-2, 235; PFF score of 44.8) OR

#54, Rodney Groce Jr. (Fr.; 6-2, 245; PFF score of 59.3)

CB: #1, Martin Emerson (So.; 6-2, 195; PFF score of 73)

#30, Decamerion Richardson (Fr.; 6-2, 180; PFF score of 60)

FS: #38, Fred Peters (Sr.; 5-10 210; PFF score of 70.9)

#19, Collin Duncan (So.; 6, 205; PFF score of 65.3)

BULLDOG: #7, Marcus Murphy (Jr.; 6-1, 200; PFF score of 58.4)

#12, Shawn Preston Jr. (So.; 6, 210; PFF score of 52.7)

SS: #28, Londyn Craft (Jr.; 6, 200; PFF score of 60.3)

#24, Dylan Lawrence (RS-Fr.; 6-4, 195; PFF score of 67.5)

CB: #27, Esaias Furdge (So.; 6, 185; PFF score of 53.1)

#13, Emmanuel Forbes (Fr.; 6, 180; PFF score of 69)

Texas A&M: WR Caleb Chapman (knee), OL Grayson Reed (leg), TE Baylor Cupp (shoulder) and TE Blake Smith (knee) are out for the year. WR Hezekiah Jones (foot) is questionable. WR Jhamon Ausbon has opted out and entered the 2021 NFL Draft.

Mississippi State: CBs Tyler Williams and Javorrius Selmon have opted out.

Rushing: Spiller, 46 carries, 319 yards (6.9 YPC), 2 TD

Smith, 20 carries, 103 yards (5.3 YPC), 1 TD

Passing: Mond, 67-107 (62.6%), 845 yards, 7 TD, 1 INT

King, 1-3, 17 yards, 1 INT

Receiving: Smith, 12 catches for 203 yards (16.9 YPC), 2 TD

Caleb Chapman, 14 catches for 197 yards (14.1 YPC), 3 TD

Wydermyer, 15 catches for 154 yards (10.3 YPC)

Tackles: Thompson, 28

Brule, 20

Peters, 18

Tackles for loss: Spenser, 5.5

Brule, 3.5

Sacks: Spenser and Wheat, 2.5

Brule and Pickering, 2

Interceptions: Furdge and Forge, 1

Passes broken up: Forbes, 2

Six players with 1

Forced fumbles: Peters and Spenser, 1

Fumble recoveries: Brule, Peters and Craft, 1

Rushing offense: 167.7 YPG (40th nationally, 5th SEC)

Passing offense: 287.3 YPG (19th nationally, 7th SEC)

Total offense: 455 YPG (19th nationally, 5th SEC)

Scoring offense: 27.3 PPG (52nd nationally, 8th SEC)

First downs: 74 (35th nationally, 3rd SEC)

3rd down conversions: 61.9% (3rd nationally, 2nd SEC)

Red zone offense: 84.6% (41st nationally, 7th SEC)

Sacks allowed: 1 (3rd nationally, 1st SEC)

Penalties: 20 (34th nationally, 10th SEC)

Penalty yards: 175 (36th nationally, 13th SEC)

Team turnovers: 6 (55th nationally, 11th SEC)

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

Rushing defense: 75.7 YPG (5th nationally, 2nd SEC)

Passing defense: 210 YPG (23rd nationally, 2nd SEC)

Total defense: 285.7 YPG (12th nationally, 2nd SEC)

Scoring defense: 26.3 PPG (31st nationally, 5th SEC)

First downs allowed: 52 (16th nationally, 2nd SEC)

3rd down conversion defense: 31.1% (16th nationally, 3rd SEC)

Red zone defense: 88.9% (55th nationally, 10 SEC)

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

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

Turnovers forced: 5 (33rd nationally, 5th SEC)

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

If they can do exactly what they did against Florida, nobody would complain. Move the ball, be balanced and score 7 instead of 3 when in the red zone. But in this case, dominating time of possession won't exactly hurt either.

Mississippi State's defense is allegedly giving up just 2.1 yards per carry, but that's misleading -- that stat includes a 48-yard loss on a bad punt snap last weekend by Kentucky which led to their only points. Either way, the Aggies need to continue to run the football. They've run it pretty well on everyone and were outstanding last weekend against Florida, so they'll hope to do the same thing this weekend against the Bulldogs.

There's a lot of pressure on the offensive line to keep their strong performance up. Mississippi State already has 12 sacks, while A&M's front line has given up just one so far. The Aggies are averaging 6.6 yards per play, which is one of the tops in the nation. If the line continues to give Kellen Mond time, then, there's no reason to think A&M won't continue to move the ball.

There are certain elements of the offense we know we'll see for sure: the Aggies will try to get the ball to Ainias Smith in space and they'll look for Jalen Wydermyer over the middle. The quick ins and ups run by Chase Lane and Kam Brown have also been highly effective. In fact, Mond has been deadly between the hash marks this year; it's passes to the outside where he struggles.

A&M will have to find a replacement for Chapman, who was stellar last week and provided a deep threat at last. Who that replacement will be -- Jones, Preston, Demas, Wright or Jackson -- is still up in the air. It could be any combination of that group. But they'll have to seriously step up their game to keep the offense rolling.

The group that has best stopped A&M so far is themselves. They've turned the ball over 6 times and have burned a ton of time outs because they couldn't get lined up right or the right personnel wasn't on the field. If they can quit damaging their own efforts, they'll be in even better shape.

State has shown a solid defense so far, but the only good offense they've played -- LSU's -- racked up 425 yards of total offense. If A&M stays balanced, runs the football effectively and continues to operate the way they have the past two weekends in the air, they should put a lot of pressure on the Bulldogs defense.

By being extremely aggressive. The Bulldogs use a base 3-3-5, but mix it up a lot. They like to have a lot of players around the line of scrimmage and will blitz from all angles. They'll bring five and sometimes six players after the quarterback in an effort to get sacks, tackles for loss and turnovers. Much like a John Chavis defense, they'll get a lot of negative plays, but are exposed to big ones as well. That's been the case so far this year, where they've been successful for pretty long stretches and then give up huge plays for scores.

The defensive line has a lot of talent and they operate differently than they did in the past. They are doing a lot more stunts and twists, which makes things more confusing, especially when blitzers come with it. The linemen have "gap" assignments, where they go to a specific spot and are expected to win their matchups, then the linebackers and safeties can fill behind them. That's why Thompson, the middle linebacker, leads the team in tackles.

One thing that jamming the box means is that State's corners will be in man coverage a lot. With the safeties being up a good portion of the time, that leaves them with absolutely no help over the top. Myles Brennan and Felipe Franks both had success throwing the ball, while Kentucky's Terry Wilson didn't because...he's not a good passer.

State is going to try to give Mond and the Aggie offensive line a lot of different looks and try to pressure from as many directions as possible. They want to confuse A&M and make them either run into heavily trafficked areas or force Mond to hold onto the football as pressure comes in.