Mississippi State football: Bulldogs need repeat of 2016 Texas A&M game

While beating Texas A&M is possible, it’s going to be difficult for the Mississippi State football team to pull off. If they can actually do it, it’ll go a long way to salvaging this season.

Right now, the Mississippi State football team is unranked and has a 4-3 overall record and a 1-3 SEC record. Seven games into the 2018 season and the Bulldogs are doing everything they can to maintain the possibility of bowl eligibility. This is not how this season should have gone. Now, State is in need of something somewhat miraculous to get what is currently a dismal year turned around.

MSU needs a repeat of what happened with the 2016 Texas A&M game.

The 2016 season was a hard one to experience. Heading into the Bulldogs’ game against Texas A&M, MSU was struggling and only had a 3-5 record on the year. Meanwhile, A&M was 7-1 on the season and ranked as the 4th best team in the country. ESPN’s win probability started with A&M being given an 80.5 percent chance of winning in Starkville. The Aggies were a 10.5 point favorite on the road in Starkville.

In other words, there was little reason to expect Mississippi State to win the game. A&M was riding plenty of momentum and the Bulldogs had a hard time beating Samford the week before.

And yet, Mississippi State beat A&M convincingly in that game.

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After MSU’s defense forced a 3 and out, Nick Fitzgerald ran for 74 yards and put the ball into the end zone on the Bulldogs’ first play on offense. On MSU’s second drive, State was slightly more methodical and punched it into the end zone on a drive that lasted 3 minutes and 16 seconds. On the first few drives, Mississippi State was able to take a commanding 14-0 lead and set the tone for what the game would be.

As Fitzgerald is trying to find some confidence and some answers, it’d be great for the Bulldogs if they could do the same thing again this season. MSU was physical, outmatched the Aggies, and controlled the entire game. The Bulldogs had 29 first downs to A&M’s 14. State had over 37 minutes in terms of time of possession.

Fitz ran for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries while Aeris Williams had 140 yards and a score of his own on 24 carries. Beyond just the expected success on the ground, Fitzgerald also threw the ball pretty well too, completing 58 percent of his passes for 204 yards and two more touchdowns.

MSU beat the No. 4 team in the nation 35-28. The Bulldogs got off to a fast start and then controlled the rest of the game. It was unexpected, but it was understandable in how the Mississippi State football team came out on top.

That game provided a bright spot and optimism in a bleak season.

Beating the No. 4 team in the country gave a struggling team a signature win in a year that it so desperately needed one. The win showed that the Bulldogs could play physical football and outwork its opponents.

To start the season, the Bulldogs lost to South Alabama in embarrassing fashion. A couple of weeks after that, MSU struggled to beat UMass. Then, in three consecutive games, the Mississippi State football team lost to Auburn, BYU, and then Kentucky. The win against Texas A&M showed that a dysfunctional team had a future and potential to improve.

This year, the Bulldogs are dysfunctional in a slightly different fashion. MSU’s offense has been inept against SEC opponents and the Bulldogs haven’t been able to beat anyone in conference except for Auburn.

A win against No. 16 Texas A&M could go a long way to helping change what this season might become. If the Bulldogs continue to lose against conference foes, it will be difficult for this team to get to a bowl game. However, if MSU can turn things around, as it did late in the season against A&M, things might be salvageable. At this point, there’s no way that the Bulldogs can accomplish what they should have been able to this year.

The Mississippi State football team can still theoretically get 8 wins this year. To do that though, the Bulldogs must beat Texas A&M.

The Bulldogs need this win, just as they did in 2016, but it remains to be seen if the Mississippi State football team will get it.

It’s almost impossible to argue that the Mississippi State Bulldogs don’t need to win this game. If the Bulldogs can beat Texas A&M, this season can get a bit back on track. But can the Mississippi State football team actually beat the Aggies?

Mississippi State’s defense is talented enough to get this win. The Bulldogs boast one of the most talented defensive lines in the country and should be good enough to force Kellen Mond and the Aggies into making several mistakes. There’s no questioning MSU’s defense in this game.

The offense, however, deserves to be questioned regularly.

If the Mississippi State Bulldogs are going to pull off this game, then they’ll need to be able to score some points. It’s not clear as to whether or not the Bulldogs can actually do that in SEC play. Thankfully, this game is at home. Maybe something good can happen here.