Mississippi State Football: Aggies to get an aerial view
By Craig Harris
Texas A&M faced just 19 pass attempts in last Saturday’s 23-21 upset of 10th-ranked Arkansas. However, the Aggies should see a lot more footballs flying into their area when they travel to Starkville for Saturday’s 3 p.m. kickoff at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium.
Texas A&M limited the run-oriented Razorbacks to 171 passing yards. Arkansas picked up 244 yards on the ground, the most that the Aggie defense has allowed through four games. However, Texas A&M (3-1 overall, 1-0 in the Southeastern Conference) has been tough on opposing offenses. The Razorbacks were the first team to eclipse the 400-yard mark against Texas A&M, having limited Sam Houston State to less than 200 yards in the season opener and then 315 and 392 total yards to Appalachian State and 13th-ranked Miami, respectively. The Aggies have surrendered just five touchdowns – three passing and two rushing – this season.
Conversely, Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers threw for six touchdowns in last Saturday’s 45-14 rout of Bowling Green. Despite not playing the full game, the junior signal-caller threw 50 passes. That’s considerably more than Texas A&M has faced this season, although Miami did run 77 plays and put the ball in the air 41 times.
However, in their other three games combined, the Aggies have faced just 77 pass attempts. Rogers enters the contest having completed 140 of his 189 passes (74%) for 1,386 yards and 16 touchdowns. Rogers has thrown at least 42 passes in all four games, including 48 attempts in three of those four contests.
After managing just seven receptions a year ago, redshirt senior Caleb Ducking (21 receptions, 258 yards, 5 touchdowns) has emerged as Rogers’ favorite target, along with sophomore wide receiver Rara Thomas (15-225-2). Junior running back Dillon Johnson has been oft-targeted as well, having caught 21 passes for 123 yards out of the backfield.
That receiving corp will be challenged by one of the Southeastern Conference’s most experienced secondaries.
Junior Antonio Johnson leads that unit. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound standout was an Associated Press All-SEC Second Team honoree a year ago, and more is expected of Johnson this season as evidenced by the fact that his name is on the Jim Thorpe Award Watch List, Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List, Bronco Nagurski Trophy Watch List, in addition to being an AP Preseason All-American First Team selection.
However, Johnson is not the only experience in the secondary as he is joined by fellow returning starters in senior Demani Richardson, junior Jaylon Jones, and sophomore Tyreek Chappell. Chappell was selected to the SEC Coaches’ All-Freshman Team after compiling nine pass break-ups in 2021.
Last season, the Bulldogs averaged almost 21 rushing attempts per game. However, after running the football more than 20 times in each of their first three games this season, Mississippi State (3-1, 0-1) had just 11 rushing attempts in last Saturday’s win.
While Texas A&M is the team entering this year’s clash after knocking off a ranked opponent, it was the visiting Bulldogs who were giant-killers a year ago, capturing a 26-22 victory over the then-15th-ranked Aggies.
That win gave Mississippi State an 8-7 lead in the all-time series after the Aggies won the two programs’ 2019 and 2020 meetings.
The Bulldogs have won three of the five contests played in Starkville.
