Breakdown and prediction for Mississippi State football vs Texas A&M

Mississippi State football (1-5, 0-3 SEC) hosts #14 Texas A&M (5-1, 3-0) this Saturday in Starkville. It's a big home game for the Bulldogs who are looking to snap their losing streak with a major upset and kickstart a strong finish to the 2024 season. But is that realistic for MSU? Let's take a look at the Aggies and give a final prediction for the matchup...

The Aggie defense is as good as any the Bulldogs have faced

Mike Elko knows how to coach defense, and his Aggies are strong on that side of the ball in his first season. In three conference games, A&M is allowing just 311 yards and less than 16 points per game. It's starts up front with one of the best D-lines in the nation. Nic Scourton has 4.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss off the edge, and Shemar Turner is a force on the inside. If you can pair a great front with a strong secondary, you're in great shape, and A&M plays tight coverage on the backend too. Moving the ball against this group will be a chore.

Texas A&M can be explosive offensively

Texas A&M has had some ups and downs on offense so far this season. Le'Veon Moss has been outstanding in the backfield with over 600 yards and six TDs, but he doesn't regularly have great push ahead of him by his OL. The Conner Weigman-led pass game has been quite inconsistent too. But what has worked for the Aggies has been their ability to hit big plays. They have 19 plays of 20+ yards in three SEC games, and that's been instrumental for them when it comes to putting points on the board. Preventing big plays has been a struggle for the MSU defense, but they'll need to against A&M.

Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Texas A&M Aggies score prediction

Mississippi State is playing better football right now. There's expected to be a good atmosphere in Davis Wade Stadium Saturday, and many years, Texas A&M would be the exact type of opponent I'd say they'd be ripe to upset. But I think the Aggies are a bad matchup. I think MSU struggles to up hold against the A&M defensive front and won't have the big play opportunities they had last week. And the Bulldog defense hasn't shown any reason to predict them slowing down an opposing offense. I think the Aggies win comfortably.

Mississippi State loses 37-19