A&M defense zeroing in on Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - The 17th ranked Texas A&M football team will travel to Starkville, Mississippi, on Saturday for the team’s first true road game of the season. Despite being the higher ranked team, the Aggies find themselves as four-point underdogs.

After hosting the Aggies, the Bulldogs will face 3 more nationally ranked teams in SEC play in # 20 Arkansas in Starkville on October 8, while they will travel to Lexington on October 15 to face #7 Kentucky, and #2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa on October 22.

When ask if his Bulldogs might be looking past the Aggies for higher ranked teams, Mississippi State Head Coach Mike Leach delivered a typical Leach answer, “We’ve got some guys, some are smarter than others, but they would be monumentally stupid to look ahead on anybody.”

Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers didn’t have a lot of success as a freshman against the Aggies, but last season threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns in a Bulldog win at Kyle Field.

This season he is ranked 2nd in the country in passing yards having thrown for nearly 1400 yards and 16 touchdowns.

The Bulldogs come in ranked 7th in the country in passing offense, but the Texas A&M defense feels like they have improved their defensive passing numbers. Currently the Aggie defense is number 10 in the country in passing yards allowed.

Last week against Arkansas’s spread attack A&M held the Razorbacks to 171 yards through the air, but the Hog’s spread relies a lot more on the run than the Bulldogs do.

“It’s a different kind of spread,” said A&M head football coach Jimbo Fisher. “One is much more throwing, and one is much more running. Do you know what I’m saying and what they are doing? It is different, but the quarterback Rogers can run and scramble. He’s a good athlete,” concluded Fisher.

“It’s going to come down to the secondary you know,” said A&M defensive back Jalen Jones. “We are going to get the rush upfront. We know they like to throw the ball with their air raid offense so it’s going to come down to us doing our jobs,” wrapped up Jones.

Mississippi State leads the all-time series 8-7. Saturday’s game will kick off at 3pm. It will be televised on the SEC Network.

Copyright 2022 KBTX. All rights reserved.