Fans and pundits alike agree that Mississippi State was impressive in its 41-31 loss to Georgia last week. Rarely will you see those words to describe a team’s losing performance. But things are dire in Starkville. State was in such a tailspin following a four-game losing streak, that any improvement is being met with praise. The two games in which they held their own were in the hostile environments of Texas and Georgia. They now enter a three-game home stint, where State often has an advantage, especially where Texas A&M is concerned. Could the Bulldogs upset the Aggies in the first of those three games? It has happened before.
In 2016, the Aggies were ranked No. 4 in the country and the Bulldogs had a 3-5 record going into the contest. Yet, A&M ended up losing 35-28, a game their fans still remember coming into Starkville this year.
In last week’s Georgia game, the Dawgs from Mississippi started out in a way that many thought was going to be a blowout. They trailed at halftime 27-10. But thanks to a second-half rally by the offense, MSU kept it within 10 points losing the game 41-31. State actually scored 21 points to UGA’s 14 in the second half. This has Starkville-Dawg fans optimistic about the remainder of the season, and beyond.
Out of the Mouths of Players
The comeback by the Bulldogs’ offense was led by true freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren. It was impressive enough to earn him the SEC Freshman of the Week honor. In his Monday press conference, Bulldogs’ head coach Jeff Lebby was understandably proud of his young protégé, But, going forward, he believes they can’t wait until the second half to start. “The message is we have to play better, we’ve got to play cleaner, we’ve got to start faster to give ourselves a chance,” Lebby said. “Nobody understands that right now more than Mike does.”
A head coach usually makes the pitch to the press most of the time. But, following Saturday’s game in Athens, some of State’s players weren’t down from the loss, but vocalizing what they could use out of it. “I would say the biggest thing is, yeah, losing sucks, but at the end of the day it’s like you never lose a game,” defensive lineman Sulaiman Kpaka said. “Yeah, the score says one thing, but when you go back and watch the film, you’re always like, ‘Alright, the game came down to X amount of plays.’ We know if we just clean these things up going forward, we won’t make those mistakes.”
Tight end Seydou Traore converted a couple of fourth downs against UGA on Saturday. “Mike is a great player,” Traore said. “If we come out like that in the beginning of the game it’s a different story.”
Linebacker Branden Jennings also had a similar take on things. “I feel like we’re going to keep fighting and use this to our advantage,” Jennings said.
The defense will definitely need to step up to improve their game. UGA tallied 459 yards in passing, which leads one to believe the pass rush will need to be more present against the Aggies.
Aggies Bye-Week Hangover?
Texas A&M is coming off a bye week following an incredibly impressive win against SEC opponent Missouri. The Tigers were ranked at No. 9 at the time, A&M at No. 19. They all but humiliated Mizzou 41-10, mounting 512 yards of total offense. For the Bulldogs’ sake, perhaps the momentum of such a victory is tempered with the bye week.
The Aggies started out their season defeated by Notre Dame 23-13, and quickly made up for that by going undefeated. Three of those victories were against Florida (in the Swamp), Arkansas, and the aforementioned Missouri. They are currently 5-1, 3-0 in the SEC, which places them at No. 1 in the conference. They may be looking past the Dawgs to their next game with No. 8 LSU in College Station, TX, and then to South Carolina, another road game. For the record, their game in Starkville is only their second road game since going to Tallahassee.
Aggie head coach Mike Elko is quite complimentary of State’s young Van Buren as he answered in a weekly press teleconference. “I think he can throw the deep ball really, really well, I think you saw that last week,” Elko said. “I thought in the second half (against Georgia), he got into a really comfortable rhythm back there and made some big-time throws against a really good defense. And so he’s an extremely talented quarterback. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable and certainly being at home, making his first home start this week, I’m sure he’s really excited about that.”
Back Home Again
The Dawgs will surely welcome the sound of cowbells again after being on the road in such hostile neighborhoods. Also on the table is rectifying the last two home games with the losses to Toledo and Florida. Can the Bulldogs upset the Aggies, who come into Starkville as they did in 2016? Despite being a 15-point favorite with the oddsmakers, the Aggie fans aren’t taking their success for granted, at least according to their fan sites.
Adding to the Bulldogs’ excitement will be welcoming back the 2014 team that went 10-2 in the regular season, and featured none other than Dak Prescott on head coach Dan Mullen’s winning team. In his Monday presser, Lebby talked about what it will be like to be home. “There’s nothing better,” Lebby said. “Our atmosphere and our energy is still unlike anywhere in America. So, for us, that will be a huge advantage for us on Saturday afternoon. Our guys want that, man, they need that, they can’t wait to be back here at home. There’s a bunch of excitement inside our building just because of the fact that we’re able to be at home and be in Davis Wade Stadium.”
The game kicks off at 3:15 pm CT and can be seen on the SEC Network.
