No. 14 Texas A&M visits Mississippi State after bye, looking to stay atop SEC with 6th straight win

No. 14 Texas A&M (5-1, 3-0 SEC) at Mississippi State (1-5, 0-3), Saturday, 4:15 p.m. ET (SEC Network)

BetMGM College Sports Odds: Texas A&M by 14 1/2.

Series record: Mississippi State leads, 9-8.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

The Aggies return from a bye after routing then-No. 9 Missouri 41-10 at home and look to stay atop the standings with a sixth consecutive victory. Rebuilding Mississippi State aims to halt a five-game losing streak with its first SEC win. The Bulldogs fell 41-31 at No. 5 Georgia but were the first to score at least 30 points in Athens since Tennessee in 2016.

KEY MATCHUP

Texas A&M features the SEC’s No. 2 rushing offense at 232.3 yards per game, which ranks ninth nationally. The Aggies average a league-best 5.6 per attempt (15th in FBS) and had 6.6 per carry on 36 attempts against the Tigers. Only Notre Dame and Arkansas have held A&M below 150 yards. That poses a huge challenge for a Bulldogs’ run defense that ranks last in the SEC at nearly 202 yards allowed per game. With the Aggies’ ground game helping provide offensive balance, MSU must slow that phase to have any chance for an upset.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Texas A&M RB Le’Veon Moss. His averages of 121.7 yards per game and 8.5 per carry in SEC play top conference rushers, and he has three of its 10 top performances. He ranks second in all games at 101.5 yards per contest and 6.9 per carry. Moss has 609 yards total (17th nationally) and is coming off a 138-yard performance against Missouri that included his first three touchdowns of the season.

Mississippi State: S Isaac Smith is the SEC’s top tackler with 56 stops (24 solo) and an average of 11.2 per contest despite not playing against Texas because of an injury sustained against Florida. He’s tied for 12th in FBS in tackles and tied for fifth in stops per game. Smith is the first player since Jett Johnson in September 2023 to lead the team in tackles for four consecutive games.

FACTS & FIGURES

The game features two first-year coaches in Texas A&M’s Mike Elko and MSU’s Jeff Lebby. … The Aggies have yielded just seven sacks, tied for third in the SEC. … QB Conner Weigman completed 18 of 22 passes for a season-high 276 yards against Mizzou. … The Bulldogs’ 24 points per game in SEC play rank eighth. … They’ve forced six fumbles with four recoveries, just one fewer than 2023 on nine forced fumbles.

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