In another SEC conference battle between Top 25 teams, where the first one ended in an upset, the 21st ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs (3-1) faced the 14th ranked Texas A&M Aggies (4-0) at Kyle Field in College Station.
Texas A&M got on the scoreboard first from a one-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kyle Allen to wideout Ricky Seals-Jones and the Aggies were up 7-0 early. Mississippi State responded to Texas A&M’s touchdown with a 38-yard field goal from kicker Westin Graves, making it 7-3 for Texas A&M. The Aggies came back to respond with another touchdown, this one from Allen to wide receiver Damion Ratley for 29 yards and the Aggies were now on top 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Texas A&M started the scoring in the second half rather early, thanks to kicker Taylor Bertolet drilling a 55-yard field goal to put Texas A&M up 17-3. Less than two minutes later, Mississippi State scored their first touchdown of the game, as running back Malik Dear took a rush 52 yards to the house and Mississippi State was now only down seven, 17-10. With twenty seconds to go before the half, the Aggies got back on the board to extend their lead as running back Tra Carson took the ball into the endzone from the one yard line and they now lead 24-10 going into the half in a rather balanced game, despite what the scoreboard would tell you.
In the third quarter, the scoring was rather silent. The only scoring play was a 24-yard field goal from Bertolet to put the Aggies up 27-10 early in the third quarter. It stayed this way throughout the third quarter and the Aggies were up to start the fourth quarter.
Under three minutes into the fourth quarter, Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott kept the ball and ran it five yards into the endzone, bringing the Bulldogs within ten points, 27-17. The Aggies, however, did very well to contain the Bulldogs and not allow them to come back into this game. Texas A&M did add onto their lead with a 30-yard field goal from Bertolet to make it 30-17. Mississippi State was not able to get anything going and complete their comeback as they fell to Texas A&M, making this their second conference loss of the season, as Texas A&M now moves to 5-0 on the season and picked up their second conference win of the season.
The duo of Kyle Allen and Tra Carson helped propel Texas A&M over Mississippi State. The two combined for 497 yards, 322 passing yards from Allen and 110 rushing yards from Carson (Allen picked up 65 rushing yards on the night), and all three of the Aggies touchdowns. The Aggies were also able to force the Bulldogs to turn the ball over two times while the Aggies did not turn the ball over all game.
Texas A&M have a bye week ahead of them but will spend that entire week preparing for the 13th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide to come into College Station. Mississippi State will play the unranked Troy Trojans at home in a game that should bring the Bulldogs back to a .500 winning percentage for the year.