No. 6 Texas A&M @ No. 12 Mississippi State (-3) TV: ESPN 12 pm Saturday
Daniel: I’m buying the Mississippi State hype – for now. Dak Prescott is playing at an extremely high level and so is running back Josh Robinson. That run game will give Texas A&M some trouble. I think the Aggies are really, really good, but possibly slightly overvalued because of their schedule. Yes, they looked great against South Carolina and they escaped against Arkansas. But when the dust settles this season, those two teams could potentially land in the bottom half of the league. Their non-conference schedule has been a joke. We’ll find out a lot more about the Aggies with four of their next five games against ranked opponents, and I think they come out of that with a couple losses, starting Saturday at MSU. Winner: MSU 42-38
Houston: I give Texas A&M a lot of credit for their fourth-quarter comeback last week against Arkansas. Kenny Hill is playing with a lot of confidence right now and the Aggies are off to a very strong start in 2014. The same could be said about Mississippi State so far. Dak Prescott is one of the best players in college football that isn’t getting the credit he deserves to this point and Mississippi State looks to have some serious momentum coming off of their win in Death Valley against LSU. At this point in the season, however, I just think that Texas A&M is more battle-tested and more proven based on what I have seen. They know how to win close games and I think they prove it again in this one. Winner: Texas A&M 35-24
Reed: Mississippi State hasn’t down a ranked team at home in nearly a decade. Their offense is for real and Dak Prescott will ensure they put up some points against an improved Aggie defense. But the Bulldogs aren’t as good as they looked at LSU. If the Tigers had started Brandon Harris in that one, it it would have been a different game. Texas A&M’s offense leads the SEC and is much better than the group the Bulldogs faced in Tiger Stadium two weeks ago. The Bulldog defense ranks in the bottom tier of the SEC and they won’t be able to slow the Aggies enough to win this one. Winner: Texas A&M 38-27
Chad: It’s been all MSU this week in media conversations but I think a key stat that has been missed here is the pass defense of the Bulldogs. They’re giving up over 300 yards a game! That said, the Aggies are not your model defense in the SEC and are highly suspect between the tackles. If MSU can keep up the tempo with a down hill run and maintain a lead through all four quarters then they can pull it out. Otherwise the Aggies will exploit the pass defense of MSU and it could be a long long day. I don’t think that will be the case here. I look for the “Psycho Defense” to play in the backfield causing Hill to have to scramble similar to Arkansas’ attack in the first three quarters. Winner: Mississippi State 42-35
