No. 21 Mississippi State will shoot for back-to-back road wins over ranked teams, but No. 14 Texas A&M presents a stronger challenge this week than Auburn did a week ago.
WHEN MISSISSIPPI STATE HAS THE BALL
Dan Mullen has earned the reputation of a coach who likes to run the ball during his seven-year tenure. However, the Bulldogs have the fewest running attempts in the league through four games. They had just 56 yards rushing against Auburn and on September 12 they had just 43 rushing yards on 26 carries versus LSU in a 21-19 loss as Dak Prescott passed 52 times for 335 yards.
The Bulldogs play to their strength and that’s senior quarterback Prescott’s passing but the offensive line play has been mostly poor overall. Prescott has passed for nearly 1,100 yards with seven touchdowns and zero interceptions, but he’s running the ball considerably less this season in the zone read after rushing for nearly 1,000 yards last year.
Prescott has been sacked just five times, but he’ll be under more pressure this week as the A&M defense has 17 sacks which is tied for second in the FBS and also top-5 in tackles for loss with 38. Sophomore lineman Myles Garrett has 6.5 sacks after setting a SEC freshman record last year with 11.5 sacks, and the Aggies have a significant experience edge on defense with all four linemen returning from last year.
The Bulldogs will have to establish some running success to knock off the Aggies, and they’ll at least run the ball more often knowing Arkansas rushed for over 230 yards against the Aggies last week and Nevada had some success the week prior with both teams running the ball at least 40 times.
WHEN TEXAS A&M HAS THE BALL
Texas A&M is 4-0 and the Aggies are third in the SEC averaging over 41 points per game. Kyle Allen is the SEC's second-rated passer at 179.9 and has thrown a conference-best 11 touchdowns. The sophomore threw for a career-high 358 yards in last Saturday's 28-21 overtime win against Arkansas.
Freshman Christian Kirk leads the SEC with 442 receiving yards after finishing with 173 in last week’s win. Kirk has also starred on special teams, returning four punts for 149 yards and a touchdown as well as 10 kickoffs for 209 yards.
Mississippi State’s defensive numbers look pretty good especially holding LSU and Auburn to 21 and 9 points. But the Aggies have more balance and offensive weapons and especially at receiver. The Aggies will move the ball well with balance, so look for them to win their sixth straight game overall.
LIVE BETTING SCENARIO AND BETTING TRENDS
The Bulldogs are 4-1 ATS in their last five SEC games following last week’s 17-9 road win at Auburn. Mississippi State has also covered eight straight SEC games as underdogs. The under is also 6-0 in Mississippi State’s last six conference games. The Aggies are 4-1 in their last five games but just 2-7 in their last nine home games. The Aggies are also just 0-5-1 ATS the week after playing Arkansas.
Texas A&M leads the league in punting as senior Drew Kaser is averaging better than 50 yards per boot. The sharp total move up to 62 seems correct. The Bulldogs will have to pass the ball more to move it and keep pace while the Aggies more balanced and explosive offense is likely to score at least four touchdowns. It will be no surprise if they hang 40 points on the Bulldogs as they head into their bye week.
Early live betting and scoring by Texas A&M seems like a prudent play as the Aggies have scored 14, 14 and 28 points in the first quarter of their last three games. Texas A&M holds a healthy 97-27 scoring advantage in the first half of their first four games.
BookMaker opened the spread for this game at -7 in favor of the Texas A&M Aggies. The NCAA lines total surfaced at 56.5. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone or tablet with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! The matchup between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Texas A&M Aggies will take place Saturday, October 3, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Kyle Field. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
