Five storylines to watch as Texas A&M faces Mississippi State in Week 11
Texas A&M (5-4, 3-3 SEC) is just days removed from last Saturday’s heart-wrenching 38-35 road loss to Ole Miss. While fan apathy has set, head coach Jimbo Fisher’s future with the program remains a popular talking point, but internally, the goal remains the same: win out and regroup in 2024.
This weekend, the Aggies return home to host Mississippi State (4-5, 1-5 SEC) for their first night game of the season, looking to notch their sixth win and bowl eligibility for the first time in two seasons in the process.
Despite their record in SEC play, the Bulldogs have recorded a respectable 21 sacks, as their 57th defense may be considered average. Still, against the Aggies’ struggling offensive line, anything is possible for a desperate team looking to pull off the upset.
While quarterback Max Johnson’s status remains questionable after sustaining what was initially thought to be a season-ending rib injury, Fisher stated that all is well (kind of) as Johnson is expected to make his sixth start of the season.
Here are five storylines to watch as Texas A&M takes on the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, Nov. 11.
Is Texas A&M's Offensive line improvement against Ole Miss a flash in the pan?
In a surprise flip of the script, Texas A&M’s beyond struggling O-line finally looked the part in pass protection in the second half of Saturday’s loss to Ole Miss, providing quarterback Max Johnson ample time to read through this progressions and hit his targets.
Even better, the Aggie’s run game found life, as running backs Amari Daniels and Le’Veon Moss accounted for 122 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Per Pro Football Focus, the improvement was verified with outstanding grades, as freshman right tackle Chase Bisontis, who has had to learn on the fly in his first season while enduring several bad performances, finished with an offense-high 72.7 grade, including an impressive 85 pass-blocking grade.
As a team, the O-line finished with a 74.6 pass-blocking mark, their highest grade of the season thus far. Can this positive trend continue against the Bulldogs’ respectable front? We shall see.
However, keep an eye out for Bulldog’s linebackers Jett Johnson and Nathaniel Watson, who both lead the SEC in tackles, while Watson leads the country in sacks with eight on the year.
Despite their ugly performance against Ole Miss, Texas A&M's secondary should be fine against Mississippi State's porous passing attack
Against Ole Miss, Texas A&M’s cornerback rotation took a major hit as starting corners Tyreek Chappell and Deuce Harmon would both miss the matchup due to injury, throwing freshmen CBs Jaylon Thomas and Sam McCall in the fire and as you can imagine, things got ugly.
Allowing 387 yards through the air, Rebels WR Tre Harris recorded, yes, 11 receptions for 213 yards and a touchdown, including a 19.4 reception average. However, while Chappell and Harmon’s status remains encouraging but still unknown, Mississippi State is currently without its starting quarterback, Will Rogers, who is still on the injury list.
Backing him up, quarterback Mike Wright, who passed for 78 yards and an interception in the Bulldog’s 24-3 loss to Kentucky, could make his fifth consecutive start this weekend, so advantage Texas A&M’s secondary in this one.
Is quarterback Max Johnson healthy enough to play?
Look, no one is calling Jimbo Fisher a liar, but when the unverified rumor in a TexAgs message board post spread around social media on Sunday regarding Max Johnson’s health, something fishy was going on.
In by far his best performance of the season, Johnson accounted for 305 passing yards and two touchdowns, including a late dive in the endzone to take what looked to be a game-winning 35-31 lead against Ole Miss.
As I previously mentioned, the Aggies’ O-line did show vast improvement. However, Johnson still took several blows in the first half and late in the second, including a brutal hit in the team’s final offensive drive, where he would slowly get back while clutching his rib cage. However, none of the specifics were disclosed by Fisher during Monday’s press conference.
Yes, Fisher stated that Johnson should start against the Bulldogs, but “should” is not guaranteed. I’d never bet against Max Johnson’s toughness, that’s for sure.
Will the Aggies' running game find success against the Bulldog's defensive front?
While sophomore running back Le’Veon Moss continues to heal from an unspecified lower-body injury, his status for Saturday remains unknown, but let’s give credit to junior RB Amari Daniels, who rushed for 70 yards and a score against Ole Miss in one of his best games of the season, looking like the powerful back many of us predicted he’d be if his time came to carry the load.
With Max Johnson expected to start, keeping him as clean as possible requires a successful running game, and against Mississippi State’s 46th-ranked run defense, allowing an average of 132 rushing yards per contest, should hopefully yield positive results.
Add in dynamic freshman RB Reuben Owens, It’s up to the Aggies O-line to create holes and consistently overpower their one-on-one matchups, and let Daniels and Owens take care of the rest. Small victories, folks.
Jimbo Fisher's future in College Station is on thin, thin ice
Look, we all have to live in reality when it comes to Jimbo Fisher’s future at Texas A&M, as the fan base is split on whether he deserves another year to prove his worth with what should be an experienced roster if a bulk of the roster returns, that is.
However, to regain some confidence heading into 2024, three games remain, and three wins need to be accomplished, starting with Mississippi State on Saturday night.
While the players need to perform at a high level from start to finish, something they have yet to do this season, Fisher’s game management and general leadership on the sideline have been consistently lacking as the same ole “lack of execution” excuse after every loss has overstayed its welcome. It’s time to stick to the basics, play with physicality, and take some chances. There’s absolutely nothing to lose at this point, Jimbo.
Texas A&M will return to Kyle Field to take on Mississippi State on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 6:30 pm. CT. The game will air on ESPN2.
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