Aggies look to lock up bowl eligibility
Coming off their bye week, the No. 16 Texas A&M Aggies (5-2, 3-1 SEC) travel to Starkville, Miss. to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-3, 1-3 SEC).
With two weeks to prepare for the second game of a three-game SEC road trip, the Aggies are looking to continue to make headway towards a potential New Year’s Six bowl game invite.
“We’re glad to get back to work,” Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher said at his weekly press conference. “We’ve got a lot of work to do this week. Mississippi State is a very good football team.”
Two weeks ago, the Aggies narrowly defeated South Carolina 26-23.
Kellen Mond was prolific as the Aggies’ quarterback in that matchup, throwing for 353 yards and a score. But Texas A&M’s rushing attack didn’t produce a 100-yard rusher in the nail-biter.
Mond, a sophomore, threw for 353 yards and a touchdown against the Gamecocks, completing 25 of 37 passes with no interceptions. Against Power Five teams this year, Mond had 1,406 yards through the air.
“Even though I’m nowhere near where I want to be, but definitely, I feel like it’s showing this year,” Mond said of his improvement.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are coming off a 19-3 loss to LSU.
A win for Texas A&M guarantees bowl eligibility for the Aggies, which would extend its streak of nine straight bowl appearances to 10, a streak currently tied for 11th-longest in the FBS and fourth in the SEC.
Mississippi State was favored by 2.5 points early in the week. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET with the game being televised on ESPN.