In preparation for Saturday’s SEC West standoff between Texas A&M and Mississippi State, Saturday Down South is taking a look at the key matchup that may decide the showdown between the Aggies and Bulldogs.

Texas A&M OL vs. Mississippi State DE Preston Smith

Touted as a run-stopping brute, Arkansas DE Trey Flowers gave RT Germain Ifedi fits last Saturday, mostly as a pass rusher.

Flowers bull-rushed Ifedi again and again, using his powerful 6-foot-3, 270-pound frame to blast the offensive linemen into Kenny Hill’s personal space. He also knifed into the backfield on a few running plays and was disruptive in general, almost certainly affecting the play-calling of offensive coordinator Jake Spavital.

Granted, Flowers projects as a likely second-day NFL draft pick in 2015 and entered the game as the biggest threat to the Texas A&M offense.

Which leads us to this Saturday in Starkville, Miss.: DE Preston Smith is 6-foot-6 and 270 pounds. He’s not as strong as Flowers, but those long levers have blocked two field goals this year. Get into the backfield, or into Hill’s view, and Smith is a threat to swat away passes J.J. Watt style, or even intercept them one-handed as he did earlier this year.

He’s a more developed pass rusher than Flowers and probably more athletic. State has been moving Smith to defensive tackle in a three-man front on third downs and having him use his array of pass rush moves against the center, which happens to be Mike Matthews. What an entertaining matchup. What’s more important, A&M hardly can afford to double team Smith in the interior of the line because Benardrick McKinney, a sure NFL draft pick, waits (or doesn’t wait) at the second level and requires blocking attention.

Smith also is more likely to line up across from LT Cedric Ogbuehi than Ifedi, though it wouldn’t surprise me if State moved him to the left side of its defensive line to try to take advantage of that matchup.

We’ve already seen that this Texas A&M offense can be as productive, or even more productive, than the 2013 unit when it’s allowed to operate unmolested. But whereas Johnny Manziel was a noted freelancer, perhaps to the point of frustrating coach Kevin Sumlin, Hill is a precise system quarterback.

The result: the margin for error is smaller in that if Hill gets pressured or the defense disrupts the timing of the routes.

Smith entered the season as a fringe NFL prospect at best, but the birth of his daughter and some prodding by coach Dan Mullen has him attacking the year in desperation mode, knowing it could be the difference between grinding out an honest living to support his family or earning millions of dollars and playing football on Sundays.

Texas A&M has to hope that the slightly less powerful Smith can’t bully Ifedi and company like Flowers. But Flowers, too, played like a man desperate to make an impression last week, so the two defensive linemen have that in common.

The Aggies have produced offensive tackles as well as any team in the country and could make it three consecutive drafts with a Top 10 pick at left tackle. But that streak may end soon if Ifedi, next in line, continues to look overmatched against elite defensive linemen.

Ogbuehi, Matthews and Ifedi all need to limit Smith, who has won the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week award three times in four Mississippi State games this season, or Texas A&M’s offense may not be able to keep up this weekend.