Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday’s SEC West showdown between No. 3 Ole Miss and No. 14 Texas A&M.

When: Tonight
Where: College Station, Texas
Game Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Current Line: Texas A&M (-1.5)

Game Buzz: Ole Miss and Texas A&M meet in a pivotal SEC West showdown pitting two top 15 teams against one another in College Station Saturday night. Ole Miss is coming off its greatest football Saturday ever — capped by a win over Alabama — while A&M is looking to avoid back-to-back losses after falling by 17 points to Mississippi State a week ago. A second conference loss could be a fatal blow to A&M’s chances to win the SEC, while Ole Miss is hoping to remain unbeaten with a win, perhaps taking a shot at the No. 1 spot in next week’s polls.

SATURDAY DOWN SOUTH PREVIEWS

NO. 3 OLE MISS REBELS

Players To Watch:

  • QB Bo Wallace
  • RB Jaylen Walton
  • WR Laquon Treadwell
  • DT Robert Nkemdiche
  • LB Serderius Bryant
  • LB Denzel Nkemdiche
  • CB Senquez Golson
  • S Cody Prewitt

Keys For Ole Miss:

  • Trust the secondary. Ole Miss has one of the best secondaries in college football, and it will certainly be tested by A&M’s athletic group of wideouts in Saturday’s matchup. The Aggies love to spread defenses from sideline to sideline to try and create one on one matchups, but if there’s any secondary in the SEC prepared to counter that approach, its Ole Miss’ group of defensive backs. The Rebels will be better off playing aggressive up front, aiming to disturb Kenny Hill in the pocket while leaving the secondary on an island from time to time.
  • Give Bo Wallace time. Texas A&M has a menacing defensive line hoping to hit Wallace early and often, and if it is able to hit home with its pass rush Wallace won’t have a chance to command the Rebels’ offense the way he wants. However, if Wallace is given time, Ole Miss has its own group of dynamic wideouts who have made plays for their quarterback all season. The Aggies’ secondary is beatable, but not if their pass rush is running a muck.

Glaring weakness to watch: Ole Miss has lacked an effective rushing attack all season, and the lack of balance on offense will hurt the Rebels in SEC West play. Both Arkansas and Mississippi State ran all over A&M the last two weeks, neutralizing the team’s pass rush to an extent. Ole Miss may not have that luxury Saturday night, which could mean bad news for Wallace as he aims to navigate Ole Miss to a sixth straight victory through the air.

Most interesting part of the game: The SEC West is an unforgiving division, and the Rebels and Aggies are both trying survive games against ranked opponents for the second straight week. Will either team show any wear and tear as they approach the midway point of the season? Has Ole Miss built enough confidence early in the season to survive this difficult stretch of games? The tone set in the first quarter of this game could answer those questions.

Team buzz: The Rebels didn’t just win a game last Saturday, they won the whole day. From the start of College GameDay in the Grove to Katy Perry’s crowd-surfing celebration more than 12 hours later, Ole Miss could not have had a better day in Oxford. The momentum the Rebels gained last week could carry them against A&M, but a hangover from last week’s fun could also hold the team back. What Ole Miss accomplished last weekend was unprecedented, and we won’t know how it’ll respond til Saturday’s game kicks off.

NO. 14 TEXAS A&M AGGIES

Players To Watch:

  • WR Malcome Kennedy
  • WR/KR Speedy Noil
  • LT Cedric Ogbuehi
  • DE Myles Garrett
  • CB Deshazor Everett
  • S Howard Matthews

Keys For Texas A&M:

  • Tempo, tempo, tempo. Ole Miss has one of the nation’s best defenses. We’ve seen even the strongest units get beaten time and again the last several seasons by offenses that dial up pressure and click off snaps with an eternity left on the play clock. Texas A&M is used to moving quickly on offense, and the Aggies need to utilize that strength to combat the Rebels brick wall secondary and physical front seven.
  • Stop the run, play the screens. A&M gets gashed on occasion, especially against teams with mobile quarterbacks. But Ole Miss has one of the lesser rushing attacks in the SEC. If I’m Texas A&M, I’m deploying some run blitzes, stacking the box, pressing my corners up against the talented Ole Miss receivers and aiming to force Bo Wallace to beat me downfield.
  • Don’t drop passes. The TV cameras didn’t catch any brick-and-mortar inside the gloves of the Aggies receivers last week, but that’s surprising. With Malcome Kennedy a late scratch, A&M’s receivers forgot how to catch footballs. There won’t be as many opportunities against the Rebels secondary, and the Aggies must make them count.

Glaring weakness to watch: Discipline on defense — If the Aggies get out of position against, say, Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss will score touchdowns in bunches. Even if the Rebels get yards in the passing game, it’s fine as long as A&M doesn’t get grossly out of position as it sometimes does.

Most interesting part of the game: Can Texas A&M’s receivers pick themselves up after an awful performance and challenge the superb Ole Miss secondary?

Team buzz: Texas A&M zipped into the Top 10 after clobbering South Carolina on the road to start the season, then put on cruise control until the fourth quarter of an overtime win against Arkansas. The Aggies defensive issues resurfaced last week in a blowout loss to Mississippi State. QB Kenny Hill, a much-hyped offensive line and the plethora of receivers once looked as difficult to cover as last season’s Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans-led group. But that’s no longer the case after two mostly disjointed efforts. Are the Aggies really a Top 15 team, or is this a fringe Top 25 program in 2014?