OFFENSE: A

Saturday’s showdown between Mississippi State and Texas A&M was a matchup of two of the best offenses in the SEC, but only one offense was truly in control from start to finish, and that was Mississippi State’s. The Bulldogs ran the ball right down A&M’s throats early in the game to quickly build a 21-7 lead. A strong rushing attack forced A&M to load the box, which allowed MSU to throw the ball past the Aggies on its way to 48 points and a victory. The Bulldogs used the same gameplan to beat LSU, and it got the same result as it did in Baton Rouge. Dan Mullen has no interest in catering his offense to his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses; Mississippi State is going to do what it does best no matter what, and no one has been able to stop it so far this season. Dak Prescott was in control of the entire game, scoring five total touchdowns while recording his fourth career reception. Josh Robinson racked up another 107 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, once again averaging better than six yards a carry. Even without Jameon Lewis and Dillon Day, the Mississippi State offense was on-point with every possession. Through five games, it’s tough to argue any team in the SEC has a better offense than Mississippi State.

DEFENSE: A

The Texas A&M offense had averaged 51 points per game this season, never scoring fewer than 35 in any contest, That all changed after Mississippi State was through with the Aggies, holding them to a season-low 31 points, many of which came in garbage time. Kenny Hill threw not one, not two, but three interceptions in his worst outing of the year, and the run game wasn’t any better. Every hit Mississippi State delivered was a punishing one. Every pass A&M threw was contested by a defensive back, and even though A&M dropped a number of passes, the Bulldogs secondary still had its best game of the season. The MSU front seven was dominant, as it has been all year, and no A&M rusher picked up more than 59 yards for the game. The Bulldogs made one of the best offenses in the nation look out of sync and intimidated. The numbers say Mississippi State was good, but the eye test said it was great. The Bulldogs earned a resounding A on defense Saturday.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D

It didn’t hold Mississippi State back on Saturday, but the Bulldogs special teams were rather putrid in the win over A&M. Evan Sobiesk missed his only field goal attempt of the game, and it wasn’t even that close. Mississippi State had been better in the kicking game of late, but the field goal unit was not sharp against the Aggies. Likewise, Jamoral Graham’s muffed punt was a pretty sloppy play that could have haunted MSU much more than it did. Granted, had senior Jameon Lewis been fielding the punt the fumble may have never happened, but the Bulldogs cannot afford careless turnovers on special teams against other ranked SEC West foes in the second half of the season. The punting game was good, and an advantage in the field position battle certainly played into Mississippi State’s favor in a high-scoring game, but it was not enough to mask a sloppy performance by the special teams in an otherwise fantastic win for the Bulldogs.