Mississippi State picked up a hard-fought road win over Auburn in SEC play last week to even its league mark at 1-1.

The Bulldogs, ranked 21st in this week’s Associated Press poll, will hit the road again on Saturday when they visit No. 14 Texas A&M (7:30 p.m. ET, SECN) to face the unbeaten Aggies.

Texas A&M is averaging 41.5 points per game on offense and are tied for second in the nation with 17 sacks on the other side of the ball. It figures to be quite a challenge for the Bulldogs, which explains why bookmakers have them as a 7-point underdog.

Still, Mississippi State won last year’s meeting in Starkville, 48-31, and if the Bulldogs are able to repeat that success, here are five players likely to play a key role:

1. QB Dak Prescott — The senior quarterback is having another outstanding season, and the Bulldogs will need him at his best Saturday night at Kyle Field. In last week’s win, Prescott was 29 of 41 for 270 yards and two scores. He’s thrown for 1,069 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions this season as teams have focused on stopping his running game. Prescott has 16 carries for minus-five yards on the ground in two SEC games this season, and the Aggies surely will try to keep that part of Prescott’s game under wraps.

They would be wise to do so as the quarterback rushed for 77 yards and three touchdowns in last year’s contest. He also added 268 yards and two more scores through the air. As always, as Dak goes, so go the Bulldogs.

2. RB Brandon Holloway — Mississippi State’s rushing stats have either been really good (205 yards against Southern Miss and 275 yards against Northwestern State) or really bad (43 yards against LSU and 56 yards against Auburn) through four games. It would be helpful if a reliable running back emerged from the Bulldogs backfield, and Holloway could be that guy. The junior is averaging 7.4 yards per carry on his 18 attempts, and is leading the team with 134 yards despite having 14 fewer carries than Ashton Shumpert. He had 42 of the team’s 56 yards against Auburn last week, and I’d be surprised if he didn’t get a few more touches going forward.

3. LT Rufus Warren — Warren, and the rest of the Mississippi State offensive line, will be facing some of the nation’s best pass rushers in Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall. The pair have combined for 10.5 sacks in four games, and no matter which one lines up across from Warren on any given play, keeping Prescott’s blind side covered will be a key part of the game plan. In case you’re wondering, the Aggies sacked Prescott three times in Starkville last season.

4. LB Richie Brown — The reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week is the runaway leader in tackles for MSU with 39, and last week he had 13 tackles and two sacks in the win over Auburn. Tackling is always important, and it will be in this game with Texas A&M’s offensive firepower. Brown is used to putting up big-time efforts against the Aggies, though. He had three tackles and a school-record three interceptions in last year’s meeting.

5. CB Taveze Calhoun — Calhoun and Will Redmond will be tested at the corner position. Texas A&M has a talented wide receiving corps, including the SEC leader in receiving yards in freshman Christian Kirk. The Aggies like to line up with three receivers bunched on one side and one alone on the other. This forces man-to-man coverage on that lone receiver, and either Calhoun or Redmond will have to win some of those one-on-one battles for the Bulldogs to keep the A&M offense in check.